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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A False pregnancy or gender misidentification?

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    • threebuns
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        I have had a Holland lop boy for about a year and a half and wanted a friend for him when I was randomly offered two girls. I left good about giving them a quieter life. I wouldn’t say they were neglected or anything but it wasn’t an ideal environment and they belonged to her son who didn’t really cherish them. She said he got them as babies from the pet store in August so they’re seven months. I let them get used to the place for a couple days and made myself more the nice lady with food and less the big scary lady who kidnapped us before I let them out (in the absence of my little guy, no conjugal visits though their cages are close enough they can touch paws and noses). Suddenly the bigger one started humping the smaller like crazy. For days. It was two weeks ago and it still happens haha but I had never seen it until I let them into the living room. Now this morning I noticed the submissive nesting. She was taking bundles of hay and putting them around the inside of the igloo. Has she just been humped silly lately or could they have mistaken the gender of the larger? I don’t know if male bunnies are noticeably bigger than females but this one is definitely bigger so that’s what mostly concerns me, other than the notoriety of breeders and pet stores for getting it wrong I’ll be getting all three fixed asap but the closest bunny vet is over an hour away so I’ll have to take all three at once so $$$$ but taxes are coming! But in the meantime is it plausible they’re only now sexually active (or she decided to get rid of them because she found out already the hard way it was a mistake and didn’t want to tell me)? They’re really shy and they will let me rub them through the cage only, if I try to pet them while they’re out or when I’m doing things in the cage they’ll run so I can’t just look until I get them better socialized


      • tobyluv
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          First, you should make sure that your male’s cage is not touching the females’ cage. Rabbits can manage to mate through cage bars. If you are not able to handle the new rabbits to check on gender, you can try holding a treat, like a piece of apple or favorite veggie, over their heads to make them stand up. If they are 7 months old, testicles should be visible on a male. At 7 months of age, even if both the new rabbits are female, you may need to put them in separate cages. Once rabbits reach sexual maturity, which they certainly have at their age, they can start fighting. Rabbits can severely injure each other when fighting. The first step in bonding rabbits is for all of them to be spayed and neutered. Then after a 2 to 4 week period, you can start bonding them. The two new rabbits were fine together when they were babies, but they aren’t babies now. If it does turn out that one of the new rabbits is a male, there is a good chance that the female is pregnant. That would be another reason to separate the rabbits now. She could already have been pregnant when you got her, and be close to giving birth, so the male should not be with her. It would really be good if you could determine their gender now, so you will be prepared. If you can’t get them to stand up to check them, you may just have to take them out of the cage and get a good look.  Or maybe you could contact a nearby vet.  Even if he or she isn’t all that rabbit savvy, If he sees any rabbits at all, he should be able to determine gender and if one turns out to be a male, he could palpate the female to see if she is pregnant. 


        • Eepster
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            Whether or not one of the females is actually male, if they were close enough to touch noses with your male, they were close enough to get pregnant. There are reasons rabbits are fertility symbols.

            Assume the nesting female is pregnant, and treat her accordingly.

            Size is mostly a matter of breed, not gender.


          • threebuns
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              Is it appropriate to ask how they mate through the cages? I’ve never seen any funny business but maybe they only do it when they know I’m gone. The bigger one began adding her fur to the nest yesterday so I’m definitely going to figure something out today. I have two adjoining rooms I can close off with dutch doors so I might put one in one and one in the other if I can find a way to ensure they can’t get behind the washer and dryer. They are very cuddly with each other and eat off the same kale leaves. If the submissive doesn’t want to be humped she just goes into the igloo and that ends it. Right now they’re sprawled out leaning against each other taking a nap. I feel bad segregating them but if they both did manage to get pregnant I don’t want them trying to use the same nest, I can see all kinds of ways that could go bad.


            • threebuns
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                Ok so I put the smaller in the dining room and the bigger in the spare room next to it. I closed both the bottom halves of the dutch doors and put the baby gate between the dining room and kitchen. I moved the nest into a proper nesting box and gave additional stuff to nest with so maybe she won’t pull herself bald I took as much of the white fur as I could, which belongs to the bigger, and put it in a second proper nesting box In her room along with fresh stuff to build a nest with so she can make her own, should she still feel inclined. We’ll see how it goes! Is there anything else I should do?


              • Bek C
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                  We had a similar experience… Frank was my “gateway bun”, and he was a baby when I brought him home. As it turns out, I just don’t have the energy to keep a baby bunny entertained, so we decided to consider getting another male bunny. the next day I adopted Otis (a big lug of a Silver Fox, who was to be slaughtered for meat that evening). A few days later, the mad humping started. Wee Frank going to town on poor, honking Otis, 24/7. We got Otis from an experienced rabbit guy, so surely Frank must be gay. I’m ok with that, though Otis seemed to be having trouble communicating his preference, but then started focusing on passionately constructing intricate nests and pulling fur. Once they hit around 4-5 months, I took them to get snipped and it took three techs and one ancient veterinarian to determine that our Otis is a girl. We were then on kit watch… I did get Otis a nest box, which she still rebuilds monthly (in synch with my cycle. How’s that for odd and interesting?)… No kits and Otis will be going in for her spay surgery as soon as I’m out of crisis mode (I’ve been sick and we had school drama with my son….

                  Anyway, it sounds like you may have a fox in the hen house… I think it’s worth a visit to the vet, even if they just consider it a well-bun checkup or a pre-spay (and possibly pre-neuter) visit…

                  Please keep us updated… Gender misidentification seems more common in bunnies than I ever could have imagined!


                • Deleted User
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                    My two buns are both girls and when they reached that age one of them humped the other quite a bit. They’ve both been spayed and it still happens occasionally. So it is possible that it’s just hormones.

                    Though as said above bunnies can mate through cages (not sure of the logistics as I’ve only had my two girls!!) so sounds like you’ve done all the right things.


                  • whitepumpkin
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                      Love your post Bec! Hilarious. Made me laugh. Thank you!


                    • Gina.Jenny
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                        Jenny was spayed around six months ago, and has recently being getting amorous with poor Pippi’s head!

                        Thankfully, he is a gentleman, and just sits resignedly waiting for her to finish

                        I’m putting it down to the days getting longer, telling her spring is around the corner?

                        nb, Jenny is smaller than Pippi…


                      • jerseygirl
                        Moderator
                        22338 posts Send Private Message

                          @Gina.Jenny, it might be just dominance, stress or excitement. Be worth a quick call to your vets office though, to check her spay was full ovario-hysterectomy and not just removal of ovaries.

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                      Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A False pregnancy or gender misidentification?