How can you tell if your rabbit is deaf?

[Taloan7]

For a while I have wondered if Moonpaw was deaf because of his lack of response to any noises. He’s a Holland lop so I don’t know if they really move their ears in response to sounds, but he never has. He doesn’t even twitch if I turn on the vacuum. He doesn’t react when my kids are really loud around him. If you approach him from behind but are really loud he’ll still be really startled if you touch him. He won’t wake up from loud sounds and this evening I stood behind him and banged some metal things together and he didn’t react at all. If he was a cat or dog I’d be firmly convinced he was deaf, but being a bunny I don’t have enough experience to know whether this lack of reaction is just normal in rabbits. Are some rabbits just that non reactive or am I right in thinking he is probably deaf?

[Bam]

Try crinkling a treat bag. If he hears that, he is not deaf.

I suspected my bunny Bam was deaf, but he wasn’t, he just slept very hard.

Forum Leader LBJ10 has a deaf rabbit.

[Bunny House]

My lop for the longest time, I thought was deaf, turned out her ear canals were swollen shut from her chronic ear infections, not that it’s clear, she hears everything, and even knows her name now. It wouldn’t hurt to have the vet check the ears and see if there is an infection.

[Daisy Rey]

Wow, she knows her name – she’s bunny gifted…I have three – no one knows their name – at all… The vet once told me that bunnies are “smooth-brained” – not the brightest animals in the kingdom…but, they are so cute! I’ll have to ask the vet to double-check their ears…I’d be so excited if someone actually responded to their name!

[Bunny House]

All my buns know their names, they are actually pretty smart! It’s amazing what just 30 minutes of training a day can do. But many people and even some vets can see them as livestock and not animals worth training.

[Asriel and Bombur]

Eh I wouldn’t be 100% positive on the not to bright thing. I would put Asriel up against a dog or cat any day. That bunny has very good critical thinking skills, knows every name we call him and responds to each. knows what time I usually go to bed and will scurry to the bed for cuddles, has great object permanence (oddly enough), knows when each feeding time is, and knows exactly what activities are naughty and just like a cat he will look directly at you and proceed to do it. This bunny is unnatural xD

Bombur on the other hand, I’d have to agree. Bless him he’s precious and snuggly, but not all that bright. Knows his name and comes when he’s called!

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

It probably depends on their motivation. A food-oriented bunny is super easy to train. Snack! Snack! Ooh, if I do this I get a snack? Yes? Training is always fun with Breintje, but I have to limit the time so he doesn’t get too many treats. He won’t lift a paw unless he’s rewarded with food, never mind clickers, happy voices and head rubs. Food is where it’s at!

[Taloan7]

Moonpaw just got a checkup before getting neutered, but it was just to make sure he was healthy to neuter, so I’m not sure any ear problems would come up during that. I stood right behind him and crinkled a bag and he didn’t react, but I’m not sure how much he associates me with food. He gets up when I do to get fed and seems to know my schedule, but never seems to seek food from me otherwise. He is a scavenger and is always trying to find food to eat, just not from me. He’s not a very expressive bunny (never binkies, thumps, runs around). All he seems to do is follow the cats. In fact, behaviour-wise he seems to mimic the cats more than he acts like a bunny. Not sure any of the bunch are particularly clever lol. All any of them ever do is 1) sneak into rooms they are locked out of 2) sleep in patches of sunlight 3) eat meals 4) get underfoot when people are walking around.

[LBJ10]

Leopold is deaf. I remember the vet looking in his ears long ago when I told her I suspected he was deaf. She couldn’t see anything “wrong”, meaning there was no infection or anything. He is a Holland lop and deafness is relatively common in the breed. Something about dwarfism and lop ears don’t work well together. Everything is smooshed.

One of the tests we did with Leopold was the treat bag test. But I had to remove Wooly from the room because Leopold is usually clued in about what’s happening if he sees Wooly react. I put Wooly on the sofa in the living room. Then I went to their room and stood in the doorway. I held the treat bag up so it was behind the wall and out of Leopold’s view. I crinkled the bag. Leopold went about his business. I crinkled the bag louder. Still no reaction. Then I felt little paws on my leg. I looked down and Wooly had found his was down the hallway. Nothing wrong with Wooly’s hearing, that was for sure. *sigh*

We did some other tests too. Leopold just doesn’t react to anything and it is very easy to sneak up on him as long as you avoid casting a shadow within his line of sight. I have scared the crap out of him quite a few times because he just didn’t know I was there. He doesn’t come when called. He likely has no clue what his name is. Wooly knows his name and he knows what the word “treat” is and he knows what “no” means.

Another thing we noticed about Leopold that would be consistent with him being deaf is that he has never made a single sound. Now I know many bunnies are not really vocal. But he has never made any sound at all. Not a growl, grunt or honk, nothing. When he thumps, and it isn’t too often, it’s like he doesn’t know how loud he is. What I mean is, he will thump so hard I’m surprised he hasn’t broken his foot. It’s as if he thinks he needs to thump super hard so he can feel the vibration better. He also bites. It isn’t a nip. I think he thinks it is a nip. But it isn’t. He bites HARD and it hurts. He will do this particularly when he is frustrated. With Wooly, it only took a few squeals to get him to no bite hard. Wooly only lightly touches you with his teeth now and that is only if he’s really had a enough with grooming. So I think that is further evidence that Leopold never learned some basic bunny social etiquette because he simply cannot hear thumping or vocalizations.

ETA: Leopold is also kind of clumsy. Apparently deaf humans can have balance issues since balance is maintained within the ear. So I often wonder if it would be similar in deaf rabbits.

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