Is it mental or physical? lol

[Baron]

I am back with yet another antidote about my rabbit "The Baron".

Here I sit in my bedroom at my desk and The Baron normally frequents this room usually on the floor to my left or behind me on the bed. I was eating some of "his snacks" and when he wants some, he will either paw up at my leg or leap up into my lap. This room is dimly lit with the glow of my monitor and a 40 watt desklamp. I dropped a snack on the floor for him and he continued to look at me. I had to point it out to him and he ate it.

This makes me wonder, how well do rabbits see or are they more like a dog depending on their nose more than their eyes? I know they sleep with their eyes open in a trance like state. He will often wake from these when I make a noise or the PC creates a sound.

However the other day, I tried waving and other visual cues to get his attention. Either he ignored me, or was in such a deep trance his visual was just out of touch with reality. When I called him, he snapped out with a panic and thumped a few times. There has been worse (nightmares I can only assume) where he falls off the bed and even rolled about before snapping out of it.

One of my friends asked, if my rabbit was mental or are they all like that. He had just witnessed The Baron do his rare 360 thumpin' dance move. I told him, I can't speak for all rabbits, but The Baron is ...uh well... he's not broken, he's advanced!

 

[Azerane]

Hmm, the snack thing doesn't so much sound like poor vision as simply poor perception of where something dropped may have gone. Cats and dogs seem to perceive trajectories of objects more which in my personal opinion is to do with their hunting instinct and knowing where prey is going, not just where it is at that point. Rabbits and other prey animals seem to either be less interested, or less perceptive of following through on an objects movement. At least that's how I see it anyway

In terms of trying to get his attention, Bandit often ignores me when I talk to him/waves my arms around etc. He prefers to do things on his terms only, haha.

 

[Baron]

Well as much as he loves the shredded wheat, I am considering repacking them and label them "Baron Snacks" with the tag; Baron will do almost anything for a Baron Snack, will you? :biggrin2:

After he gets done, I end up having to get the dirt devil out after his crumbs.
:vacuum:

 

[MikeScone]

I read somewhere that rabbits' close vision isn't very good. They have incredible fields of view - nearly 360 degrees - and can perceive motion very well, both of which are very useful to prey animals. Rabbits are herbivores, so they don't need to worry about their food running away - but anything moving quickly anywhere near them is a potential threat.

On the other hand, they have very little binocular vision - their eyes' fields of view don't overlap much - so they don't see much in 3D, and while their vision covers a large area it's not very sharp. Also, they have a large blind spot in front and below. I think that explains why they can't see treats which are dropped right near them.

I've noticed that if Natasha Rabbitova drops her morning carrot (which she often does, since she insists of stretching out of her cage when I bring it, so it often gets knocked off by the edge of the cage as she drops down), she has trouble finding it visually. She has to go by the smell of the carrot - I can see her sniffing for it.