Rabbits lounging in the sun

[joea64]

As I get to know Panda and Fernando better, I’ve been observing an interesting daytime-lounging routine that Fernando seems to love to indulge in. As most of you know by now, Fernando is an albino (REW) Polish bun. Albino rabbits see better in dim lighting than bright sunlight due to the lack of pigmentation in their eyes, so obviously Fernando seems to see best during the early morning and early evening hours (as well as at night, when there’s an artificial source of light nearby but not too close). What interests me right now, though, is how he behaves during the daytime hours when he and his mom Panda are dozing and lounging.

Panda likes to sleep/lounge during the hours of daylight, generally 9 am or so to 4 pm or thereabouts, in her favorite hidey box on the upper deck of the buns’ condo. Fernando has his own hidey box there too, and he does often use it, but just as often he seems to prefer/enjoy bunloafing or occasionally bunny-rugging out on the open part of the upper deck, front (toward the condo’s front) or rear (at the back up next to the window) as the mood takes him or as he judges the sunlight is nicest. I know that too much direct sunlight isn’t good for rabbits due to the issue of possible sunburn, so I always keep the blinds drawn so that the sunlight filters through. Fernando seems to really, really love basking in the filtered sunlight; the other day (Sunday) he was so comfortable, and obviously feeling so secure, that his eyes were closed or nearly closed as he contentedly bunloafed through most of the afternoon.

I brought this up not because there’s any problem – in fact the buns, particularly Fernando, seem to be having themselves a nice comfy time  – but because I find it interesting that Fernando likes to spend so much time in the sun when I’d understood that albinos don’t like having the sun in their eyes. Anyone else observed similar or other interesting behaviors by their buns on sunny days?

[Dface]

Rabbits do require sunlight to get vitamin D and the lack of it causes a number of diseases, so the majority do enjoy lounging in the sun whenever they have a chance and it’s not really an odd behaviour.
They shouldn’t be forced into direct sunlight though (just to be clear), by say placing their cage in it, but as long as they are able to move to shade its fine.

Not all albinos suffer as badly with vision loss, with some not exhibiting any notable difference at all, others it’s a very clear problem, my bino will sit in the sun but be completely blind because of it, which is obvious if he gets startled, or if something has moved in the time since he was last able to see. Other albinos will just have a shadow effect and not be able to see as well as when there is no sun.

[joea64]

As far as the shade goes, that’s no problem – there are the aforementioned two hidey boxes on the upper deck, and the lower deck is completely shaded; the litterbox is at the back in probably the darkest part day-round. The buns can move freely from level to level via the ramp so if the sunlight (even filtered through the shades) ever gets too bright, there’s an easy route to shade if the hidey boxes shouldn’t provide enough protection (they usually do, though).

On watching Fernando, it seems that he doesn’t really have that much more in the way of problems with his vision than a non-albino rabbit does. When he sits on the upper deck on a sunny day, he seems to be able to see well enough to at least see me moving toward the condo or away from it, though I’m sure he also employs his ears and nose to good effect. He definitely sees a lot better when the apartment’s main room is dim.

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