Help, I placed male kit with dad but they're trying to mate!

[elenichee]

Hi,
My male kit is now 10 weeks so I thought it was time to move him back with the dad. Unfortunately, when I put him back in the cage with his dad, the dad seems to be making attempts to mate with the male kit. It's horrible!

What's going on? Is this behavior even normal?

 

[tunes]

Are they fighting or is the dad just humping him? Humping is a sign of dominance, but it's somewhat odd that he would do it with a chin so young. Snip dad's whiskers back short and see if that helps. Otherwise, if he keeps doing it over and over, I would try pulling the little one out for a while and try reintroducing when he's a bit bigger. Having dad all over him like that is not going to make him feel super comfortable in that cage.

 

[elenichee]

Hello,
Thanks for your reply. Yeah, dad is kind of like humping the kit. Poor thing. I'll try to snip dad's whiskers if he doesn't stop it. He's so mean to the little one.

 

[sheltiefan]

what does sniping the whiskers do?

 

[chin-nw]

It makes them less dominant toward the cage mate.

 

[aznmexaggie]

Dominant chins often chew down the whiskers of the more submissive chins and long whiskers are a sign of a chin's alpha-like status (though they aren't really pack animals... alpha is the best term I can think of for such a chin). By trimming the whiskers of an overly-dominant chin, it can "put him in his place", so to speak, as the dominant behavior often stops.

 

[CJR]

Are you sure the kit is male?