It can be very difficult to determine the sex of
a young rabbit. Although the explanation and
diagram below will help you, it is best to have
an experienced person show you how to sex
rabbits of different ages.
To determine the sex of a
rabbit:
- Hold the rabbit on his/her back on your
lap with the hind legs facing away from you.
With a larger rabbit, you may want to hold
the rabbit with his/her hind legs facing
towards you. Placing a rabbit on his/her
back will put the rabbit into a state almost
like a trance. Rabbits still feel pain while
in this position, and should not be held
this way for a prolonged period of time.
- When first learning to sex a rabbit, it
will be helpful if another person gently
restrains the head of the rabbit while you
use both hands to part the fur and apply
gentle pressure on each side of the vent,
which is the area including the anus and the
genitals. (The anus is basically the opening
of the intestines to the outside from which
droppings are eliminated. The genitals are
the external portions of the reproductive
tract.) Once you have more experience, you
can restrain the rabbit's head with one
hand, and apply the gentle pressure with the
other.
- While applying pressure to the vent
area, you will see the anus, the opening
closest to the tail.
-
The
opening farthest from the tail is the
genitals.
Males: In male rabbits, the penis
will appear as a tubular protrusion. It is
round in diameter, very light pink in young
males, and has a rounded tip with a small
round opening at its center. In most bucks
(male rabbits) older than 10 weeks, you will
also notice the testicles on each side and
slightly cranial to the penis. They will
feel like small mounds under the skin, and
in older males, are not covered with fur.
Bucks can withdraw the testicles into the
abdomen, so even if you can not feel the
testicles, the rabbit may still be a male.
Females:
When the gentle pressure is applied to the
vent area of a doe (female rabbit), you will
see a pink protrusion, but the protrusion is
slanted, more oval, and has a slit versus a
small round opening.
Other sexual differences
in older rabbits
As rabbits age, more physical differences
between the sexes will become apparent. Bucks
have blockier heads and are smaller than does of
the same breed. Most adult does of medium or
large breeds will have a dewlap, which is the
large fold of skin under their chins. Does have
nipples, whereas bucks do not. However, the
nipples may be difficult to find on a doe that
has not had a litter. So, similar to the
testicles in the males, even if you can not find
the nipples on a rabbit, the rabbit could still
be a doe.
