How do we tell what sex each rabbit is? If one is female and the other male, can they be neutered to prevent a household population explosion, or should we just try to keep them apart?
A far easier way to sex your new bunnies is to schedule a physical exam with a veterinarian. If your new rabbits are not yet sexually mature, it will be particularly difficult to determine their sexes without your veterinarian’s help.
In males, the testicles descend around 10 to 12 weeks of age. Small and medium-sized breeds are sexually mature at 4 to 6 months, while giant breeds don’t gain sexual maturity until around 9 months of age.
Once you learn that both rabbits are healthy, request an appointment for sterilization surgery, even if both of them are the same sex. Sterilized rabbits live longer and behave better than unsterilized rabbits. Rabbits are social creatures, and sterilization will help your two bunnies get along more harmoniously.
Females should be sterilized, or spayed, to prevent uterine cancer, which occurs in most unspayed does and is fatal. In addition, spay surgery decreases urine spraying and aggression.
Males are sterilized, or neutered, to prevent urine marking and aggression. Urine odor is also reduced after neutering.
Moreover, sterilization reduces overpopulation of pet rabbits. Bunnies are the third most common species living in animal shelters, awaiting forever homes.
All parts of the sago palm are poisonous—even if the dog only chews the plant but doesn’t swallow. The seeds are particularly toxic; eating just one seed has proven fatal.
Two poisons are most responsible for the sago palm’s toxicity: cycasin, which causes liver failure and other gastrointestinal toxicity, and an amino acid called beta-methylamino-L-alanine, which damages the central nervous system.
Toxic signs include vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia, lethargy, loss of coordination, tremors, seizures, and coma. Death occurs in up to half of patients, so immediate veterinary care is essential for any pet exposed to a sago palm.
