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Can crepuscular habbits be broken/changed?

GrahamL

GrahamL

Wise Old Thumper
I know bunnies are crepuscular (sp?), meaning they are most active at dusk and dawn, BUT...

...B&G are seemingly changing?

It's really odd. They don't sleep quite so much in the day these days, and are slowly, in my opinion, becoming less active at around 11pm as they used to be.

They seem to be most active around 2-5pm then have a snooze between 5 and 7 and then go nuts again and seem to get quieter about midnight. I've caught them both fast asleep twice in the night, at 2am and 4am. Whether they've been awake between those two times, i can't tell.

I must admit, this pattern is not followed every day, but it seems to be becoming a more regular occurence than not.

Is it possible?
 
I would wonder if its related to the hours of daylight and how early the sunsets and how late it rises each day, however, some bunnies csn morph to fit more human hours.
 
even when I had rabbits inside, they werent completely dusk/dawn. They would be really active from about 5pm-the early hours of the morning, sleepy at about 6am ish, bit more active about 11am, then sleepy again from 1pm-5pm.

I have a rabbit in my room at the moment who wakes me up most nights at about 3 am running about :lol:
 
Hmm, mine are the opposite. They sleep from about 11am until about 5pm, then get active and do similar at night, sleep from about 11pm until 5am. Though today Nutmeg and Smudge are a bit sleepy at the moment cos I kept them awake earlier with treats and willow balls :oops:
 
Natural crepuscular patterns change with the changing light levels. Normally ready for bed around 8pm in summer, ours are flat out hinting it's time around 6pm now it's winter. In the wild in the winter, on bad weather days buns may stay in the burrows and not surface at all, others will come out in the middle of the day - there is always natural variation. Generally those seen out in the middle of the day are likely to be batchelor bucks who may not be living in burrows at all.

Normally wide awake by 5 or 6am our two are still sleepy eyed at 8 am when my OH switches the light on downstairs... they wait for the daylight hours and respond accordingly throughout the year. Light levels on the retina (eye) trigger hormones in the hypothalamus/pituitary glands affecting behaviour which is why things change with the differing light levels, even for indoor buns. :)
 
prettylupin said:
Natural crepuscular patterns change with the changing light levels. Normally ready for bed around 8pm in summer, ours are flat out hinting it's time around 6pm now it's winter. In the wild in the winter, on bad weather days buns may stay in the burrows and not surface at all, others will come out in the middle of the day - there is always natural variation. Generally those seen out in the middle of the day are likely to be batchelor bucks who may not be living in burrows at all.

Normally wide awake by 5 or 6am our two are still sleepy eyed at 8 am when my OH switches the light on downstairs... they wait for the daylight hours and respond accordingly throughout the year. Light levels on the retina (eye) trigger hormones in the hypothalamus/pituitary glands affecting behaviour which is why things change with the differing light levels, even for indoor buns. :)
Click to expand...

Where the hell have you learnt all of this? :shock:

It's quite interesting, that it can change. I naievely thought that it was a set thing, but i can now understand why its different.

I was just curious.

B&G have now thrown my OP into disrepute and have been snoozing under the radiator in the hallway since 9:30 :roll:
 
GrahamL said:
Where the hell have you learnt all of this? :shock:

It's quite interesting, that it can change. I naievely thought that it was a set thing, but i can now understand why its different.

I was just curious.

B&G have now thrown my OP into disrepute and have been snoozing under the radiator in the hallway since 9:30 :roll:
Click to expand...

Books, chatting to Dr McBride, living in the depths of Somerset growing up - as you might remember! (Grew up next to Hinkley point ;))

You will find that if you have a late night (lights on) and disturb the bun's sleep pattern/rhythm OR put them to bed earlier than normal - they may behave differently the next day. Early nights here mean ours are wide awake early, late nights or broken sleep for the buns equals a very snoozy day all day :)

ETA light on our retinas affects our hormones too - just modern life overrides our instinctive behaviour :wave:
 
prettylupin said:
Books, chatting to Dr McBride, living in the depths of Somerset growing up - as you might remember! (Grew up next to Hinkley point ;))

You will find that if you have a late night (lights on) and disturb the bun's sleep pattern/rhythm OR put them to bed earlier than normal - they may behave differently the next day. Early nights here mean ours are wide awake early, late nights or broken sleep for the buns equals a very snoozy day all day :)
Click to expand...

That does tie in with last night, i was up until 1am doing odds and sods with the lights on and they were very happily running around playing silly ******* and doing bunny 500's together. I've never seen Biscuit run so fast. Ginger normally outruns him, i think he's learning!

Today, very snoozy, so that totally ties in with your theory.

Thanks as always PL.
 
Mine usually sleep from 11am-6pm then settle down at bedtime,11pm.They are usually asleep when I get up at 5.30am & if get up for the loo in the early hours,they are always asleep.They are sleeping more at mo cos they associate dark with sleep time.When the light goes on,they wake up.
 
I had 2 pairs in different parts of the house, and they always had different sleeping patterns to each other. The little ones who lived upstairs in the spare room were always awake about 30mins before I wanted to get out of bed.:? The two in the conservatory would still be snoozy early on and would be ready for action as I made my breakfast. I think they all had a little down time in mid evening (7ish) - they may have been letting their greens go down, then again, perhaps they just loved sitting by the radiators too much!
 
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