# My Rabbit Keeps Humping...



## bashful_harmony (Aug 4, 2008)

My friend has a female rabbit who's about 2-3 months (we forgot to ask >_< ). My rabbit is almost 5 months now.. 

We tried introducing them, but all my rabbit does is hump her. I read that you should let the male hump for about 20 seconds so that he feels dominant, and then you should pull him away. I've already done that before, but he keeps humping her.. I don't know what to do TT-TT'

Please help D:

Also, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this.. so sorry! >_<


----------



## Spring (Aug 4, 2008)

Are they both fixed?

If he's still intact, he will most likely be mounting to mate - something not good at her age! Depending on your friends breed, a 3 month old is verging on the age where she can become pregnant. 

I would not allow any more introductions until both are fixed, or you've waited at least two months after your male is neutered to avoid pregnancies. Especially the smaller rabbits, they can breed at a very young age, so for now on I would keep them completely, 100% separate and try bonding once both are fixed.


----------



## bashful_harmony (Aug 4, 2008)

No, both of them are fixed. We don't really plan on doing it.. At least not yet.
We're both teenagers, so we don't have the money right now and our parents wouldn't pay for it >_<

We were planning on getting them tobond and then eventually have babies, but not right now. Is there any other way for them to bond without him humping her or having him neutered? 

And my friend's breed is a Netherland Dwarf. She's really tiny! I keep trying to pullmy rabbit away from her and put him back inside his cage but he gets really hyper and keeps biting on his cage. 

Thanks for replying =)


----------



## Spring (Aug 4, 2008)

Rabbits are programmed to produce - very rapidly.. where the phrase comes "Breeding like rabbits!". Your male will mount to impregnate her - there is no way around it. Hormones are too strong otherwise.

You are playing with fire a bit, sorry to say. At 3 months old and a tiny breed - she is able to get pregnant. And at 5 months old, and alarger breed, your rabbit is able to get your friends rabbit pregnant. If this were to happen, you could be facing serious issues due to the immaturity ofthe rabbitsreproductive system, added on with mating with a larger buck means stuck kits which means emergency c section or death.. which would cost more than a spay and neuter combined. 

If you want to be kind to your bunnies, I would keep them completely separate. Breeding is not something to be taken lightly - it is expensive and risky.. especially when you are dealing with a buck larger than the doe.. there is a serious risk of stuck kits, which can lead to the death of your friends rabbit and very large vet bills.


----------



## bashful_harmony (Aug 4, 2008)

Yeah, I know about the possibility of the doe dying during pregnancy, cause she's so small. That's why we were going to wait until she was at least 6 months.. My rabbit's a Holland Lop, so he's not that big when the doe will grow to her full size. 

Ahh.. Don't know what to do TT-TT'

I'm currently babysitting my friend's rabbit while he's away on vacation.They're in seperate cages though. Also, my rabbit keeps pooping everywhere when I let him out D: He's litter trained though. Is that normal? Or is he just leaving his territorial poops?


----------



## NZminilops (Aug 4, 2008)

You don't know what to do? Spring has given very good information and advice, what you should do is listen and follow it.

DON'T let them get near eachother. Why do you want to breed crossbred rabbits anyway? Just for fun? Just for the cuteness? It's really not worth the life of the smaller female rabbit, just for the sake of baby rabbits :?.

If you really want to get into breeding, talk to a breeder who deals in purebred animals. Someone who can mentor you, help you along the way...there can be so much money involved in breeding, have you got a car and money to take any bunnies to the vets if problems arise? Does you friend know you are risking their rabbit getting your male to hump at her?


----------



## Ivory (Aug 4, 2008)

If you put an intact buck and an intact doe together, they aren't going "wait" until they are six months. They're rabbits and they're going to mate. They aren't going to "bond."

If you don't want babies, get the male neutered. If that isn't possible, let him get hyper in his cage and bite at the bars. Putting them together isn't going to get you anything but a pregnant rabbit.

Please take care of your animals responsibly. You seem to care, so do the right thing. We're just here to help.


----------



## Maureen Las (Aug 4, 2008)

Like everyone above has said please do not allow you rabbits to be together at all.
You are looking ahead to a tiny netherland dwarf and a whole lot of baby bunnies or the possibility of the young female dying trying to give birth. 
if you stay on this forum and learn a lot about rabbits you will understand why we are all telling you the same thing.


----------



## naturestee (Aug 4, 2008)

Argh, my 4 lb adult foster bunny had trouble giving birth this weekend, if the kits had beenslightly bigger she would have died. That was an accidental litter, I can't imagine allowing that to happen to such a young, tiny rabbit.

Boy rabbit + girl rabbit = babies. Frustrated teenage boy rabbit = needs a neuter. And for future reference, angry girl rabbit = pregnant and/or needs a spay. I'm sorry if I sound harsh but this is how the shelter I volunteer at getsa lotof it's rabbits. It's why we consider spay/neuter necessary for rabbits.

Oh, and FYI boy rabbit and girl rabbit that are both intact and living together = babies, mom gets pregnant againa few minutes after giving birth and has to nurse babies while growing more in her belly, weans 1st litter early to give birth to litter #2 and gets pregnant again right away and... Endless cycle that can cause health problems for both the mom and the babies.

Please call around to local shelters and rabbit rescues and see if there are any low cost spay/neuter programs for rabbits in your area. See if your parents will help, at least to prevent the girl from having an accidental litter. Hopefully she's too young but my dwarf girl hit puberty right at 3 months and that's when they can start getting pregnant.

I apologize for being harsh but this is a fact of life, and I'm cleaning up the mess of a similar situation for my poor foster bun right now.


----------



## bashful_harmony (Aug 4, 2008)

Yes, I am capable of driving and Ido havea car and money. I pay for everything for my rabbit, not my parents.

I've only put them both in the same hallway. Their cages aren't evennext to each other and my rabbit is starting to calm down finally. And why wouldn't I want crossbreed rabbits? A rabbit is still a rabbit even if it's mixed, and I don't care what kind of breed he/she is, I'd still takeit in. And I have no choice but to let them live together right now. My friend is on vacation for at least a week and he asked me to take care of her. 

I've already asked the workers at the pet store how big my friend's rabbit will be and they take in the same rabbits from the same breeder. She'll get twice as big as the size she is right now, will weight in between 3-4 lbs, and will only be a little bit smaller than the size of my own rabbit.

And I've said that I wouldn't let them breed until the doe was at least 6 months pregnant or until she stopped growing. That's why I keep pulling my rabbit off of her and putting him in his cage everytime he tries humping her! After that,I was planning on gettingmy rabbit neutered because by then, I'll have enough money to pay for it myself.

I don't even let them out at the same time anyways except for when my friend came earlier today to drop her off. It was only for 5 minutes while we set up the cage and everything for the female rabbit and they were both supervised. I pulled my rabbit off everytime he humped her after the first try (I let him stay on for only 20 seconds) and put him in the cage after he tried humping her the 3rd time. I don't know why you all assume I let them out to play together all day..


----------



## naturestee (Aug 4, 2008)

Just so you know, it takes less than 20 seconds for a buck to impregnate a doe. She could already be pregnant. I certainly wouldn't bet against it.

You might take in a mixed breed rabbit, but I assure you they are always the last to get adopted. They tend to not look as distinctive, even two different dwarf breeds crossed together. Would you be able to take care of every single baby she has for the rest of their lives? Dwarfs tend to have fewer babies but 2-4 is average and they can easily have a lot more. My 4 lbmini rex mix foster bun has now had two litters with 6 rabbits each.


----------



## Spring (Aug 4, 2008)

Definitely doesn't take all day for rabbits to do the 'deed' and get pregnant - definitely no romance with rabbits! Take a split second, faster than you can even pull him off her, and she could be pregnant. That's why it's so dangerous to even have them together supervised - when rabbits are determined to breed, they do it _quickly._

Dwarves mature very early in life, and even though 6 months in your mind might be 'ideal' she's capable of becoming pregnant sooner than that, and you will end up with a huge mess on your hand and an angry friend if she gets pregnant and has troubles delivering, or worse, dies because of it.


----------



## Haley (Aug 4, 2008)

Even if they are only together for like 5 seconds she can still get pregnant. Its very likely that shes pregnant from their encounter earlier if he mounted her. We just have to hope that maybe shes young enough that she hasnt developed sexually.

And its not that we dont all love any breed of rabbit, its just that there are so many unwanted rabbits in the world that unless youre working with an experienced breeder its really considered awful to breed mixed rabbits. Rabbits can be quite difficult to deal with as they mature (they start to chew on things, etc) and a lot of people dont want them once the "cuteness" of having a baby wears off. I volunteer with two rabbit rescues here in Michigan- one has 150 domestic rabbits who need homes and the other has over 500 rabbits. It breaks your heart to know how many will be put to sleep due to overpopulation.

We're not antibreeder here (in fact, many of our mods are highly respected breeders) its just that we want people to be educated and informed before they breed. 

You sound like you love your bunny very much. Im glad you found us! Please try to keep them separate at all times right now until you can read up more on breeding and see if its something you really want to get into.

Haley


----------



## bashful_harmony (Aug 4, 2008)

He only humped her from behind once = And I pulled him offwhen he triedgetting on top of her.The other 2 times were either on the side or in front of her face @[email protected]

And actually, my friend wants to have baby rabbits as well, but he agrees that we'll let them do it when she's older and big enough to give birth.

I'm only taking care of her for a week you guys o.o She's not even my rabbit >_<

I don't think she's old enough to get pregnant since the pet store where my friend bought her from said that we could return her if she and my rabbit didn't get along.. Why would they take in a pregnant rabbit ?


----------



## Haley (Aug 5, 2008)

A lot of pet stores dont know anything about rabbits. They might not even know how easily they can become pregnant, or that she is old enough to get pregnant. Or they could just not care since if she was pregnant and gave birth there they could try to sell the babies off for a profit. 

Really, our pet stores keep bunnies on crappywood shavings, which are horrible for rabbits. They feed this awful food with seeds and colored bits in it which is really bad for bunnies, and they dont feed any hay (which is an essential part of a rabbit's diet). On top of that, they tell everyone that every bunny is a "dwarf" even though its not a dwarf, its just a very very young bunny (hence being so small). 

We're not trying to beat you up. We're just hoping you will take some time and read up on rabbit care, behavior and definitely on breeding before you put them together again. Rabbits who are spayed and neutered live longer, happier, and healthier lives. Female rabbits have a high risk of developing uterine cancer as they mature, which spaying eliminates. I hope you will at least consider doing some research into spaying and neutering, especially if you would like them to be able to bond (for more than just getting her pregnant). Rabbits are highly social beings and definitely benefit from being altered and allowed to live with a mate.

Heres some links in case youre curious about why we're all so keen on spaying and neutering rabbits.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/breeding.html

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12040&forum_id=10


----------



## Pipp (Aug 5, 2008)

Hi BH, welcome to RO! 

Can you put your location in your profile? It really helps us help members, seeing as every country/area is different in terms of breeds, resources, etc.

I think your post above meant to say they were NOT fixed, right?

I'm sure you're getting the gist already from thisthread, but I'll confirm that I did indeed see two rabbits around the same agesuccessfully breed in almost a split second. The boy ran over to the girl,he only started to mount her from behind when he was grabbed, and lo and behold,31 days later she had a litter. (The poor mom was too young,she survived, but was never thesame happy little girl she was -- and she really hated her babies). 

They only live a year or soout in the wild, so they have to be prolific breeders to survive. They have the opposite problem as house rabbits, though. They are overrunning the shelters. If you check our 'Rescue Me' forum, there are so many rabbits being ethanized every day. 

People arecertainly within their rights to breed rabbits, but for the many rescuers that populate this board,every baby represents a shelter death. Either the babies (or the baby's babies)end up inshelters, and evenif they'rerehomed in safe havens,it's still seen as one less spacethat may have been available for another bunny.

On that note, I will ask the members not to continueberating this subject. I think the point has been made. 

We want you to stick around and learn all about the joys (and the odd frustration) of being a bunny slave. 



sas :welcome1


----------



## bashful_harmony (Aug 5, 2008)

Thanks Pipp.

Haley: Yeah, I know female rabbits especially have a high risk of getting cancer if they're not spayed.. I've already told my friend about that, so he's considering it.
I *will* be getting my male rabbit neutered for sure. Just not right now because I don't have enough money for it. I'm an incoming senior in high school right now, so I'm willing to sacrifice my promso I have enough money to get him neutered.

Anyways, I'm going to call the pet store tomorrow and ask them how many months my friend's rabbit is.


----------



## TinysMom (Aug 5, 2008)

Edited to add: Pipp's post was not here when I started typing - I'm sorry for continuing the discussion but I am going to leave my post as it was originally posted in case in the future there is a question about breeding Holland Lops and Netherland Dwarfs....since I've always heard they were two of the hardest breeds to work with.


First of all - welcome to the forum! I'm glad you came looking for information to help you. That is one of the signs of responsible pet ownership - to watn to learn and figure things out.

To give you a bit of background - I was a lionhead breeder and bred for almost 3 years. I'm fortunate in the fact that lionheads are an easy breed to work with....I never really had a stuck kit or major issues - although we did have some.

However - from what I've been told - two of the hardest breeds to work with for breeding - are Netherland Dwarfs....and Holland Lops. It sounds like you have both of them.

I'd like to take a moment to explain why they're hard to work with and what some of the problems can be. Please understand - I am not criticizing you for your desire to breed - but before you do so - I'd like you to understand some of the risks involved.

A Holland Lop has a larger head than a Netherland dwarf does. Even in Holland Lops, I frequently hear of breeders having "stuck kits" from the baby getting stuck in the birth canal - even though Holland Lops are bigger than Netherland Dwarves.
So what you are doing - is looking at breeding a "bigger" breed (head wise) to a smaller breed - which means you are MUCH more likely to have stuck kits.

I'd like to go back to Netherland Dwarfs though for a minute. They can also be very hard to breed - because they are so small - even if bred to another Netherland Dwarf - they are still likely to have stuck kits - and they frequently will lose their first litter. 
Of course, does of many breeds will lose their first litter from giving birth on the cage wire, not using the nestbox, not understanding what to do, etc. Or they might give birth but not nurse them. This is why breeders will frequently have "backup" moms available from doing some planned breedings on the same day.

I have friends who have bred Holland Lops and Netherland Dwarfs (and lionheads) - and I don't know how many times she'd do her breedings and her Netherland Dwarfs and Hollands would have stuck kits - or kits that were dead on arrival from spending so much time in the birth canal....sometimes they're called "pencil kits" because they are long and narrow from the mom struggling so long to get them out. 
Here are some questions for you to consider before breeding:
Can you handle having a stuck kit? Do you know how to deal with it? Even experienced breeders can wind up not getting the kit out without a vet's help.
Will you have the finances for an emergency trip to the vet for either a cesearean to deliver the babies - or to have help with a stuck kit? 
If labor is taking too long - you may need to have the vet give a shot of oxytocin. 
Will you have cages for the babies?
A lot of times people get into breeding - whether it be mixed breeds - or purebred - because they think it will be easy - or they think it will be fun to have cute babies.

May I be honest with you? Its not all fun - and when a delivery goes bad - which it can do quickly (especially with those two breeds) - it can be scary and stressful.

Once again, I commend you for looking for information about rabbits and trying to learn. I hope that what I have shared will just help you make an informed decision.

To be honest with you - if I had it to do over again - I'm not sure I would've gotten into breeding. I honestly believe I lost one of my does (a pet) because I bred her and it weakened her immune system (she was a small lionhead that carried the dwarfing gene - like a Netherland Dwarf does). 

Whatever you decide - I hope I've given you something to think about.

Feel free to pm me if you have any questions.

Peg


----------



## gentle giants (Aug 5, 2008)

I have been on both sides of this. I used to breed, but I stopped once I saw how many homeless rabbits there are, and went into rescuing instead. I now have 35 rabbits in my barn, and that number grows constantly. 

Just to clarify, the doe belongs to your friend and the buck is yours, right? Does your friend have the money for an emergency c-section? We're talking a couple of hundred dollars, or even more. And even fully mature Netherland Dwarfs tend to have trouble giving birth. 

Also, here are about 50 more reasons not to breed pet rabbits. And this isn't even the tip of the iceberg.

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=37882&forum_id=7

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=38274&forum_id=7

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=38205&forum_id=7

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=38009&forum_id=7


----------

