Sleep

[Isabelle]

I took a bunny basics class a few months ago, and two things have bugged me about it. The first one was that the lady said that bunnies only sleep ten minutes per day, that’s it. Ummmmm . . . . Dutchess sleeps like all the time! lol Not really all the time, but she snores a lot more than ten minutes a day. What is more realistic for bunny sleeping? The other thing that bothered me was that she said never to use vaseline on bunnies because it is based off of petroluem. My vet tech told me to treat Dutchess’ pressure sores (she still has them ) with a tiny bit of vaseline. This conflicted me, so I haven’t been using anything on her sores, which haven’t ever bothered her. I’m thinking about using the vaseline again, since it did seem to help a bit when I had used it, the lady who did the class kinda scared the crap out of me about using it. She has only had two rabbits in her life, starting two years ago, so I’m questioning her knowledge over my vet tech’s, who has gone to medical school and her family has been raising rabbits all of her life. Does anybody know what the sleep averages are for bunnies? I know of course personalities of bunnies are a factor, but of course they must need more than 10 minutes of sleep in a 24 hour period, right??  I’d be loco without 8-9 hours.

[Sarita]

I imagine what the lady was trying to say was that they sleep in 10 minute increments at a time – at least in the wild, I would imagine since they are prey animals.

As far as vaseline…I’ve never used this for anything in a long time. I think it’s probably not good to ingest in large amounts which was probably her concern. I imagine that if you are using a small thin film on her pressure points, it should be okay.

[Isabelle]

I asked the lady if she meant ten minute interval and she said no, she said they sleep ten minutes per day, period. I was like . . okay . .

The vet tech said that she might get a little diahhrea (sp?) from the vaseline if she licked it off, but everytime I’ve used it she’s never tried to lick it off, and had no issues with it. Like you said Sarita, I only used a small amount and wipe off the excess.

[GrumpyBun]

Disclaimer: I am not a trained rabbit expert, I merely have personal experience and common sense

The woman is full of crap.

I am tempted to leave it at that – but that’s possibly a bit harsh on her. Rabbits sleep way more than 10 minutes. No animal could survive on that little sleep. I would not like to say either way about the vaseline. I have heard it can be used, but go with the trained professional every time. Any doubts – ring a vet for confirmation.

What does she say is her qualification for running these classes?

[Sarita]

LOL – well, I doubt that since mine sleep all day long.

[Isabelle]

lol grumpybun! That’s what I’ve been thinking for a while now but was too polite to say it. Her only qualifications that I know of is her two years experience with her own bunnies. I thought it was a bit odd, but she’s more teaching people about what bunnies eat like hay, greens, and small amounts of fruit, and their type of habitat they need, etc. pretty basic stuff. But for some of it like the sleep thing I thought she was pretty off, and I had only owned Dutchess about four months at the time, too, and I felt more knowledable than her!

[SmokeyBunnyRobinson]

Yeah that lady is crazy. Smokey definitely sleeps more than 10 minutes all day.

[FluffyBunny]

I can’t think of any mammal that sleeps for only 10 minutes per day. I agree with another poster – that’s a load of crap.

I’m not sure how long bunnies normally sleep, but since they’re crepuscular, they sleep for most of the afternoon and the middle of the night.

[Monkeybun]

I think my coffee cup knows more about bunny sleep habits than that lady.

[Elrohwen]

Somebody needs to tell my bunnies that they are only supposed to sleep for 10 minutes every day. I’d be lucky if they slept for 10 hours – as it is they probably sleep for 20 hours every day! Just a bit more than 10 minutes 😛

[SmokeyBunnyRobinson]

Elrohwen – your avatar bun is ADORABLE! I love split color faces! They get me every time.

And yeah, Smokey is a light sleeper and will get up if I get up, but she’s definitely slept more than 10 minutes at a time, and multiple times during the day.

[LoveChaCha]

Chacha is a light sleeper as well. Since my dad and I have moved into the apartment, she is constantly being waken up by the noise that is being made lol.

[Elrohwen]

Posted By SmokeyBunnyRobinson on 01/18/2011 08:05 PM
Elrohwen – your avatar bun is ADORABLE! I love split color faces! They get me every time.

Thank you! I’ll tell Otto he has a new admirer

[Isabelle]

My suspicions about the bunny sleep lady have been confirmed. I should probably be teaching that class, rather than her, lol! She was nice, but I think she was off in some places.

[LoveChaCha]

You should teach it, YES

[peppypoo]

I’m pretty sure there were plenty of days where Tammo was only AWAKE for 10 mins! What a lazy bun

[Michelle&Lolli]

For vaseline – Neosprin is petroleum based which is all that vaseline is. Cosmetic grade petroleum. So if they eat it in small amounts, it’s fine.

And like everyone has said, rabbits sleep A LOT. I’m fairly certain Lolli rivals cats on how much they sleep. lol

[Monkeybun]

She probably thought they only sleep 10 minutes because alot of buns sleep with their eyes open.

[Author]

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