He's definately not deaf....or maybe he is?

Morning,:wave:

I thought for a while that my lop Rodge was deaf as noises just dont seem to scare him at all, but when hes out in the garden, his ears move about as if he's listening.

Every morning when I go out & his back is turned to me, I always make sure I say 'Morning Rodge!' so I dont catch him unaware but he never notices me until he turns round & gets the fright of his life!

Is there any tests that I can try out with him to determine if hes deaf or not? I wouldnt care if he was deaf, he's perfect to me.

I think Mischa is deaf. AFAIK there's no test. As he's a lop I can't see his ears twitching as easily as the others but ears moving is a sign of body language not just hearing.

For instance, when he's really interested in something his ears move forward. If he's relaxed and comfy they go back a bit.

I'm not sure a vet can do more than perform some sound tests... clapping or making a loud noise beside him and see if he responds.... a bit like sound tests for humans, but it could be a bit stressful for him :?

If it's any consolation, our dwarf lop Poppy is quite similar - she often startles if she has her back to us, like you we make sure we announce ourselves before we enter the room, it is very important to do this. We find to announce and keep talking as you come into the room can help. Try to walk around the side of bun rather than up behind them. My feelings are that lop buns have a difficult ear position to pick up noises like uppy eared buns do, they can't swivel them all the way around - our uppy eared bun can do a 180 with his! Not only this but the flatter face shape and position of the ears I feel blocks some of their peripheral sight as well. Poppy's eyes are more front facing, whereas our uppy-eared bun has his eyes on the side of his head. This means that if a bun can't hear you coming, they can see you instead. Uppy eared buns can see behind them, I find our lop bun can not.

If he is swivelling and lifting his ears in the garden it does sound as if he is listening out for danger, our lop does this too. I think they feel safe in their own environment and switch off a bit, relax, which is why they startle more. He could be deaf but it doesn't sound like it to me. By all means get him checked out with your vet though :wave:

He is a rather confident bunny so maybe thats why he doesnt startle at noises! Kids in my street go running & screaming past our fence & he doesnt even lift his head!:lol:

I wondered for a while if joejoe was deaf as things like the hoover don't bother him at all whereas Jess runs into their pop-up tent and hides and he also jumps sometimes as if he hasn't heard me coming, but he can hear a nuggets/kale/yoggy drop packet rustle at a hundred paces so i think the jumping may be because he was snoozing i don't think theres any specific tests apart from making noises to see if you get any reaction at all - maybe he can hear certain sounds and not others, like low or high pitched sounds?