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texasreb

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Central Texas, Texas, USA
Hi all,

I have two rabbits, one is a 3 year old intact male of mixed descent and unknown origin. He's medium sized and a really soft dove gray/white. I think he's part lionhead as he has quite an impressive tuft of long hair between his ears. I've had him for about 2 years. He is a recycled rabbit--as in I'm his 3rd owner. His name is Jasper.

As of Friday, I now also own a Californian of unknown gender. I want it to be a boy so I'm calling it a him! A friend found him on Easter of this year. We assume he was someone's present that escaped. The friend looked for an owner and eventually realized that he was now the owner. This guy is quite a bit larger than Jasper and has been living outside in a medium sized dog kennel. He isn't litter box trained, but I'm working on that. He's very friendly, but a little shy.

He is now an inside bunny. I need to build him a bigger cage immediately. His is much too small. Staying still he takes up a 1/3 of it. My question is: can I build a C & C cage for such a big bunny? I think you call them something else on this site... He can't free range at this point because he isn't box trained and I have my other rabbit to consider.

Also, is there a reliable tutorial on sexing them somewhere? I think I can tell if he's an intact male, but how can I tell if he's been neutered or if he's a she? Also, is there any way to tell if a female has been spayed?

Thanks!
 
welcome to RO!

I see no reason why he couldn't be in a C&C cage. a single 4'' ziptie is rated to support like 18 lbs and you use at least two for every connection.

cage info (we refer to them as NIC cages here, but it's the exact same thing):
http://breyfamily.net/bunnycage.html
http://www.guineapigcages.com/cubes.htm
best deal on grids for the cages: http://www.sears.com/stor-floor-standing-6-cube-storage-unit/p-00913332000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

here's my condo:
DSCF0411.jpg


good site on sexing: http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/sexing.shtml

not sure about neutered males, never had one so I dunno for sure if the testicles go away after. as for females, they'd need their tummy shaved to check for a spay scar.

oh, and we'd love to see pics!
 
Post a pic of her/his genitalia and everyone would be happy to help you sex your bunny :) if he is a neutered male there will be no balls. A female has a slit and a male has a kinda circle, if you put your thumb at the start of his tail, and your finger above his genitalia then press down it should 'pop' out, you will then be able to see if its a slit it a circle/tube shape. If its a female and you want to know if she is spayed you will have to bring her to the vets to get her belly shaved so they can see a scar like imbrium said :) hope this helps! You'll have to post pics of your bunnies! Everyone lives bunny pics!! :)
 
Thanks guys! As soon as Snowball (the newbie) feels safe and comfortable with me--I'll take some pictures. I think it would be rather rude of me to flip him over and restrain him while someone attempts to take pictures!

I'll go read up and figure out how to post pictures. I have tons of Jasper, but none of Snowball yet.

edited to add: what a fabulous cage! I now have some inspiration! I have to 8'X4' sheets of coroplast, but I'll need to get some more cubes. I used all I had for my two Guinea pig enclosures.

 
the ones in the picture are 17''x17'' hammocks from petco - http://www.petco.com/product/103974...rrets.aspx?CoreCat=MM_Ferret_SleepersHideouts - they used them as babies, but then they stopped.

I later got them this one - http://www.petco.com/product/114066...z-E-Floor Sleeper Small Animal Hammock-114066 - which is a good bit larger (looks nothing like the pic, btw, it only comes in solid colors) and put it above the third floor and they started using it again so I guess they outgrew the first ones. unfortunately, somebunny chewed through one of the support cords and I haven't gotten around to taking it out and fixing it.

new one looked like this before it got eated:

DSCF06172.jpg
 
You can build a C&C or NIC cage for a large rabbit. I would suggest having a larger rabbit on the bottom so you don't need as much support. You can still do a shelf or level, but it will need extra support. I use wooden dowels that run a bit longer than the cage and use lots of zip ties to secure it.
If you wanted to include your other rabbit in the cage and build a really big one, putting the smaller rabbit on top works well.
A 4X8ft sheet will be enough to do a 2X4 grid cage. You would probably go as big as 3X6 grids if you needed to.

It is hard to tell if a female is spayed. You can check for a scar, but rabbits tend to heal quite well so you probably won't find one. I would tend to base it on the behaviour, if there are some hormonal behaviours then chances are she is not spayed. The absence of those behaviours might not mean 100% that she is spayed, but is a good indication. A vet could do an ultrasound to try to find the organs.
Males are pretty easy to tell if they are neutered since the testicles are on the outside and would not be there. You do need to be able to correctly sex the rabbit as males and females do look similar if you are not sure what to look for.
 
Another option is converting a dog kennel and adding an x pen. My DH used doweling and plywood to make a new level and ramp and then we put the xpen. My boy loves it.

IMG_2964_zps943bc09c.jpg


I have a dig box for him that is sitting on top of the dog kennel. I put it down for him every few days to play in. It has oat grass that grows in it so he can dig and satisfy his chewing addiction lol. I use puzzle mats for the floor of his pen to prevent the eating of carpet. Now his is a bit extreme in size as we tend to be owned by our animals lol. We live in a smallish 2bdrm apt but it works for us.

Better idea of the dog kennel conversion and dig box, this was before I gave him the other two parts of the puzzle mat. I love this for him as it lets him run around and I don't feel guilty if he doesn't get to be free range bunny on my busy days.

IMG_2958_zpseabaf68f.jpg


As for the gender... if he is an intact boy you should be able to tell when he is periscoping. Rue had us fooled, we were sure he was a she(got him at 5wks of age) until one day he was periscoping and lo and behold there were boy bits there! lol so two weeks later he was off to the vet to get neutered.
 
Yep an xpen is a puppy pen. I found mine on kijiji(Canadian version of craigslist) for $30.
 
Here are a few pictures of Jasper. Can any one identify his breed (if he is one)?

Jasper relaxing on top of his box:
iphonepictures027.jpg


Exploring the x pen:
iphonepictures022.jpg


Playing:
iphonepictures020.jpg


A shot of him grooming. I know it's blurry, but it shows his long hair between his ears:
2012-11-02110226.jpg


I'll have to get some of the newbie soon!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Imbrium said:
if you're looking for a playpen, this is the best deal I've found - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H8YTJI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 (if the price is higher than $34, just wait a few days and it normally goes back down). if you want something taller than 30'', this is the one I got - http://www.petco.com/product/5874/Precision-Pet-Eight-Panel-Wire-Pens.aspx (I got the 48'' tall one so I could put big cardboard boxes in there for them)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links. I do have a smaller x pen that I use to section off the play area.
 
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