What age can you sex a rabbit?

[BrianC]

Hey, I have some little baby bunnies and they'reabout 5 weeks. I've heard a REALLY experienced vet can tellif they're male or female as early as 3-4 weeks. I'm notexperienced, obviously. LOL

Does anyone think I'll be able to tell, or do I really need to have thevet sex them? I know what the genetalia should generally looklike, but at such a young age, I'm having issues trying to sex them.

When will the bucks be able to impregnant other rabbits? Ineed to know exactly when to seperate them. I've heardconflicting information and I want to be SURE about this so we don'tend up having tons of babies or any of the babies dying while givingbirth too young. Thanks in advance for your input!

- Brian

 

[Carolyn]

Hi Brian,

You don't have to go to a vet to tell the boys from the girls, but youdo have to have good eyes! Pamnock always says if they looklike a taco, it's a girl, if it looks like a donut, it's aboy. (Isn't that how it goes, Dr. Pam?)

They will start showing signs of territorialism and breeding whenthey're 8 weeks, but not really 'lethal' until 12 weeks. Youhave to be careful of some beating up on the others as they get intothat 6-8 week range. They can get pregnant beforethey're full-grown adults.

You may wish to check out this website:http://www.debmark.com/rabbits/sexing.htm

-Carolyn

 

[Dolores Lindvall]

Slit = Taco

Round = Donut

I like Taco and Donut better than slit and round!

That's what I told my granddaughter, who learned to sex rabbits whenshe was 3 or 4, somewhere in there. Her eyesight was betterthan mine, as when I was working with the rabbits, I usually did nothave my glasses on. We applied a bit of pressure to see whichwould pop up...taco or donut. But, if you apply too muchpressure, you can actually make a donut stretch out to look more like ataco. I think that it's harder to sex the dwarfs, aseverything on them is smaller.

And if you goof up, you can very definately have babies born when the doe is 16 weeks old!

- Dolores

 

[pamnock]

Brian, you'll also find that the perenium(section between the scrotum (or vagina) and the poop chute) has moreof a span in the buck than in the doe.

I've found that the "tacos and donuts" analogy is a great way for kids(and adults) to learn to sex rabbits. My 5 year old can sexvery young bunnies with a very high rate of accuracy.

The most difficult to sex are "split penis" bucks, which when young,appear very similar to females and have fooled many experts.Also, a diversity of different shaped genitals exist in the realm ofnormality.

The best way to practice is to gently attempt to sex the bunnies fromwhen they are young at intervals of 1 week, taking notes on what sexyou think they are until you are certain. Extremely youngbunnies can be sexed by the span of the perenium without pressing onthe genitals at all. Care must be used as the genitals can bebruised and damaged at a young age.

Pam

 

[Dolores Lindvall]

Does that split penis hinder the buck in breeding?

- Dolores

 

[pamnock]

Dolores Lindvall wrote:

Does that split penis hinder the buck in breeding?

- Dolores

It depends on ths location of the split on the shaft. A splitand the very tip would have less of an effect than a split near thebase which would "leak". Urine leakage can also be a concernwith split penis bucks. It is not currently know how thecongenital deformity is inherited, but using a split buck for breedingis highly discouraged.

Pam

 

[BrianC]

Wow, thanks for the great information!I'll definitely have to give it a try. Sounds like somereally good advice.

Now...does anyone have any advice on holding the rabbits and makingthem more comfortable with it? We handle the baby bunnies alot, but they still like to struggle and get scared. I maypost about this separately. Thanks again!

- Brian C.