Is My Bunny Blind?

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 2sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 12 months ago by Taloan7.

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- 03/11/2019 at 1:04 AM
  T
  Participant
  1 posts
  Hi, I am a new bunny owner and I am also new to this forum. I apologize if this question has already been asked are talked about, the search function is down and I am not able to search for this topic.
  
  Anyway, I have a Holand Lop bunny named Cinnamon that’s around 8-9 weeks old, I have had for about 2 and a half weeks. She is great and I never thought my heart would melt so much over an animal period, let alone a bunny! Nonetheless, I am growing concerned about her vision and it is likely because I don’t really know what is normal.
  
  My concern comes from the fact that she chooses to sniff around for her food, rather than looking for it by sight. When I give her treats, I can set it right in front of her in my hand and she sniffs around for it rather than coming straight to it. I know rabbits rely on their smell a lot, but is this normal?
  
  She runs and navigates through the house without running into anything and she seems to respond to light (i tried taking a pic of her with my phone with the flash turned on and she did blink a bit from the flash)
  
  Again, please forgive me if I am just being paranoid here. I am new to pet ownership and I am just concerned about my dear little Cinnamon! Any help would be greatly appreciated!
  
  Thanks
- 03/11/2019 at 4:51 AM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17029 posts
  Hi and welcome to the forums!
  
  All rabbits have a blind spot right in front of their nose. They don’t see well up close, and it’s normal for them to look like little blind moles eagerly trying to find the food you’ve put right in front of them. Their eyes are very wide-set like most prey animals’ eyes are, which allows for an extremely wide field of vision but not great vision up close. It’s important to know this, because rabbits can startle if you approach them with your hand from in front of their face. A rabbit that’s looking right at you has it’s profile towards you. Same as a deer would, or a horse.
  
  The fact that she navigates your house without bumping into things makes it highly unlikely that she’s blind. Plus she blinked at the flash.
  
  Regarding old topics, we like it when members start new topics on subjects that have been discussed before. Most subjects actually never get old, because rabbit knowledge and medicine are evolving fast =)
- 03/11/2019 at 2:25 PM
  Taloan7
  Participant
  138 posts
  I was worried about my bunny being blind this week due to him running into my feet and running into my baby. I thought “why on earth is he always going near the baby, he should fear for his life and run away from him!” Anyway, I got it into my head that maybe he was blind. I took my phone and turned on the flashlight and shone it in his eye and he got REALLY pissed off and thumped at me and ran away. She he’s clearly not blind lol. Your bunny doesn’t sound like it is blind, and Bam explained that nicely, but if you want to reassure yourself do what I did.
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