Help Again! My rabbits are 9 weeks old need help sexing them!

[smpratte]

Okay I posted here before and got the best help on my new little buns. They are all 9 weeks old now and very cute. The only issues I have now are sexing them, and also I am finding small amounts of blood once in awhile. I have looked on the internet but I have only found one picture for lion head dwarfs and it was not helpful.

Also when I hold the buns in the position where they are calm to check their sex, I noticed that some have a bit of blood coming from their genitals. If anyone could help me with this, also I do need help sexing them because I do not want a repeat of whate happened, well I do I just don't have time to take care of them

Anyway if anyone can help me out I would appreciate it tremendously.

Scott

 

[BlueGiants]

Here are two links to sexing a rabbit:

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/sexingboys.shtml
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/sexinggirls.shtml

I'm not sure why you are finding blood in the area. Are you pressing too hard? Check for signs of infection. Once you sex them, separate them. The boys will be able to impregnate their mom in a few weeks. And the sisters will be ready for breeding in a month or so....

 

[smpratte]

thanks blue giant, I have seperated them from their mother but from each other it is more difficult. None of them have testicles and they all look like females.

About the blood it is a very small amount but it is only on the few buns that started humping for dominance

 

[BlueGiants]

They are too young to have testicles showingyet. The testicles are "tucked up inside" and probably won't "descend" until they are 3 months old. (Yeah, you can't go by that!) You have to gently press on the genitals to make them protrude enough to tell what they are.

If they are humping for dominance, breeding isn't far behind. You really need to check for injuries to the genitals... if they are humping "the wrong end", they can get bit (NOT nice!) which leaves them open to infection.


Chances are pretty slim that the whole litter is female... double(or triple) check!

 

[tonyshuman]

I have had an unneutered (and sexually mature) male that humped another bunny for dominance so much that he bruised/rug-burned his penis. At first we thought he had been bitten by the bunny he was bothering, but later we figured that was not the case. I'd separate them because it's not healthy for them to be continually doing this--any wound is susceptible to infection, etc.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

BlueGiants wrote:

They are too young to have testicles showingyet. The testicles are "tucked up inside" and probably won't "descend" until they are 3 months old.

Not necessarily. I bought a buck a few months ago at 10 weeks and his had already dropped!:shock:

"Chances are pretty slim that the whole litter is female... double (or triple) check!"

This is another "not necessarily". I went for 3 years getting nothing but bucks in every litter. And I have one breeding pair who gives me an entire litter of does every time. So they could all be the same!

 

[BlueGiants]

OakRidgeRabbits wrote:

BlueGiants wrote:

They are too young to have testicles showingyet. The testicles are "tucked up inside" and probably won't "descend" until they are 3 months old.

Not necessarily. I bought a buck a few months ago at 10 weeks and his had already dropped!:shock:

"Chances are pretty slim that the whole litter is female... double (or triple) check!"

This is another "not necessarily". I went for 3 years getting nothing but bucks in every litter. And I have one breeding pair who gives me an entire litter of does every time. So they could all be the same!

Yeah, they could be all females, but I wouldn't believe it unless they were properly sexed... not guessed at because they don't have testicles at 9 weeks of age. Depending on the breeds... there are a lot of variables. And it isn't THAT difficult to sex them properly. Better to be sure than to have brothers and sisters breeding at such a young age.

I've had litters of all one sex...I've had bucks show testicles at an early age (and I've had some that NEVER descended). But it's better to check.

 

[Nela]

It can never hurt to learn how to properly sex bunnies and learn to spot the difference in any case :rose:

 

[smpratte]

yes I don't think that they are all females, i was saying that they all look like the female photo. They are so small that it is difficult to differentiate between them.

If I take some photos could I get a second opinion. The only experience I have in sexing any animals is the hamsters I had in the past which were about 30, and surprisingly easier.

Anyway I will take some photos and if someone could help me out I would appreciate it very much because it has been stressful trying to figure out their sex.

 

[pamnock]

Pinch the tail between your index and middle finger, gently pulling in back and press in front of the genitals gently with your thumb. In both sexes, the genitals will protrude out a little for a better view. Perfect round circles (donuts) are bucks. The does don't protrude out in a perfect circle - the genitals will have the appearance of a "taco", sloping towards the rectum. (However, split penis bucks can also have this appearance and are often mistaken for does).

Also, theperineum gap between the rectum and genitals is wider in bucks than in does, where the vulva seems to almost directly connect to the rectum in does.

It can be rather difficult to sex rabbits, and there are a few that are rather ambiguous and tough to sex - even for the experts.

If the rabbits are humping, blood may be present in the male genitals due to breakage of delicate blood vessles, which is not abnormal in rabbits.

Pam

 

[BlueGiants]

If you want to post photos, we'd be happy totry and help...

 

[smpratte]

Okay thank you Pam that was very helpful, and I will post some pictures to get a second opinion.