[OniFactor]

So, uhhhh, even though everything else on the web points to the contrary, and multiple people have confirmed him to be a boy, Hurley built himself a nest inside of his upside-down house box thing that I was putting his hay in... complete with trying to tear his fleece blanket apart to drag in it, as well as pulling fur. Should I be concerned?

Another thing is we bought another bun from a breeder about 2 weeks ago. She is definitely a female (already had 2 litters according to the breeder), and so it's not that it could be a pregnancy.. even if hurley was a girl, roxy is definitely a girl, but could he be looking for a private spot away from her? We just moved roxy's cage into the same room as his room, the past few days, and he started hardcore thumping tonight as well, harder than we've heard him thump before... ideas?

 

[Jennicat]

If Hurley was actually a girl, she's likely going through a false pregnancy. Intact female rabbits will do that -- it's quite stressful to them. You should plan on getting both of them spayed or neutered so they can live together and to avoid problems like false pregnancies and uterine cancer.

 

[OniFactor]

As I said, we're 99.999 per cent sure that hurley is male, in fact it's been verified by the vet that's going to be neutering him, except he wanted us to wait a few months..

 

[Dragonrain]

Hm. This is strange and probably pretty rare but I've heard of a few instances of hermaphroditic rabbits who had both male and female organs. In that case a rabbit that appears male on the outside could actually also have female organs internally and be producing female hormones causing the rabbit to act female.

Since you already have a vet picked out, have you called and asked them about Hurley's behavior?

Males nesting is not really normal. How sure was your vet on the sex? Excuse me for asking, but does Hurley have visible testicles or was he sexed on the appearance of his genitals? I wonder if perhaps the vet made a mistake? Sexing rabbits, especially young ones, is not always the easiest thing and getting the gender confused is actually pretty common.

I can't really think of any other ideas except for maybe Hurley has something hormonal going on that could be causing him to act like a female.

I would give the vet a call, just to let them know what's going on and to see what insight they can offer on the situation.

 

[OniFactor]

He just really started last night when I noticed around 1am, so no chance to call the vet yet. It almost seems as if he's trying to court Roxy, this morning when we opened his cage he brought a mouthful of hay and fur to Roxy's cage.. then proceeded to sit on top of her cage in a very upright, majestic pose.... could he have built her a nest to court her?

 

[Dragonrain]

I've never heard of males building nests as part of courting females.

 

[Jennicat]

Male rabbits don't build nests to court females. THe females build their own nests. I've known more than one rabbit that turned up male (or female) at their scheduled neuter date. If he's too young to neuter, chances are his testicles haven't dropped and it can be tricky to sex rabbits based on the vent shape.

 

[OniFactor]

The vet was pretty sure as soon as he got a look that he was a boy. Idk. I'm not one to doubt a medical professional. Hurley's about 7 months old, now, the vet just said he prefers to wait until they're much older before snipping them, so I don't think he was unsure.

 

[Jennicat]

I wouldn't have doubted a medical professional either until I started doing rabbit rescue. You would be horrified how many boy rabbits with recent spay scars I've taken in (ie, the vet actually got them on the table and opened them up before realizing they were male).

 

[OniFactor]

Ok, well, supposing he is male, what could account for finding copious amounts of hair in his house? Supposing he isn't 'nesting' could it be a moulting? He isn't going bald per se anywhere on his back, but he has been shedding a little. Would he pull hair at the start of a molting?

Or, another thing, we keep him by the front door, where it's coolest in our house.. maybe he's been too cold, and is doing this to stay warm? I'll try to get pictures to post when I get home from work later.

 

[Dragonrain]

Male rabbits do not normally nest. I have two males now, both around 4 years old, and before that had another male who lived for 2 years and another who lived to be 15. None of them ever pulled out their own fur to make a nest, not for any reason. Even with all the males I've come into contact with through volunteering, still I've never seen or heard of a male nesting.

Did you actually see him pulling it out?

When my rabbits molt they can shed a lot of hair, but they never actually pull it out. If it was molting I think you'd be finding the hair all over the cage, not just in one area.

 

[Jess]

Wow, that's really weird. I've never had my males nest either.



I just have to ask though... If Hurley actually is a hemaphrodite, would you get it spayed, neutered, or both? LOL


At 7 months though, you should be able to see his "manly bits" if he is actually a he.

 

[Dragonrain]

We actually had a litter born at a shelter I volunteered at and 2 of the babies born where hermaphrodites. They where both fixed (I guess you'd say both spayed and neutered) successfully. It was kind of strange, but both rabbits were healthy and went to great homes.

I don't think that's really all that common though. It's much more common to just mistake the gender of rabbits.

 

[Jess]

Interesting. I thought that only happened to worms...

 

[Sasami]

My neutered male nested once so it can definitely happen. For a few days he plucked fur from his chest and gathered hay. He built nests all over my room and in his cage. It was really weird. He was about four years old at the time and never did it again (although he's obsessed with digging at and moving towels). Again, he was neutered, and definitely male. It was pretty odd.

 

[Dragonrain]

Huh that is odd! I wonder why.

OniFactor keep us updated on Hurley!

 

[OniFactor]

Will do.. after hiding in the nesting box for that day... he hasn't really gone in, since. Strange.