How to Determine the Sex of a Rabbit

Last Updated: October 25, 2022 Approved

Knowing your rabbit's sex is important for many reasons. It helps you to choose an appropriate name as well as avoiding unwanted pregnancy if you keep groups of rabbits together. It's also important to know because female rabbits are at risk of uterine cancer, which can be prevented if you spay her.^{[1]
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Harcourt-Brown, Frances. Textbook of Rabbit Medicine. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001.} If you follow a few simple steps, you can determine the sex of your rabbit.

Things You Should Know

Hold a rabbit on its back and look for external genitals. Males have long and narrow testicles, but they may retract if the rabbit is scared.
Apply gentle pressure to the vent (a small mound housing the reproductive tract) and look for a tube-like penis (male) or slit-like opening (female).
It’s easier to determine the sex of older, adult rabbits. If you’re not sure or need confirmation of your results, ask a vet to take a look.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Getting Ready to Examine Your Rabbits

1
Determine the rabbit's age. If you have a litter of young rabbits, it's important to be aware they can start breeding from as young as 12 weeks. This means that it's important to separate the rabbits into same sex groups before or around 3 months of age.^{[2]
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Harcourt-Brown, Frances. Textbook of Rabbit Medicine. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001.}
- It can be difficult to find the sex of a rabbit that is a few days old. You can attempt it at a younger age, but to definitively find the sex of your rabbits, wait until they are at least 4 weeks old.
2
Start with the older rabbits. If you are not used to finding the sex of rabbits, it's best to start with an adult. If you have the parents of a litter of rabbits, you can take a look at the anatomy of the mother and father rabbit. This will help you see what a fully developed rabbit looks like.
- If you are still not confident, you can ask your veterinary clinic for help. Take your rabbits to your local veterinarian for help if necessary.^{[3]
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  Harcourt-Brown, Frances. Textbook of Rabbit Medicine. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001.}
3
Get the rabbit into position with assistance. Pick a rabbit to start with. Like most mammals, the rabbit's genitals are between its back legs. To see this area, the rabbit needs to lie on its back. It is helpful to have an extra person around to hold the rabbit so you have both hands free. Get your helper to sit in a chair and cover her lap with a towel. This is in case the rabbit urinates.
- Tell her to use one hand to grasp the rabbit's scruff and use her other hand to scoop under his rump. She should then lift and turn the rabbit onto his back. Lay the rabbit with his head towards her stomach and tail on the edge of her knees. This will give you easy access to the genital area.^{[4]
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  Harcourt-Brown, Frances. Textbook of Rabbit Medicine. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001.}
- You may want to wear gloves since you are going to be touching a rabbit's genital regions. It is more hygienic as well as safer. You may unintentionally spread the disease to the rabbit or to your other rabbits if you don't.^{[5]
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4
Position the rabbit by yourself. If you are checking a rabbit by yourself, flip the rabbit onto his back. To do this, place your index finger between the rabbit's ears and grasp the base of the head with your thumb on one side and your other three fingers on the other. With your other hand, cradle the rump and scoop the rabbit up.
- Once you have flipped your rabbit, place it between the arm holding the head and your body and let go of the rump. Your rabbit should be secure in one arm.
- You can also lay the rabbit on a low table. Gently but firmly hold them at all times. Make sure the table is low enough that, if the rabbit squirms enough to get away, jumping off the table won't injure him.^{[6]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Identifying the Sex

1
Find the genital region. To find the sex of your rabbit, examine the rabbit's external genitalia. While he is on his back, part the fur between his legs. You or your assistant should gently hold him in place while you part the fur with your hand.
- If he starts to squirm too much, try to sooth him by talking to him and petting him. You don't want him to get hurt while you are working. ^{[7]
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2
Look for testicles. Male rabbits have testicles, which are visible on the outside of their bodies. These are located in his groin between the back legs. Rabbit testicles are long and narrow, rather than round and ball-like as on dogs. Look for two torpedo-shaped bulges, one on either side below the skin. They are usually slightly furred and purple in color.
- The scrotum can be covered in fur, so you may need to dampen the fur in this area with water to make the testicles clearer to see.
- Testicles can usually be detected from 10 weeks of age. Before this age, they can be tiny and hard to spot reliably. However, no matter the rabbit's age, it's easy to check before you look for the penis.
- In a well-developed adult male rabbit, the answer will be obvious because you can spot his testicles right away.^{[8]
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  Harcourt-Brown, Frances. Textbook of Rabbit Medicine. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001.}
- If you don't spot testicles straight away, be aware that frightened rabbits can pull their testicles into the abdomen and make them disappear. Talk to the rabbit, stroke his side, and see if you can encourage him to relax. Then check a second time. If you still don't see them, it is inconclusive. Check the genital openings instead.^{[9]
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3
Check the genital openings. You now need to look to see if your rabbit has a vulva or a penis. To locate these, gently part the fur between the back legs until you identify a small mound. This area is the vent and contains the opening to the anus and the reproductive tract. To see it more clearly, apply gentle pressure on either side, which opens up the area and makes things clearer to see.
- The genital opening is the one farthest from the tail. Apply gentle pressure with a finger and thumb on either side of the opening. If the rabbit is female, you will see a slit-like structure, commonly described as a letter I. If the rabbit is male you will see a round structure, which can be described as an O.
- The opening closest to the tail is the anus. This is identical in both males and females. If you look closely, you can check it is the anus by watching for the muscular winking of the anal ring.^{[10]
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4
Double check your findings. If you want to be extra sure, or it you cannot distinguish between the I and the O, you can double check your finding. Apply gentle pressure at the base of the opening, pushing gently towards the rabbit's back.
- If a penis is present, it will sometimes protrude and become more obvious as a tube-like structure.
- If a vulva is present, the lips tend to peel back in a petal shape. ^{[12]
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5
Don't rely on physical characteristics alone. There are some people that say you can tell the sex of a rabbit by looking at his physical characteristics. Although mature adult bucks can have a heavier skull than female rabbits, this is not a reliable way to sex a rabbit. Unfortunately, the external physical characteristics, such as the size and shape, are not distinctive enough between the sexes to make this useful with regards to determining the sex of your rabbit.
- Always check the rabbit's genitalia to be completely sure of the sex of your rabbit. ^{[13]
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  Harcourt-Brown, Frances. Textbook of Rabbit Medicine. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001.}
6
Take the rabbit to the vet for verification. Checking your rabbit's sex at home is usually effective. If it is important that you know the sex of your rabbit for breeding or other purposes, take your rabbit to your vet for verification. The vet will be able to tell for sure what the sex of your rabbit is.
- If you have multiple rabbits, you can take them at the same time.

Expert Q&A

Question

Do male rabbits bite the female while mating?

Pippa Elliott, MRCVS
Veterinarian
Dr. Elliott, BVMS, MRCVS is a veterinarian with over 30 years of experience in veterinary surgery and companion animal practice. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1987 with a degree in veterinary medicine and surgery. She has worked at the same animal clinic in her hometown for over 20 years.

Pippa Elliott, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Expert Answer

It's quite common for a male rabbit to grab a mouthful of the female's fur in order to latch on during mating. Some males are more aggressive than others, but as a rule they don't break the skin and it looks worse than it really is.
Question

I have a female rabbit but noticed a pink sack hanging between her back legs. How can I be certain of my rabbit's gender without turning her over?

Pippa Elliott, MRCVS
Veterinarian
Dr. Elliott, BVMS, MRCVS is a veterinarian with over 30 years of experience in veterinary surgery and companion animal practice. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1987 with a degree in veterinary medicine and surgery. She has worked at the same animal clinic in her hometown for over 20 years.

Pippa Elliott, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Expert Answer

You need to clearly see the area between the rabbit's back legs, so turning the rabbit over is a basic part of doing this. Try covering the rabbit's head with a towel, and picking her up with the towel wrapped around her. Do this while sitting on the floor and then if she wriggles she won't fall and hurt herself.