Gender is not sex
Let’s get one thing straight first.
Gender. Gender is not sex. Sex is the physical sexual organs male and females are born with. Gender is the identification of personality. For instance, a male with male sex organs can identify his gender as a fish. That does not mean his is physically a fish, he is just identifying as one.
It annoys me to no end with people say “gender reveal”. It’s not a gender reveal, it’s a sex reveal. “It’s a boy!”” is sex; “it’s a boy identifying as a fish!”” is gender.
For example, Animal Lama says this on their website:
No! Gender is not “private parts”. Sex is “private parts”.
Which one is it?
The Animal Lama website mentioned above says:Â
Hold your rabbit securely, facing belly up (if your rabbit allows it), separate the hair around their genitals, and apply gentle pressure. If you see a V-shaped mound with a slit, it’s a female.
Males are more obvious to identify, as you may be able to see the testicles right away. If the rabbits are younger and haven’t reached sexual maturity yet (meaning the testes haven’t descended yet), you can still identify a male by the presence of the penis that will emerge when you apply gentle pressure.
OK, is it really that easy?
Yes and no.
Older rabbits, ones that are over 8 weeks old are easier to identify. That is because they are heading towards hormonal changes and their external genitalia will start developing.
Under 8 weeks old, can be quite difficult and a lot of people do get it wrong (me included with Lunar). So is there an easy way to check?
Yes. Yes there is.
Even though this will take a little practice, it is quite easy to sex your baby rabbits.
Breeders should never make sexing mistakes, it not only makes them look bad, it reduces sales and the likelihood people will return to purchase a bunny from them. Breeders find it important to check their kits sex every couple of weeks, just to make sure they are correct.
All you need to do is turn the kitten over and look at the genitalia closely. To keep it from wriggling, hold it firmly with one hand. Don’t rush, and take your time. Never do this under pressure, and only do it when the mum bunny is in her run doing other things.
Identifying Male Rabbits
On the underside of the day-old male bunny there should be two lumps. The lump closer to the kits belly (genital lump) should be larger than the lower one (anal lump). In the center of the genital lump should be a single pin-prick hole. It looks kind of like a bulgy doughnut.
Older male rabbits look exactly the same, but if you press the sides gently, a penis will pop out of the gential lump.
No matter the age of the rabbit, the genital and anal lumps should have a distance between them, this distance gets further apart as the rabbit gets older.
Identifying Female Rabbits
On the underside of the female one-day old bunny there will also be genital and anal lumps. They should be of a nearly equal size. The genital opening of a female is a line or slit that nearly connects to the anus.
On older female bunnies, the lumps will still be of equal size and close together. If you apply gentle pressure to the sides, nothing much pops out, but if it does, it should have a triangular shape with a slit.