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How long is a rabbits memory?

Snowberry

Wise Old Thumper
Snowdrop has been away for a week but definately remembers my house. She has been free ranging and you can tell that she knows exactly where she is.

I just wondered, how long can bunnies remember things for? Do they remember places more than other things? Do they have memories or dreams?
 
even when mowgli went blind, he still remembered where everything was, found his way up the stairs and to my room :)
 
Well I can go a few months without doing any agility/jumping practise with Harley, and when I get the harness on and the jumps out he still jumps perfectly :)
 
I find it hard to tell the difference between buns who "remember" and buns who are just used to patterns and habits.

Ruby and Ralph know that when I come to see them in the morning that I'm going to pick them up, so they escape to whichever part of the run/hutch I can't get to. But when I come to see them in the evening they know they're
going to be given their pellets so they stay exactly where they are.

They had their routine changed for a week last week after Ruby's spay, but they have immediately settled back into the old routine, which implies that they do "remember."
 
I think its quite long, and I read once that they remember smells more than anything visual.

Lavender isn't that happy with people she doesn't know and there are very few people that I'd say she really likes, infact, theres just two - my mum and my friends little boy called Ted - she follows them both around which she never does wth anyone else. She can not see my mum for 12 months, the minute Mum steps in my house and goes in the lounge Lavender hops over to her and nudges her for fuss, no hesitation at all, I can only assume she remembers her. :)
 
I haven't got a real clue, but when OH went abroad to work for several months Deej missed him and definitely remembered (and was very happy to see) him when he got back. :D
 
Mine remembers for a long time.
When he was little I gave him a toilet roll to play with. He scrabbled under him enthusiastically, but looked shocked, when he saw the mound behind him, & had much difficulty in biting across the paper, eventually finding the perforations by accident. Next day he scrabbled less & when he bit across the paper, it still took him a while to find the perforations. Day 3 he found the perforations immediately, & there was no more fun in that game.

18 months later I wondered if he could still remember what to do with a toilet roll. He scrabbled found the perforations 1st. time, & looked at me as if to say "do you think I'm daft or something?".

He also dreams, but I've only seen him have rapid eye movement sleep associated with dreaming in humans once. Most of the time whiskers are active, he makes soft grunts, & an occasional paw movement, but there's no REM & his ears are so alert that he wakes immediately to the faintest rustle of my clothing just by moving my hand. I'm daft enough to wonder what rabbits dream about. The only clue was that once he woke up & rushed to his toy rabbit for a hump.:roll:

Because I occasionally dream in music I've often wondered whether rabbits dream in other senses rather than vision. No idea!!
 
Hector and Honey were away at my parents for about 3 weeks over christmas while we were away (it was meant to be less, but we couldn't get them back for ages because of the snow :(). But as soon as we let them out of the carrier into their house Hector ran straight up to his favourite place up on the top shelf. He definitely remembered completely where he was! (when we first moved and the house was new for them it took him ages to learn how to get up there)
 
I would say months.

When Florence was with us we used to have to carry her to her special mat in front of the fire (towards the end of her life) - and once she was there Teasal would follow and sit with her. We always put the mat down first and then brought her to it.

She was PTS in the late spring and what with the sadness and the warmer weather we did not have a mat in front of the fire for months. One day we realised that we had not seen Teasal in front of the fire for months, and decided to put a mat down to encourage him in. When he saw it his face 'lit up' and he RAN in - and looked all round - then looked heartbroken - as Florence wasn't there. It was really sad to see.

He obviously remembered after all those months. (this despite the fact we had shown him the body and he had got adjusted and even had a new partner by then).
 
This is really interesting, I have no idea but, I am sure they remember people who they interact with for sometime eg weeks, my first doe when she went back to her original owners after 6 weeks of looking after her, didn't see me for a week and when I went to collect her as she wouldn't settle, she licked me straight away she knew who I was and when she got back here she remembered everything about the garden and her favourite spots and was binkying like mad. I also think traumatic events associated to people would be remembered eg if they are ill-treated. Thats why it takes a lot of time and patience to bond with adult rabbits rather than babies I think, I believe they do remember things, more than we know probably. x
 
I am sure like cats and dogs, they have a very short, Short Term Memory. When I was a veterinary conference, I was told by a animal behaviourist that a dogs short term memory is on average 30 seconds! However, I bet their Long Term Memory is brilliant!
 
I am sure like cats and dogs, they have a very short, Short Term Memory. When I was a veterinary conference, I was told by a animal behaviourist that a dogs short term memory is on average 30 seconds! However, I bet their Long Term Memory is brilliant!

It is definately x
 
I thought you couldnt separate buns ie to take one to the vets otherwise on return they have forgotten each other and possibly fight?
 
[I thought you couldnt separate buns ie to take one to the vets otherwise on return they have forgotten each other and possibly fight?/QUOTE]

I think it is more a case in that the returning bun smells different - ie has a vet smell so they do not associate each other as the same buns if that makes sense!
 
Lucky & Hazel (Brother & Sister) were apart for six months while he was neutered and recovered from complications and it was like they'd never been apart when they went back together....I have absolutely no doubt that they remembered each other :love:

Purplebumbles Bif came into the rescue I was working in, she was known as Leonie but I called her Lea, I only knew her for about 10 hours in total and it was well over a year before I saw her next, Debbie was amazed that she settled in my arms for a cuddle......which means she must have remembered me :love:
 
Snowdrop has been away for a week but definately remembers my house. She has been free ranging and you can tell that she knows exactly where she is.

I just wondered, how long can bunnies remember things for? Do they remember places more than other things? Do they have memories or dreams?


Cherry has dreams, her head nodds and when she is flopped out her feet twitch :love: Scared me at first, but I think she remembers her times as a stray in a park, and dreams about that rather than being in a tiny cage (well 4x2 ) :love:
 
I have recently bought a foster bun back to my home that I had last year - I swear she remembered the hutch and garden - she actually looked like she was smiling and really excited to be 'home'
 
My rabbits Roger and Hazel were going mad at something through the hedge. Roger was stood up against the chicken wire in their run. I looked through and saw an English spot (ginger markings). I know it's my neighbor's rabbit. Four years ago, Hazel's sister, Bindi, died aged 18 months from floppy rabbit syndrome disabled in back legs). Bindi had similar markings to the rabbit I saw through the hedge. Roger, Hazel and Bindi. lived together in a converted child's playhouse and a run. I wonder if my two rabbits remembered Bindi and thought it was het at first. They never saw her body. We had taken her to the vets. We came home, I took her out to give her medication. She had a fit and died in front of me.


R.I.P. Bindi
 
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