A rabbit’s sense of vision is one of the things that helps them to survive as wild animals. Rabbits are most active at dawn and dusk and spend most of the day lying down. In this guide we’ll look at the main characteristics of a rabbits eyesight and find out how much rabbits can see in the dark.
Can Rabbits See at Night?
The short answer is… Yes! Rabbits can see in the dark, but understandably they cannot see as clearly as they do during the day.
A rabbits eyesight is well adjusted to low light situations as they are most active when the sun is rising or going down.
In complete darkness, rabbits are able to identify objects and generally to understand their hutch and surroundings, but aren’t able to pick out detail. As humans, we are generally able to sense our surroundings in darkness, but a rabbits eyes are far better at adjusting to their dark and are eight times more sensitive than human eyes.
How Far and What Colours Do Rabbits See?
Rabbits see colours differently to human beings, allowing them to easily identify green and blue, but struggling to identify red.
A rabbits eyesight is generally strongest when identifying objects far away, with their short sight being the weaker of the two. This is generally used to help identify and protect them as predators approach from a far.
Should You Leave Your Lights on for Your Rabbit Pet?
The decision on whether to leave lights on or off depends on your rabbit’s behaviour during the day. For example, you may find that they are always moving around and very active during the night. So if you hear them moving around at night, it will be good to leave dim lights for them. But if they adapt to sleeping in the night and remain quiet all night long, there is no need to leave the light on during the night.
Therefore, if you want to keep your rabbits happy, observe whether they are active during the night. If so, then it will be good if you leave the lights on. The best thing is that you only need to leave a dim light on due to their strong eyesight in low light.
The Position of the Eyes
As you may have noticed, a rabbit’s eyes are positioned on both sides of the head to capture a very large vision area. That is why they can almost 360 degrees with a very short blind spot, 9 degrees only. That helps them to identify their enemies very fast and also their food.
