Question: Rabbits with no ears

[calipa_st]

I’m looking at adopting a buddy or two for my rabbit. When I found my first bun online, I knew it was meant to be/felt a connection…now, after reading up on it, I apparently don’t get much choice on who he chooses?? lol

 

So, I did find a pair that is in need of a forever home. They are siblings and they were attacked as babies by their aunt (she was pregnant, and they were put in the same cage as her and she ate their ears off and I believe killed another sibling) and there is also a single sibling of theirs who survived the attack in tact. 

So, the pair are completely normal, but only have little stumpy ears. I’ve tried googling about it, but some movie about rabbits with no ears keeps coming up :-/

Do they have normal hearing? The bio doesn’t say much else about it other than how it happened. I didn’t want to contact them because I can’t adopt just yet (might be moving in March, I’d prefer to be moved before getting a new bun and putting them through that stress so newly adopted)

My only concern with the hearing is, I do have relatively loud young children, and don’t want to stress the rabbits out if it affects their hearing (like, maybe it’s more sensitive?)

[Eepster]

The long ears help the bunny to determined what direction sound is coming from. The ears also help bunny regulate body temperature.

[mollys1]

Yeah I’ve heard that bunnies with no ears can have problems with regulating their body temperature (such as cooling off when its hot). As long as you have AC in the summer, keep them indoors, and provide cooling (like frozen waterbottles) it shouldn’t be a problem. I’m not sure about hearing. Maybe this is a good question for a rabbit veterinarian? I’m sure they could give more accurate information

[NewBunnyOwner123]

I heard the larger ears make hearing EASIER (notice prey animals seem to have larger satellite type ears lol) So maybe the stumpy ears, if anything, may hinder hearing ever so slightly than if they had big erect ears. Just a thought :p

[Sarita]

I don’t think it necessarily affects hearing unless the rabbit who did this maybe caused actual damage to the ear canal or ear drum but other than that it should not affect hearing. I do believe it can affect temperature regulation as has been stated but you don’t need to worry about that since they are indoors. I’ve helped at quite a few rescues where they have had rabbits come in with no ears before and don’t remember any hearing problems other than having them ignore you just like any other rabbit :~) you know – selective hearing.

[Elrohwen]

Totally agree with Sarita. It might effect body temp control, but that’s not really a concern indoors. I don’t think it would effect hearing at all, except maybe the ability to pinpoint exactly where sounds are coming from (but lops also have that issue and are fine). We had a rabbit in rescue with stumpy ears and she did just fine.

[calipa_st]

all good info, thanks everyone.
am I allowed to post their photo from petfinder? I’ll share if it’s against the rules it can just be deleted..
but, I love dutch rabbits and saw these two…so cute!

[calipa_st]

[Sarita]

No, not a problem to post their photo. They are adorable and I’m a Dutch bunny lover as well.

[tobyluv]

Those are precious bunnies.

[Sindri]

Even not having ears makes them a gorgeous pair of bunnies.

[calipa_st]

I wasn’t planning on getting a bonded pair, just one to bond with my single, but these two caught my eye…and my boyfriend fell in love as well (he’s not a bunny slave like me, but he does like how happy they make me haha) and he said he’d be on board getting two more rabbits especially the earless ones. I’m trying not to get my heart set, because we all know the bonding might not work. Hoping to set up an appointment to have a meeting with them with Lucky….it’s two hours away though, but I know it’ll be worth it!

[RabbitPam]

They are adorable. How did the meeting go?

Wait, duh. *slaps forehead* You meant their location was 2 hours away, not that a meeting time was 2 hours from when you posted.

Sorry. Have you contacted about meeting them yet? I think you could ask if they have hearing problems or if they are undamaged in their hearing. Several members have had hearing impaired bunnies. A vet can give you specifics and some guidance on what might be an irritant if you do end up taking them. So cute. 

[Sindri]

Maybe the rescue can help you with bonding. I know the one in my state says on their site that they would help with bonding no matter how long it would take. Hope it works out!

[calipa_st]

^ It’s a house rabbit society, so I bet they’re good at helping with bonding. My only concern is if I should start contacting them now, or wait. Most likely moving March 1st, and I’d rather be all moved in before bringing new rabbits home. (I’m concerned with having new rabbits and settling them in and then moving them again, also the new place is bigger and could def have two more but can’t have two more in the apartment we are in) It took me 1.5 months to get the one I have so I assume it’s a long process..

[Sarita]

I would go ahead and contact them and start the process – they would probably appreciate that you want to make sure you are totally ready to actually adopt them and March is not that far off.

[Deleted User]

calipa_st – go for it! How perfect are they!!!! I so hope the HRS are happy to wait for you to be ready to take them in (sadly in all reality, I can’t imagine there will be anyone else lining up for them?). I am so happy for you, your boyfriend, the noisy (lol) kids and Lucky, oh and the cats? – but even more so for these two beautiful buns to join your family. With the noise? when Henry first came home noise did startle him….. Not anymore! Henry and the dogs can be asleep along side each other and when they bark (it still startles me), Henry barely lifts his head. My middle child is ‘everything’ loud – and Henry still hangs out with him. I complained (once to often it seems), and my hubby bought home a roll of ‘tape’ (for his mouth, lol!). So the noise bothers me way more than our Henry! your Lucky adjusted, I reckon these two will – especially given the loving home you will provide them. I so hope you can make them yours. Cheers calipa_st and family.

[calipa_st]

Okay, well I filled the application out!! Sent it in, it says it can take up to two weeks to get a response (understandably, since it’s a lot of foster parents)
And petfinder has it listed that it’s in PA, but their website says DE so the location is much closer than I had initially thought (which is great because I can’t take highways…would have taken a long time to get to the one that is normally only two hours away!)

[Sindri]

That’s great! I hope this works out for you and your bunny and the new bunnies. It would be great to see these 2 get a loving home.

[LBJ10]

Squee! OMG, how cute are they? I love them! I would not be concerned one bit about their earlessness. I don’t think it will cause any problems with their hearing as long as all of the damage was superficial. Keep us updated on the application and such!

[NewBunnyOwner123]

I think they have been there awhile? Pretty sure I’ve seen their photo on petfinder when I was looking for another bun and that was MONTHS ago. Like a very long time lol I’m on the east coast too.

[calipa_st]

I hadn’t seen them before, but it does say they’ve been there since June so that’s a decent amount of time in foster care

[calipa_st]

Just to update…

I filled an app out for their shelter on Friday and they approved me last night! Quickest ever! I need to meet with the buns with my Lucky, and go from there. Only can do meetings on Saturdays (their hours) so maybe it’ll be a slow process because of that. And we plan on moving either feb 15th or march 1st, so we’ll have neutral territory for the buns to bond!

[Sarita]

Yay, that’s wonderful – keep us updated!

[Annabel93]

Awww, they are gorgeous! Good luck with starting the process!

[Bam]

They really are adorable, I’d never thought earless buns could look so lovely =) Good luck to you!

[NuggetBuns]

I’m so excited for you!! When I first read your subject line, I knew which rabbits you were talking about because I check HRS’s adoption list from time to time. In fact, there’s where we took Nugget for bunny speed dating and where Emilee came from. Oz and Wiz are so incredibly cute and was just listed on the adoption page maybe around Christmas time? I think NBO is talking about another bonded pair of dutch bunnies that have the same colors (oddly enough) but they have normal ears and are adults.

I might be at the shelter this Saturday to help clean cages so maybe I’ll get to meet your beloved pair.

[Sindri]

That’s great. I hope it goes well. Do let us know how it goes!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Awww!!

I would think, if it hasn’t been said already, that this may affect communication; rabbits use their ears to show displeasure and interest and communicate with each other. So depending on them and your rabbit this may affect bonding. But you would likely be able to tell this when they met for the first time though, and if it doesn’t appear to be an issue it likely won’t be!

I love your considering special pets

[Peony]

I feel bad for them to end up like that but as for the question goes, I feel it is been answered

[calipa_st]

Nugget- I’m trying to get an appointment for this Saturday! Waiting to hear back from someone. I’m kind of annoyed they won’t give me the exact address of the shelter until we make the appointment, because I need to figure out how to get there without taking a highway (I can’t go on 202 or even 141….I have a phobia of highways, so I have to plan accordingly ahead of time)

[calipa_st]

I have an appointment! But, apparently Wizard & Oz just got neutered and she isn’t sure they should meet Lucky yet because it can take a month for the scent to go away…this is part of the email

“but I will suggest to our Educators that Lucky meet with the single bunnies first and the ones who have been neutered the longest. They can try Lucky with 4-5 different rabbits on that day. There’s no need to space it out unless Lucky appears to be unduly stressed.”

Boooo. I will go and have him meet some. I do like wiz & oz’s brother who is quite goofy looking. And the boy bun we met at the local spca, if he were neutered I probably would have taken him immediately. 

How do I convince my boyfriend to adopt multiple rabbits?!?! haha He said yes to one, or to wiz&oz (since they are so cute) but I really loved this English Spot we saw at a local spca AND rabbits at the HRS. Sigh. How do you say no?  

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