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Blind and Deaf Bunnies

rspcarabbits

Warren Scout
Just wondering if anybody out there has any experience of blind and deaf bunnies?. More specifically pairing them up.

We have paired up blind to blind which was quite amusing, they would go nose to nose then move towards the 69, the male would go to give a quick nip -miss ( as would the female) but both were unaware the other had made such a reaction and move and assumed the other bunny was friendly. No scuffle ensued because they could not find each other and they went together after some too'ing and fro'ing on the first pairing.

We have also paired deaf to normal without problems but it must be said the deaf bunny very quickly took on the traits of the hearing bunny ( it did'nt help that the bunny who was deaf was also a lop and this impaired its field of vision). This pair are our bunnies and the deaf one always reacts just after the other. Where she goes he does and what she does he does if you see what I mean. Its quite funny as the sighted female is very intelegent but somewhat of a moody madam and you can almost see on the face of the male "whats going on? and why am I doing this?" but I will! ( I will get this one in quick- nothing new there then!)

We also have a very old blind male as a single much pampered house bun and I must say he is brilliant. The way he moves around the 20X20 kitchen diner day room has to be seen to be believed 'its only the two totally white cataracts that are the give away.

Going back to my original question I would love to hear of your experiences and specifically if anybody has paired a sighted adult to an opposite sex blind bunny(obviously both neutered. )
 
I would love to know about deaf rabbits as I am deaf myself!.. I have 1 deaf dog and 1 deaf cat.. they adapt well, we use sign language to communicate for food, garden, bed, walking, come here, bad, no and yes :D
 
Rabbits are lucky as they have great hearing, a wide field of vision (though designed for long range), a great sense of smell and a set of whiskers. So if one of those is effected the others compensate.

Tamsin
 
I would love to know about deaf rabbits as I am deaf myself!.. I have 1 deaf dog and 1 deaf cat.. they adapt well, we use sign language to communicate for food, garden, bed, walking, come here, bad, no and yes :D

how cool is that. I never knew cats and dogs could learn that but I guess it makes sense when you think about it. :D
 
I have found rabbit with poor eyesight harder to pair up personally.

They react in a defensive manner constantly and either attack or run away. I have seen on in particular (totally blind) get into quite a tizz during bonding and it was very hard to watch, he was petrified.

Those with partial sight seem more likely to be aggressive than to run away.
 
My little Tilly-May got a brain tumor & went from having perfect eyesight to being totally blind in just over a week...Thank god she was so close & trusting of me, because it upset her greatly & she became skittish and withdrawn with other members of the family :cry: Xx
 
My Fozzie (female lionhead) who I suspect is blind or has very bad vision, she bonded quite well with Archie after she lost her sister. That bonding was quite scary for her though cos she'd never been humped before! Once they got back onto her territory, she showed him who was boss and the two are never parted now.

However, about a year ago I tried to add a third to the group and Fozzie had major problems with this. As Sooz says, she tended to be really aggressive towards Maddie - not actually seeking a fight, but lunging and nipping when Maddie hopped past - maybe this was due to the fact that she couldn't see her and was surprised? (Maddie is brown and Archie is white - might make a difference if she can distinguish colours still?).
 
Dillon is totally deaf! It doesn't seem to affect him other than occasionally being spooked if he hasn't seen me coming. As long as I am in sight, his reactions are as quick as Pippa's but like others have said he does sometimes copy her reactions.

Seeing the funny side, he's always the one that gets caught when up to no good as he doesn't hear the garage door going! :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
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My little Tilly-May got a brain tumor & went from having perfect eyesight to being totally blind in just over a week...Thank god she was so close & trusting of me, because it upset her greatly & she became skittish and withdrawn with other members of the family :cry: Xx

Awww Becki. My first rabbit Gizmo suffered from something similar. We never had a PM but he reacted exactly the same - loss of eyesight and extremely skittish, it was devastating.
 
I had a blind English Lop several years ago. He was a rescue - he was one of 4 owned by someone who used to show them and when they stopped winning prizes they were abandoned in their hutches to starve to death :evil: :evil: :evil: . Henry was very lucky as he was the only one to survive. He developed cataracts in later life and gradually went completely blind. I have to say in all honesty it never bothered him at all ..... he still rushed madly around the house and still jumped on and off the furniture and behaved as if he still had all his vision. Losing his vision over a period of months gave him time to adapt and even when the furniture was moved he still managed to navigate. He had this huge zest for life and certainly wasn't going to let a little thing like being blind get in his way.
Taz
 
I have found rabbit with poor eyesight harder to pair up personally.

They react in a defensive manner constantly and either attack or run away. I have seen on in particular (totally blind) get into quite a tizz during bonding and it was very hard to watch, he was petrified.

Those with partial sight seem more likely to be aggressive than to run away.

I agree: I went over to Sooz's to see Harley paired up with my Jen (Harley's in the bottom corner of my sig) and it was very hard to watch :( Jenny is a particularly lively bunny at the best of times and she initially terrified him.

That said though, once they were bonded (I didn't stay about for the actual bonding process... my presence was making Jen rather over confident) Jen and Harley were an extremely closely bonded pair. When Harley died Jen pined terribly and although she's very happy with new friend Frankie now, it's taken her much longer to develop a close bond with Frankie than it ever did with Harley. For a good few months I thought that she and Frankie would ever just 'get on', it's been very recently that they have been properly loved up. I think it depends a lot on the personality of the rabbit in question.
 
I would love to know about deaf rabbits as I am deaf myself!.. I have 1 deaf dog and 1 deaf cat.. they adapt well, we use sign language to communicate for food, garden, bed, walking, come here, bad, no and yes :D


:wave: i'm hearing but can sign and sometimes use BSL to talk to mady and moses and they do watch me.
 
Anybody else noticed?

Our blind bunny seems to neglect cleaning round his eyes and always seems to have sleepies near the tear ducts(rear teeth checked and fine and eating vast quantities of hay).

Is this common?
 
Agree with Sooz..those with slight short-sightedness bond ok..but if their sight is more to the middle of the short to blind range they are hard.
e have a REW called Suki ho Angie65 is fostering and she is defensive to anything that moves..including hands:shock: ..doubt she'll bond...so anyone for a challenge?
 
I have a deaf (or mostly deaf) bunny and didn't know it for a year as he masked it by 'responding' to my voice through following his wingbun's lead. I think his deafness may contribute to his chilled out nature (his wingbun is on constant alert for danger). As disabilities go, for a bunny in a safe environment, I think this one is not too bad ...his wingbun thinks it's ok too as she is always first to the food when I call them over :)
 
I have a deaf (or mostly deaf) bunny and didn't know it for a year as he masked it by 'responding' to my voice through following his wingbun's lead. I think his deafness may contribute to his chilled out nature (his wingbun is on constant alert for danger). As disabilities go, for a bunny in a safe environment, I think this one is not too bad ...his wingbun thinks it's ok too as she is always first to the food when I call them over :)


Griffski you've responded to a thread that's 10 years old!

How on earth did you find it? :D
 
lol MM - and i didn't even notice ! was searching for advice though he seems to manage his condition well ... not sure the bunnies are safe with me with such low levels of brain activity (me , not them !) ...:)
 
lol MM - and i didn't even notice ! was searching for advice though he seems to manage his condition well ... not sure the bunnies are safe with me with such low levels of brain activity (me , not them !) ...:)


:lol::lol:

I have a stone deaf bunny. A while ago now I bonded him with a completely blind bunny. They were so in love ...
 
my Boo is deaf & I think Mouse maybe to some extent. I too took ages to fathom it out. I still shout BOOO when she is naughty, I've only had her over 3 years. She is sooooo confident inside though used to spook easily outside (she also has dodgy vision)
 
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