Do rabbit Does have a hymen?

[craneman54]

I just got 2 does and a buck on Saturday the 6th of Sept. These are my first rabbits to own.

I wanted to check the does to see if they are ready to breed today so out to the cages I go. The older doe's vulva looks pink with no redness. The 5 month old doe has skin going from the top narrow end of the vulva to the broader base with openings on each side of this piece of skin. The skin is on the outside but right in the opening. Sorry I don't have a camera and my old flip phone won't download pics to my computer.

Is this normal? I don't know what would I do about this. I know she may be a bit young yet, but was wondering if I should do something before she is of a better breeding age or will nature take care of this.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Zass]

I feel that a picture is definitely required here.

 

[craneman54]

Sorry I don't have a working camera and my cell phone wont download any pics to my computer so I can post them. :x

 

[Bad Habit]

Yeah I am not able to picture this at all...

 

[Zass]

I never heard of a rabbit having a hymen, or of breeders having to do anything at all to a does vent in preparation for breeding. Actually, if it was some kind of physical deformity, I'd strongly recommend not breeding her.

Is it possible is was...some kind of thinly stretched fluid instead of skin??

 

[craneman54]

Nope. It is a piece of skin covering/capping the middle of the vent. Only attacked at the top and bottom. Sides have openings going into the vent.

 

[Dood]

I've never seen anything like your describing in the 100+ does I've examined.

Could it be a double vulva due to a double uterus or other defect of the reproductive tract - GRAFFIC - didelphys - http://radiopaedia.org/images/562284

 

[craneman54]

OK this is the best I can do using the Paint app. Drawing of the vulva. Note the skin going from top to bottom down the middle with openings on each side.
This is what I seem to have with this rabbit.



http://s4.photobucket.com/user/craneman54/media/rabbit_zps442b4af9.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

I can't get the Photobucket pic to show up. :angry:

 

[akane]

I think it sounds like deformity. I would probably wait and see if she can breed without help. If not I would seriously consider culling her. Even if you do breed her you will need to check her offspring and cull out any with the deformity. Making a group of animals that can't reproduce naturally is a big mess.

 

[SA Farm]

I think it sounds like deformity. I would probably wait and see if she can breed without help. If not I would seriously consider culling her. Even if you do breed her you will need to check her offspring and cull out any with the deformity. Making a group of animals that can't reproduce naturally is a big mess.

x2

 

[michaels4gardens]

I have never seen this, [and I have looked at 10's of thousands of rabbits] but ,heard of it once, the "breeder " clipped the skin with a fingernail clipper, and said it was fine and none of her young had the problem, -- but-- I would agree with the advise against breeding any deformity at all -no matter what it might be.

 

[craneman54]

I will see if the breeder will exchange her for another doe. If he does this rabbit will have cost me at least around $50 so far. I paid $25 plus a round trip of 2 hrs and then another round trip to replace her.

If I can't get him to replace her I will probably cull her. That will be one expensive Gumbo.

Thanks for the help Folks.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Hymens are located inside the vaginal cavity near the cervix. That said, I don't know if rabbits have one, but I do artificial insemination of horses and donkeys and know from experience that they do, so don't know why other female critters would be any different.

Without seeing a picture, it is really impossible to say what she has going on... but you could also be mistaking the anal glands (little pockets on each side of the vulva or penis) for "openings". Or, more seriously, you might actually have a buck with a split penis.

If she just has a stray bit of tissue on the outside of her vulva, it could be just one of those weird things that pop up occasionally, with no genetic component. If you consider all of the cell division and replication that goes into building a body (rabbit or otherwise) it is a miracle that there isn't a higher percentage of birth defects.

If you can get her replaced, great... but if not culling her outright seems extreme if you are just breeding for meat. Personally, I would let her have a litter and see what her female kits look like in the "nether regions". You can always just breed her and eat all of her offspring if she passes the problem on.

 

[craneman54]

Thanks for responding. I know most animals hymen is located inside but I have never dealt with raising rabbits and thought I would ask here. Actually I thought an external hymen would be a bit ridiculous but one never knows in the vast world we live in. I will double check in the morning and do a closer exam and see if I can get further info.

I really don't want to cull her if for nothing more than the money she cost me so far. Yes I am looking to breed for meat only right now. I was thinking about it while doing more reading about raising rabbits and thought like you said. It may just be an extra piece of skin that grew in the wrong place, much like webbed toes or fingers on some people.

Although I was raised in the country and we had pigs, cows and chickens,my Dad was a mechanic. He was very old fashioned and when it came to breeding stock he would not let even us boys know when or how to tell when an animal was in heat or what to look for as far as possible problems with anything that had to do with the breeding animals. We had to take care of the animals like feeding ,milking and such but if it involved anything to do with (OH MY GOD)sex it was like he got embarrassed. :roll:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Actually I thought an external hymen would be a bit ridiculous but one never knows in the vast world we live in.

Ain't that the truth... here on RT I recently learned that male Sugar Gliders actually have two (count 'em! TWO!) penises. :shock:

You would think one would be enough for anybody... but apparently not. Maybe because they are just so stinking adorable the boys thought they needed two to compensate for the cuteness factor... :?

Anyway- hopefully you can figure out a way to post a picture soon so we can all help you figure out what is really going on. :clover:

 

[michaels4gardens]

Hymens are located inside the vaginal cavity near the cervix. That said, I don't know if rabbits have one, but I do artificial insemination of horses and donkeys and know from experience that they do, so don't know why other female critters would be any different.

Without seeing a picture, it is really impossible to say what she has going on... but you could also be mistaking the anal glands (little pockets on each side of the vulva or penis) for "openings". Or, more seriously, you might actually have a buck with a split penis.

If she just has a stray bit of tissue on the outside of her vulva, it could be just one of those weird things that pop up occasionally, with no genetic component. If you consider all of the cell division and replication that goes into building a body (rabbit or otherwise) it is a miracle that there isn't a higher percentage of birth defects.

If you can get her replaced, great... but if not culling her outright seems extreme if you are just breeding for meat. Personally, I would let her have a litter and see what her female kits look like in the "nether regions". You can always just breed her and eat all of her offspring if she passes the problem on.

MS, has a very valid point... [I should have been more clear , about breeding vs, breedstock] - but rabbits are just too cool, and one should avoid the temptation to keep a beautiful, little doe, or buckling, from any questionable broodstock. We have a lot of problems in rabbits [and other animals] because problems were ignored, bred and then passed on as breedstock.

 

[Zass]

Hymens are located inside the vaginal cavity near the cervix. That said, I don't know if rabbits have one, but I do artificial insemination of horses and donkeys and know from experience that they do, so don't know why other female critters would be any different.

Without seeing a picture, it is really impossible to say what she has going on... but you could also be mistaking the anal glands (little pockets on each side of the vulva or penis) for "openings". Or, more seriously, you might actually have a buck with a split penis.

If she just has a stray bit of tissue on the outside of her vulva, it could be just one of those weird things that pop up occasionally, with no genetic component. If you consider all of the cell division and replication that goes into building a body (rabbit or otherwise) it is a miracle that there isn't a higher percentage of birth defects.

If you can get her replaced, great... but if not culling her outright seems extreme if you are just breeding for meat. Personally, I would let her have a litter and see what her female kits look like in the "nether regions". You can always just breed her and eat all of her offspring if she passes the problem on.

MS, has a very valid point... [I should have been more clear , about breeding vs, breedstock] - but rabbits are just too cool, and one should avoid the temptation to keep a beautiful, little doe, or buckling, from any questionable broodstock. We have a lot of problems in rabbits [and other animals] because problems were ignored, bred and then passed on as breedstock.

I'd like to add to this a bit...a lot of people said "as long as none of her kits have it" which I feel would be an incomplete assessment.

A deformity can also be a heritable recessive trait. In order to be certain that the kits aren't carriers, you would want to breed one back to it's mother and check THOSE babies.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I'd like to add to this a bit...a lot of people said "as long as none of her kits have it" which I feel would be an incomplete assessment.

Good point, Zass. And it could be something passed by the opposite sex, so bucks would need to be test bred as well.

In order to be certain that the kits aren't carriers, you would want to breed one back to it's mother and check THOSE babies.

Or even breed brother to sister.

This is where heavy line breeding/inbreeding really shines, because if it is heritable it should show up really quickly.

I believe that you should start with the best possible stock you can, but that isn't always possible. Others think that starting with mutts or inexpensive stock is the better option due to the learning curve with rabbits.

Those of us that have a zillion rabbits in our barns can (and should!) be a lot more severe in our culling choices, but Cranesman has a grand total of three. As long as no rabbits are sold to others before determining whether the trait is passed on, I see no harm in raising them for meat and using that particular group of rabbits as the "practice set" to learn the ropes of rabbit raising.

If it proves to be an ongoing problem, I would cull them all and start over with new bloodlines.

 

[Zass]

Your right MSD, there would be no harm in raising them just for meat. I also agree about inbreeding being a very useful tool in this context.
I do feel that one would need a few more cages than I have, and a very clear plan, to accomplish it properly. It really isn't something most rabbit beginners would want to jump into.

A lot of us have more rabbits (enough to spare), and tend to terminally cull quickly, because we have learned how tempting it can be to save or re-home "that really nice looking, or really sweet tempered kit" out of the questionable doe without really knowing for sure what was going on genetically. And of course, any rabbit who leaves might be bred, and it's kits sold or re-homed...no matter what the buyer says.

It becomes a habit to just cull, cull, cull. Rabbit breeders rely on good genetics more than breeders of most other animals. The rather delicate nature of rabbits and the fact that conventional veterinary treatment can be extremely expensive and possibly downright dangerous to the rabbit probably plays a part.

 

[craneman54]

OK I found the problem. I am just an ignorant old fart.

When examining her I was pulling the hair up and away rather then pressing down. The vulva popes up and has a vertical slit.
One of the things that was confusing me was the anal glands on each side. Those are what I was referring to as openings.

Thanks for all the help and I am sorry I wasted everyone's time.