Netherland dwarf rabbits?

Question

my son just bought 2 rabbits and was told they are both female litter mates. Ive seen them hump several times, is this just a dominance thing or do we have a male and not a female their private parts look the same so not sure whats going on...help?

Answer 1

Rabbits do hump due to dominance, but it is also possible the rabbits were mis-sexed.  It happens frequently, especially with inexperienced breeders and pet stores.  The rabbits will both need to be altered if kept together, regardless of s*x, because when they reach puberty (about 4-6 months) they will begin to fight, often badly.  Female/female pairs especially can fight violently, to the point of requiring stitches or even killing the other rabbit.  This is a good page on sexing rabbits: http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/se...  If you take your time and are careful, you should be able to tell what s*x they are.  Also talk to your rabbit vet about appropriate timing for their spay surgeries.  

Answer 2

Pet stores frequently cannot s*x animals correctly. You should take them to a vet and have them checked over. Since they come from breeding mills, they are often sold sick. Chances are they are not even dwarfs.

They may be females since they do hump each other for dominance but you should get them checked out either way. You want to get them spayed when old enough or else they will likely die of reproductive cancer early.

Please read http://www.rabbit.org/faq/index.html for proper care info. Pet stores often sell you bad products and give you bad care info.

Answer 3

Most likely it is just a dominance thing, but if your son wants to keep them together for the rest of their lives, he should consider getting both of them spayed so that there will be no chance of them turning on each other as they reach maturity. They can and probably will become very territorial when they get to be about 4-5 months old, assuming they are not there already. If they are, you will need to separate them until you get them spayed and then bond them back together.

If the rabbits are less than eight weeks old, it is still possible that you have a male and a female, and currently it is about dominance, but you won't have to worry about babies until the female is about three months old, and by then you will definitely be able to tell the sexes.

Good luck and hope you got what you were looking for!