• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Can Rabbits See in Complete Darkness?

KCG

Warren Veteran
I have a question. I know that normally rabbits can see in the dark. But can rabbits see well in a completely dark place? So they can still see well in a darker-than-normal place?
 
Eyes only work if there is light - so I presume they can't see in a completely dark place. Most animals also use other senses which enables them to move around better when it is darker eg hearing, smell, whiskers, vibrations through the ground. To us, this would give the impression that they can still 'see'. Vision also differs between species - some use different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, so what we think is dark, is still OK for some species who can see in wavelengths that we can't eg ultra violet.
 
Eyes only work if there is light - so I presume they can't see in a completely dark place. Most animals also use other senses which enables them to move around better when it is darker eg hearing, smell, whiskers, vibrations through the ground. To us, this would give the impression that they can still 'see'. Vision also differs between species - some use different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, so what we think is dark, is still OK for some species who can see in wavelengths that we can't eg ultra violet.

Normally I turn off all the lights in the house at night, and there is no light in Cookie's room at night. But he seems to be continuing her normal routine that night. But I wonder if he sees well in darker than usual
 
Last edited:
I was reading something about this the other day. And I may well be corrected by my more experienced and wiser forum friends later who are far more knowledgeable than I.
This I think largely depends on your perception of 'completely dark'. The evolution of the eye for surface dwelling habitation, means that all eyes have 'cones and rods'. If you imagine your eye receptors like straws. During normal daylight, the natural light enters the eyeball and is scattered because light is coming in from all angles. Your eyes cones and rods adjust to allow as much light as possible to enter the eye and then process the image (it's upside down of course but your brain then corrects that).
However, as the light decreases, then the cones and rods have to work harder and they have to then form blocks so they can absorb as much light as there is. It is why, when you wake up in the night (or come from the cinema to outside in daylight), your eyes take a while to adjust (which gets harder as you get older - believe me!). There is a delay whilst your cones all bunch up to maximise the light.
Now then, in crespicious animals like cats and bunnies, their eyes have evolved so that the cones and rods in their eyes bunch differently so they enhance the small amount of residual light quicker than we hoomans do. So when it is night time, bunnies are able to see in greater definition - although still grainy. The small amount of light that is still around even on moonless nights, can still be picked up by cats and bunnies so they can see predators or prey.
In complete darkness, ie an environment completely devoid of all light source, would be impossible for any animal to see in without having some way of inducing some form of light.
Hope this helps - but I may well be rightly corrected by far more knowlegable forum friends.
CRaig x
 
I was reading something about this the other day. And I may well be corrected by my more experienced and wiser forum friends later who are far more knowledgeable than I.
This I think largely depends on your perception of 'completely dark'. The evolution of the eye for surface dwelling habitation, means that all eyes have 'cones and rods'. If you imagine your eye receptors like straws. During normal daylight, the natural light enters the eyeball and is scattered because light is coming in from all angles. Your eyes cones and rods adjust to allow as much light as possible to enter the eye and then process the image (it's upside down of course but your brain then corrects that).
However, as the light decreases, then the cones and rods have to work harder and they have to then form blocks so they can absorb as much light as there is. It is why, when you wake up in the night (or come from the cinema to outside in daylight), your eyes take a while to adjust (which gets harder as you get older - believe me!). There is a delay whilst your cones all bunch up to maximise the light.
Now then, in crespicious animals like cats and bunnies, their eyes have evolved so that the cones and rods in their eyes bunch differently so they enhance the small amount of residual light quicker than we hoomans do. So when it is night time, bunnies are able to see in greater definition - although still grainy. The small amount of light that is still around even on moonless nights, can still be picked up by cats and bunnies so they can see predators or prey.
In complete darkness, ie an environment completely devoid of all light source, would be impossible for any animal to see in without having some way of inducing some form of light.
Hope this helps - but I may well be rightly corrected by far more knowlegable forum friends.
CRaig x

Yes, this helped me a lot. I understand very well. Thank you so much :)
 
Normally I turn off all the lights in the house at night, and there is no light in Cookie's room at night. But he seems to be continuing her normal routine that night. But I wonder if he sees well in darker than usual

There will be moonlight, street lights, LEDS on electrical items, etc which will provide for limited vision - unless you have blackout curtains or blinds covering every little gap on the windows and have switched off all machines at the mains. Just because you think it's dark, it doesn't mean there is no light to see by if your eyes are adapted to those conditions. It also depends on what level of detail is needed for effective sight - it may just be enough to detect movement, or a few shades of grey in the darkness to detect size / outline shape.
 
The Retina of the eyes have structures called rods and cones. Rods enable vision in low light and Rabbits have many more Rods than humans do. Rabbits vision is best at dawn and dusk and not so good in bright daylight and the dark of night. This fact fits well with the crepuscular behaviour of Rabbits.
 
There will be moonlight, street lights, LEDS on electrical items, etc which will provide for limited vision - unless you have blackout curtains or blinds covering every little gap on the windows and have switched off all machines at the mains. Just because you think it's dark, it doesn't mean there is no light to see by if your eyes are adapted to those conditions. It also depends on what level of detail is needed for effective sight - it may just be enough to detect movement, or a few shades of grey in the darkness to detect size / outline shape.

The Retina of the eyes have structures called rods and cones. Rods enable vision in low light and Rabbits have many more Rods than humans do. Rabbits vision is best at dawn and dusk and not so good in bright daylight and the dark of night. This fact fits well with the crepuscular behaviour of Rabbits.

I understood thank you. So do you keep your rabbits in a completely dark environment at night?
 
I understood thank you. So do you keep your rabbits in a completely dark environment at night?

As dark as my house gets when the lights go off. I do not leave a light on for them. Wild Rabbits will be in near darkness in their burrows.
 
As dark as my house gets when the lights go off. I do not leave a light on for them. Wild Rabbits will be in near darkness in their burrows.

I turn off the lights because that's what I think. But I was wondering if I'm doing it right. Thank you so much, I trust your answers very much. You are the mother of rabbits to me. :lol:
 
Back
Top