Every once in a while I wonder if Otto is deaf – he doesn’t react to even the loudest noises. But then I’ll talk to him and he’ll swing his ears around and I know he must be able to hear.

Hannah, however, is a lop and has excellent hearing. She’s tuned into me like a hawk and can hear me coming from a mile away.

So I think it might be a lop thing, but with my two it seems at least partially personality related – Otto just doesn’t care what noises you’re making, while Hannah does.

Well, this is comparing apples and oranges really. You definitely have to look at the personality and the situation. And since the stereotype is that lops are often more laid-back, their lack of attention might not be a lack of *hearing* but a lack of… caring? LOL…

My lop has very selective hearing as do most bunnies. I can talk to him all day and he doesn’t care… but if I whisper “treats” in the other room… he’s all ears!

Max has very “movable” ears. He can lift them straight up and hold them that way and look almost exactly like an uppy-eared bun. Or he holds up one if he hears something. And he can rotate them in the same way Meadow can. I’m not sure of his lineage so maybe purebred lops have less ear function. He could be mixed with who knows what…

I have always wondered if such relaxed sleeping or lounging shows more of a “fearless” attitude than hearing.  Cotton sleeps as though she is dead- and when we first got her- there were a few times I was sure she was dead the way she was flopped out and sprawled all over.  But I have never really seen Schroeder sleep.  I have seen Griffin sleep but he is more alert than Cotton is in response to noise.  All I have all lops- as I adore lops- so I cannot compare to uppy eared bunnies.  But I see mine related more to confidence rather than ears.

I haven’t noticed any difference in hearing, but have you guys noticed a difference in vision? For most lops they have the wider forehead and more of a ‘crown’ of hair. I find that Sully cannot see pellets or treats when they are on the ground or if I am holding something in front of his forehead, but he has to sniff them out. Whereas Frankie immediately knows where they are. Or maybe Sully is just not as observant?

Hmm. Never thought about that Minty (is that your official name now?) but I’ve noticed that with Max too. He is also older than Meadow by maybe 2 or 3 years, so not sure if it may just be a natural decline with age?

Rabbit have a small blind spot of about l0 degrees directly in front of their nose and below their chin because of the location of their eyes on the sides. A treat that is sitting right in front of them is in that 10 degrees of blind spot. It is possible that Frankie is keener about food because he is growing and he is a mini rex; they tend to be greedy and rarely miss sniffing out a morsel of food.

Posted By Petzy on 06/08/2010 09:24 AM
  he is a mini rex; they tend to be greedy and rarely miss sniffing out a morsel of food.

LMAO! 

I actually have wondered if Bubba my mini lop has seeing issues sometimes. He crawls up to a lot with his ears forward, and i can put a finger almost in his eye without him blinking As for hearing, he knows “Treats” from rooms away so i think we’re good in that department.
The thing that freaks me out is the deep sleepers, PitStop (uppidy eared) is a deep sleeper and sometimes with his eyes open (Freaky!) I’m always affraid he’s dead or sick when i see him that way LOL Scares the poop outta me everytime.

As far as head shape, Otto’s eyes are firmly planted on the side of his head, so there’s definitely a blind spot. Looking at him straight on, I can’t even really see his eyes. Hannah’s are much more in the middle of her face, even though she’s a lop, so her blind spot is reduced. She often stares at us straight on and I can clearly see both of her eyes. Otto has to do the turn-the-head-to-the-side look.

Beka, I wish my guys had ear control like that! That’s so cute. I’ve read it’s sometimes a function of how far apart their ears are. A lop whose ears are kind of close together, and has a narrow crown, will be more likely to have ear control and move their ears whichever way they choose. Even purebred lops can have ear control. Neither of my guys can do it though. Otto just swings them back and forth like a pendulum when he’s trying to hear something. Hannah doesn’t seem to move hers at all – she’s more likely to move her whole head to hear something better.

I’m also going to vote for it’s more an issue of them being more laidback, rather than not hearing as well.  At least, with my lop bun, it’s been like that.  He is just a very laidback dude.  When I got him, he flopped out and made himself comfortable within his first 20 minutes at my apartment.  When I got him a new cage, he gave it one cursory lap to check things out, then decided he needed a nap.  When I first let him have out of cage time, he calmly hopped around, periscoped, and did just one binky for the heck of it.

Currently his favorite pastime is flopping out on the tiles I set out for him in the living room, and dozing.  He even dreams, with his little feet moving and his mouth chewing.  So I guess he dreams about hopping and eating.

Oh, and he really can’t swivel or move his ears much at all.  He’ll move his whole head, but can’t seem to move his ears that well.

Sometimes i’m convinced Moosie is as deaf as a post… he’ll just be sitting there… I’ll shake the pellet scoop but he won’t move. Until I make the “Treat Noise”. You know the one, little kissy noises… lol. Then he’s bounding over all excited. Weirdo bunny.

Elrohwen, I thought Bagheera was deaf too, I could walk up behind him and then reach in and touch him and he would leap away in fear because he didn’t hear me coming!

Bun seems to always pin her tiny ears in a way for optimal hearing. But you can also see when lops are listening because of how they rotate their ears forward. Interesting topic!

Monkey’s ear are always on the movie, except for when she’s eating, then she pins them neatly together so they won’t get in her food. *gigglesnort* Silly girl… like they are big enough to get in the way.

Yes, Beka, I’ve changed my name from SullysMum to Minty since I have Frankie now too… I was thinking to make a thread about it to let everyone know!

Thanks you for this informative thread!

I used to play my Slipknot music and Kai wouldn’t even flinch. He was loppy eared.

I have questioned the vision and hearing of my boys! I can walk into a room in plain sight, while saying hello to them and a few seconds AFTER, they will startle violently, as if I had snuck up on them!