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It Could Happen To You!Our Bunny Farm -- How It All Began: Gender Confusion
To which I always replied, "Well. It started out with just two bunnies..." "Oh... And they made babies?" "No.. no... They were both girl bunnies -- Cinnabun and Aloh Mayla.
"But then someone I know found a boy bunny that was lost. And they couldn't find it's home so they asked me if I would adopt it. So I did." "Ohhhh -- and then they made babies. Where's the dad bunny? Is that him?" "No. He's in the house. Anyway--" "Why does he live in the house?"
Usually I never managed to finish the story of how we came to have so many bunnies. Kids tended to get caught up in the obvious side questions. Such as:
And so on...
How We Really Got All Those Bunnies...When I'd finally get around to finishing the story, what I'd try to tell them was that, with bunnies, it can be very hard to tell who is a boy bunny and who is a girl bunny -- until it is too late. Unlike cats and dogs, a boy bunny does not look "different" in his personal area from a girl bunny. Sometimes they do... But quite often, the testes are not descended in a young rabbit, so turning them over and looking between the legs is not immediately helpful. In fact, pretty much all of a young boy bunny's "male parts" are hidden away from view, making them look identical to a girl bunny upon first inspection. This is why it is important to have someone experienced -- like your veterinarian -- examine your rabbits when they are about 3 months old. Before this age it can be tricky even for a vet to determine gender. Before 2 months of age, it is pretty near impossible. For this reason, and because a baby bunny is supposed to nurse until 2 months old, we strongly urge you not to sell or adopt a rabbit until they are at least 2 to 3 months of age. So again, to keep from ending up with too many bunnies, as we accidentally did, have your bunnies gender checked by a veterinarian (and/or have your vet teach you how to do it yourself). Other people may indeed be able to correctly identify your bunny's gender, but be aware that even somewhat experienced person can make a mistake. More specifically, even experienced rabbit rescuers/relocators, pet store staff, and many hobbyist rabbit breeders get it wrong some times. We at Earth's Kids are always getting email from those unfortunate folks who took home incorrectly sexed pairs of rabbits. Instead of simply providing their new friend with a single companion, they end up (one month after sexual maturity sets in) with four to nine little bundles of love to care for. This is what happened to us. Don't let it happen to you!
How To Avoid Unwanted Bunny Pregnancies:
NOTE:
We are now the happy owners of only three bunnies!
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