Telling the differance

Question
QUESTION: Hi Pam,
Long time no talk!
We last spoke about my battered tease of a female bunny Pumkin!
Now l have a differnt complication!
Pumkin is now better and was released back out doors months later after bringing in the other fixed male so they would be friends.
Unfortunately, the none fixed bunny (Smidge)is a great problem. Pumkin has not forgotten what was done to her, and there is a major fight  every time l try tp put all three together,so l brought him in .
The unfixed one is confusing me as to the sex of it. I thought it was a boy based on the spraying and behaiviour, now that l have brought it to stop the fighting, l am not so sure.
When you have  a rabbit the best way to tell the sex of the rabbit is by the space between the anus and penis. Right?
If its a boy, there is space between leaving room for the testicles is that correct? My other males l have had fixed over the year had testicles , small peanuts in fur, this one has none...not that l can feel or see, l could be wrong..
This  rabbit is three years old  and has a signifigant row or nipples...at this age there should be visible signs of testicles or am l wrong?
The vet is wanting to charge me $55 to solve this sex problem for me, on top of the nearly $200.00 to spay or nuter him
If this rabbit turns out to be female, would fixing it make the same differance as it would if we fixed a male rabbit?
I'm concerned that wasting nearly $200.00 on fixing a female rabbit, will litterally be a waste. Fixing a bunny, only works if its a male. Or am l wrong.
What can you advise me on these two issues?
First is this a boy or a girl, and secondly, if its a girl should l just give her away? Or will fixing her stop the fighting which could very well have been dominance all along and not boy girl spring fever.
I welcome ANY advice!
Thanks Pumkins Snickers and Smidges mom

ANSWER: Hi Debbi (Pumkin, Snickers and Smidges)  

Ok here is my best explanation.  Take your 2 boys and cradle them in your arms like a baby.  They won't have testicles but they will still have a penis.  Gently push on the area just above the anus.  You should see a long object come out.  This is infact the penis.  Then do the same thing to Smidges.  If you see a penis then he is probably a male... there are a few things to consider here.  First he definitely should have visible testicles by now, but there are cases where bucks testicles never drop.  There is also a condition called a split penis where some people can be confused when checking for sex.  The penis will actually have a split down the underside of it.  I assure you that an object will still protrude.

If she is a girl having her fixed is your best option.  Doe's have a very high percentage of getting ovarian and uterine cancer.  Also yes it should help with her hormones and calm her down.  If it is a boy and not fixed, then I can definitely see the problem.

If you give smidges away you are risking the chance that he/she will go to a horrible home, be abused, be starved, fed to a snake or even put in a crock-pot.  I know you well enough to know that you are attached to your rabbits and would never want that to happen.  These people who pretend to love rabbits are sly critters.  They will come to your home and assure you that the bunny will be loved, they even bring their kids.  Then they take it home and feed it to their 45 pound boa.  Just an example!  

If you want my honest opinion, I would spend the money not only to know if it is a girl or a boy but to have the surgery.  With a lot of work they can be bonded, but I wouldn't even bother trying until after smidges is fixed.

The worst case scenario is that smidges, pumkin and snickers might never have a successful bond (very rare with a lot of work), then so you have to put smidges in a separate area with a separate run..  chain fence isn't that expensive.. lol especially after you compare it to vet bills.

It is really up to you Debbi but I know how much you care for your rabbits.  Anyone who would spend the time you did to nurse Pumkin back to health obviously cares about all animals.  

I am so happy to hear that Pumkin has recovered.  If you have anymore questions please let me know.  

I am attaching a site on properly bonding your rabbits.  I can't remember if I told you before but at the very least it is somewhat humorous.

Good luck

((hugs to all the furry critters))

Pam

uggg I can't get it open my computer is being retarded today.. Just go to this link and click on the link that says To Bond or Not to Bond... I believe it is the first one.

http://www.freewebs.com/hgrabbitry/frequentlyaskeds.htm

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Pam, you were as helpful as always :)

One final question.

l now understand that regardless,getting Smidge fixed is the right thing to do.
Heres the question, after the bunny is fixed lets pretend he's a she, and we get her spay, will the other fixed female, Pumkin,  relax and stop seeing Smidge as a threat.

If Smidge is a she, its about dominence. Can two females that are not mother and daughter give up the fight to be the  Alpha Queen lol or is this  fight  to be the leader, never end, regardless of fixing  Smidge. Remember, Pumkin is fixed and she runs right after Smidge the second they  see each other, tail cocked! I thought it was spring fever, now, l'm not so sure.....

Answer
Honestly Debbi it is really hard to tell.  Since Pumkin was so brutally attacked she may always seek retaliation.  If Smidge is male then it very well could have been spring fever.  I just have a sneaking suspicion that Smidge is not a male after all.  If you have them separated and you get Smidge fixed then you can try again.  I have had the greatest success using the car ride trick.  The most important thing is to make sure that when you try to put them back together that it is in a neutral territory (such as the bathtub as mentioned on the web page).  That way neither one can lay claim to the area.

Sadly if this doesn't work with repeated sessions every day, then they may never be able to be together.  Since Pumkin and Snickers are successfully bonded if it doesn't work there is nothing saying that Smidge can't have her own quarters, or perhaps even a new mate (rescued from a pound and already fixed of course.. lol).  The only sad part is that if they don't get along that it will break the bond between Smidge and Snickers.  Regardless of how sad she might be, she will get over it as long as you give her plenty of extra love and toys.

Seriously after multiple sessions of bonding one of them should give up.  There are occasions where it just will never happen.  Sometimes it takes 5 minutes to bond and others 5 months.  I have faith in you.  

Please let me know what you decide to do.  Send me a private message and I will give you my contact information in case you run into serious problems.  I am here to help people and if you ran into a serious issue while attempting to bond, I would have no issue with you contacting me immediately.

Good luck Debbi and I hope everything works out.

Pam