Rabbit thinks I’m his mate! How do I stop it?

[SarahsBunny]

Hello! My rabbit, Mocha, who once was a little cute bunny is now all grown up!! And while I love that hes more energetic and wants to play around, he definitely thinks I’m his mate.
He keeps circling me and tries to mount my hand if I pick him up to place him somewhere else (hes fine with being picked up THE RIGHT WAY and licks me when I do so) but this time we made a small growling/honking noise and tried to mount my arm. Of course I put him down and I noticed a pattern. If i’m alone in the room he will do his little mating circling around me. When i call someone to the room he acts like nothing happened and goes back to playing with his toys or flopping over (what a slick little bunny). I KNOW neutering is the only option here but I can’t make an appointment until May-August (basically summer) since the place is 2 hours away. I live in nyc and being a college student I cant afford 1000 for a rabbit neuter so I’d have to go to one in NJ which I already got the deets about recently (pretty cheap 100-150 for a neuter and pain meds). So until then my question is
HOW DO I GET HIM TO NOT THINK IM HIS MATE?? He doesn’t do this to any one else and acts normal around them but he definitely thinks we’re married and I did not consent to this. Is there a way to assert dominance?
Reading it all sounds funny but its true! Other than that hes an incredibly well behaved bunny and is playful plus very healthy and chonky!

 

[Preitler]

This isn't much about dominance, but about what rabbits excel at . Young bucks put a lot of energy in it, some more, some less, but it might get better with age.

Neutering would be an option, especially if you ever plan to get him a mate. At least he isn't spraying you, that little humping might be embarrassing but it isn't their full repertoir of showing affection . Mybe getting him a plushie to act out these urges might help to not get bothered.

Anyway, it's only certain times during the day, and in the year when my Pacino is this kind of jerk to his Dotty (spayed), spring naturally is one of them, and Dotty keeps hopping away for about half an hour in the morning and evening. Thankfully she is such a patient girl and the rest of the the day is pretty much harmony.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Neuter.

 

[SarahsBunny]

This isn't much about dominance, but about what rabbits excel at . Young bucks put a lot of energy in it, some more, some less, but it might get better with age.

Neutering would be an option, especially if you ever plan to get him a mate. At least he isn't spraying you, that little humping might be embarrassing but it isn't their full repertoir of showing affection . Mybe getting him a plushie to act out these urges might help to not get bothered.

Anyway, it's only certain times during the day, and in the year when my Pacino is this kind of jerk to his Dotty (spayed), spring naturally is one of them, and Dotty keeps hopping away for about half an hour in the morning and evening. Thankfully she is such a patient girl and the rest of the the day is pretty much harmony.

Definitely gave him a plushie hopefully he doesn’t use it too much
I know rabbits just do it out of instinct which is why I cant wait to get him neutered so he can go back to thinking that im his human bunny friend instead of otherwise lol
And aww my other rabbit that i had would also be patience with her sibling who would randomly try to mount her
Glad they have some sort of patience!

 

[TreasuredFriend]

With rescues from high-volume shelters and abandoned buns taken off the street, the hormones kick in and mounting, circling, grunting, engage. Their dominance intentions occur also after neutering as we notice that with our elder sp/eutered house rabbits.

One 2 m.o. rescue did all the lovey-dovey stuff with his human dad, and once his neuter appt. approached Humee became a fire hose spurting his semem everywhere!

Our present 9 y.o. harlequin boy (no longer wanted by his previous owner) excels at grooming and mounting his silver stuffie bunny. Preiter's advice about a stuffie plushie can subdue some of his hormonal activities. The Flemish Rescue we took in saturated his stuffie pal prior to neuter!!

Yes, Indeed, @Preitler, we went through numerous years of SPRAYING in the face, clothing, walls, you name it, prior to being "neutralized", i.e. neutered.

Our 10+ y.o. neutered agouti male(neutered when his testicles dropped) who had a deep connection with his rescue dad continued to circle, hum, and buzz around hubby's legs when hub approached. They had a deep bond and connection - whereas this boy rarely did this with me.

Please inform all your college friends or everyone you know who is contemplating a beloved companion pet to visit this site, or read up on hormones when pets mature. It will help them to set aside the funds needed to sp/euter in the future and keep them from spraying their male hormone hoses.

-- Thanks for checking into rabbit-savvy DVMs who excel at spay/neuter surgeries.

 

[SarahsBunny]

Neuter.

Should read the middle-last part of my post

 

[TreasuredFriend]

@SarahsBunny, Rabbits have so much personality, and so? From the nearly 20 years of rescue and bunny parenting, we truly enjoy their personalities and how they interact with their stuffie pets, too!

Prior to adopting our first from the local shelter, we didn't think domestics were self-induced ovulators. I did years of cottontail rehab in our colder climate, and I assumed the domestic agoutis would have a turn-off switch and not reproduce from November thru February like wild bunnies in our region. We learned this wasn't so when hub took in three abandoned domestics in January / February of 2006. Females gave birth to 16.

Kindly keep us posted on this! There may also be an RO archive thread on rabbit-savvy DVMs in your area.

This is a good education article: RABBIT HEALTH: Spay or Neuter my Rabbit?

 

[Mileybun]

I think neutering will definitely help here, I can't really think of anything else that will
Although hormones tend to be raging at this time of year so hopefully they'll settle a bit over the summer so you get a bit of a break before he has his op!

 

[Jocee]

sometimes bunnies will mount your arm or leg, just out of affection, or because they like you so much. If this is the case neutering would help him not show his affection this way so much.

I know Females will sometimes mount other females to show dominance and spaying does help reduce that action for them.

 

[Blue eyes]

I see that you do have plans to get him neutered. In the meantime, there really isn't much you can do to discourage that behavior. As mentioned by others, it could escalate to spraying urine as well. After circling, they will sometimes jump and spray urine on the object of their affection.

Two things to consider with your plans (if you haven't considered it yet) is (1.) to be sure that the cheaper vet you found is well-experienced with rabbit neuters. Their price sounds great. Just want to be sure they have done many successful rabbit neuters. And (2), see if you can schedule sooner than later. May is next month, so that would be better than waiting til August. The longer you wait, the more ingrained your rabbit's behavior can become. In other words, some hormonal behaviors (like what you are seeing) can become permanent habit even after a neuter IF the neuter is delayed for too long of a time.

Good luck with Mocha in the meantime! He looks like one of my rabbits I had. (I also had a Mocha but he wasn't the one that looked like yours.)

 

[SarahsBunny]

Ill definitely try during the end of May when my college ends! And for now hes using a plushie
He hasn’t done much except try to mount his toy ball once and then the plushie the other time.
I get second hand embarrassment having to witness it but its so funny
But it makes sense as they are prey animals and have the need to multiply.
Thanks for all the advice! I really really do hope he never sprays his urine because that would be new and I definitely don’t need to deal with the cleanup!

 

[overhear]

Before we got my bunny spayed I bought her this 'realistic' plush rabbit toy, which helped to divert her attention. It's so realistic that when people 1st walk into the room they think I have 2 rabbits.

Ridley The Rabbit - 11 Inch Realistic Stuffed Animal Plush Bunny - by Tiger Tale Toys
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I127ECA

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Neutering made all of our rescues way more user friendly. One female was still fixated on me and would attack Nancy if I was in the room--if I wasn't in the room she was very neutral with everyone.