Mating behavior?

Haru the Lionhead · Oct 22, 2022

Hello guys
I have an unspayed two year old female rabbit
She recently started to circle me ALOT! While honking, popping, and producing a really bad smell that I’ve never smelled before ( it’s not like cecotropes)
Whenever I google this i get different answers
Like she loves me or that she’s in heat and wants to mate
But I also know that female rabbits don’t go through heat?
So what does this mean and do I have to do something about it or will she stop by herself?
Note: she had some issues before and we cannot spay her.
Also, she sometimes eat the poops that she dropped around me

Preitler · Oct 22, 2022

Well, how sure are you that she's actually female? When "she" starts spraying you there might be a reconsidering of names in order

Anyway, that "no heat" is kind of a misunderstanding, rabbits are induced ovolators and can indeed get pregnant anytime, but does definitly have their times and schedule, when not in mood it can take weeks to get them to breed. I let my buck with the two does for almost a month and got litters 3 weeks apart.

I reckon this behaviour will stop after a while. They have their moods at times, that's normal. Nothing to be done about it, other than having a nice cup of tea and breathing deeply.

Haru the Lionhead · Oct 23, 2022

Preitler said:
Well, how sure are you that she's actually female? When "she" starts spraying you there might be a reconsidering of names in order

Anyway, that "no heat" is kind of a misunderstanding, rabbits are induced ovolators and can indeed get pregnant anytime, but does definitly have their times and schedule, when not in mood it can take weeks to get them to breed. I let my buck with the two does for almost a month and got litters 3 weeks apart.

I reckon this behaviour will stop after a while. They have their moods at times, that's normal. Nothing to be done about it, other than having a nice cup of tea and breathing deeply.

100% sure! I even have an ultrasound scan of her uterus
And.. does that mean that she’s trying to mate with me?

How long will it take? Because the smell is so bad it’s killing me.. it’s been almost a month since I started to smell it
But the circling has been going on for several months..

Preitler · Oct 23, 2022

Thinking about the smell, does normally don't smell bad. If her pee does smell bad I would have her checked for an urinary tract infection, something being off also could explain different behaviour.

JBun · Oct 23, 2022

Just be aware that because she's older and this is a new behavior, this could indicate a health problem. Smelly urine could be from a UTI. Or because she isn't spayed, the sudden change of behavior could indicate uterine abnormalities, that would require a vet check and a possible emergency spay if needed.

But first you may want to check and make sure the stinky smell isn't from a build up at her scent glands. If it is, carefully clean out the waxy build up that's occurred.

https://rabbit.org/how-to-clean-a-rabbits-scent-glands/
If the smell is from poop marking, and the behavior is just hormonal, the solution would be having her spayed, if you have a rabbit vet you trust to do it where you're at. Spaying will usually improve both of those issues.

Haru the Lionhead · Oct 23, 2022

JBun said:
Just be aware that because she's older and this is a new behavior, this could indicate a health problem. Smelly urine could be from a UTI. Or because she isn't spayed, the sudden change of behavior could indicate uterine abnormalities, that would require a vet check and a possible emergency spay if needed.

But first you may want to check and make sure the stinky smell isn't from a build up at her scent glands. If it is, carefully clean out the waxy build up that's occurred.

https://rabbit.org/how-to-clean-a-rabbits-scent-glands/
If the smell is from poop marking, and the behavior is just hormonal, the solution would be having her spayed, if you have a rabbit vet you trust to do it where you're at. Spaying will usually improve both of those issues.

Her pee doesn’t smell bad
And I don’t think it’s her scent glands, I’m always sniffing her and she smells okay
I only smell this bad scent while she’s circling around me or sometimes while petting her
It doesn’t smell like cecotropes or territorial poops which smells kinda like onions