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Can rabbits mate before testis have dropped?

Bugalugs

Warren Scout
Please no nasties as i'm already feeling like the worst, most irresponsible stupid rabbit mummy ever :cry:

Rehomed three rabbits 4 weeks ago. Two girls and a boy. Boy has been kept seperate until he was old enough to neuter. Went to inspect his bits last night as it was coming up to that time to discover that they had been sexed wrong and he is a she.

Checked the others and one of my she's is also a he.

I'm furious at myself for not resexing them myself when i got them home.

The little boys testis have not yet dropped, and i've seen no signs of any amorous behaviour. He is about 12 weeks give or take.

Really panicking now. He has of course now been seperated from the girl.
 
So the lone male is a female and one of the females is a male?

At 12 weeks you "should" be safe, because the female shouldn't have matured enough BUT there are cases of 12 week olds getting pregnant and it's really tough on their little immature bodies. I'd talk it through with your vet (assuming you have a good one) and weigh up the pros and cons of an emergency spay on such a young girl.

Hopefully someone with more experience will come along.

I'm a bit concerned that you've had them 4 weeks and they haven't had a vet check yet. It'd be first on my list of things to do when rehoming a bun from anyone other than a reputable rescue. :wave: THat way the vet can sex them (if they're young) and you can talk about vaccinations and neutering with them.
 
The girl is 16 weeks as they were from two accidental litters by same parents. Mum got pregnant with second litter before kits were discovered. They were all due to go in for vaccinations and checks when i took male in for neutering.

I already feel like a huge idiot :roll:
 
I think at this point I would just assume she's pregnant and prepare in case she is and wait at least 4/5 weeks for the all clear.

They may have been sucked in as rabbits can do that if they're scared or cold at a young age, so there is a chance they have dropped.
 
16 weeks is old enough to spay, the very reputable rescue I got my girly from gets all their litters done at 15-16 weeks. I would talk to your vet about spaying and get it done this week, or if your vet is not skilled enough to do it they could reccommend you someone that is.

You're going to get her spayed anyway, so moving it forward just in case seems like the best way forward.

Technically the boy shouldnt be fertile if his balls havent dropped, but they can make their testicles go back up by will, so they may have even if they look undescended.
 
It's not ideal and there's always a chance, but I'd say it's highly unlikely that a 12 week old boy without descended testicles will have got a 12 week old girl pregnant. If you rummage around 'down there' among the fur, can you find little butter bean type blobs underneath the skin? If you can locate those, and can see that there aren't sacks of skin which he has been sucking his balls back up into, then it's even less likely because that would suggest that his testicles are just moving to the surface but haven't dropped yet.

Personally I would separate the boy now, take them all along for vaccinations and get the vet to check where his testicles are and hope for the best! I would only consider an emergency spay on a girl that young if there was a serious chance of pregnancy i.e. if the vet felt that she was mature enough AND the boy showed signs that his testicles had already dropped...but from what you describe I think you may well get away with it - phew!
 
It's not ideal and there's always a chance, but I'd say it's highly unlikely that a 12 week old boy without descended testicles will have got a 12 week old girl pregnant. If you rummage around 'down there' among the fur, can you find little butter bean type blobs underneath the skin? If you can locate those, and can see that there aren't sacks of skin which he has been sucking his balls back up into, then it's even less likely because that would suggest that his testicles are just moving to the surface but haven't dropped yet.

Personally I would separate the boy now, take them all along for vaccinations and get the vet to check where his testicles are and hope for the best! I would only consider an emergency spay on a girl that young if there was a serious chance of pregnancy i.e. if the vet felt that she was mature enough AND the boy showed signs that his testicles had already dropped...but from what you describe I think you may well get away with it - phew!

its not clear from the first post but the girl is 16 weeks.
 
I very much doubt that she is pregnant. At 12 weeks his testicles probably have not come through.
 
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