What Do Rabbits See?

Photo by Satyabratasm

Aside from a bunny's personality, many amazing features exist, including sleeping with eyes open, zoomies with short legs, and digging a hole in a new couch. How is that? That's a cute scenario for some owners, but it costs a lot.

That's the life of a bunny parent! They see their bunnies like children, but how do bunnies see them literally? How do they see the colors? We'll be able to know if a bunny's vision is different from a human being's.

Since bunnies were known to live in the wild before domesticated bunnies existed. They had an excellent vision because they were prey animals that needed to survive in the wild. Many predators were lurking, so their vision helped them to see when something dangerous was around.

How Do Bunnies See?

Bunnies can see things around at almost 360 degrees with the help of their large eyes placed on the sides of their heads. This makes them alert even with the tiniest movement in the surroundings.

Bunnies are farsighted animals because they can better see the whole area at a distance than a closer view; that's the function of their 360-degree vision. Another unique feature in bunnies is their monocular vision.

Monocular vision is only for animals with eyes on the opposite sides of the head, including rabbits and fish, which are prey animals.

Monocular vision in bunnies works by looking on both sides. Each eye operates independently, enabling a bunny to see all the sides of the area/field. On the other hand, binocular vision uses both eyes in the same direction allowing a bunny to see in 3D.

Amazingly, bunnies have visions to look for predators that can attack in any direction and see the whole area, while humans primarily have binocular vision.

Can Rabbits See Color?

For humans, bunnies are considered color blind. They can see colors but it's different from what we see. Bunnies have dichromatic vision. What is it and what colors do bunnies see? How about bunnies if humans have a trichromatic vision that allows us to see color?

Dichromatic vision makes bunnies only perceive two colors because only two cone cells function. Even though bunnies can see only two colors, they have better vision in the dark than humans. They can only see blue and green colors and cannot recognize other colors like red or yellow.

Disclaimer: We are not professional veterinarians or medical doctors. We created this blog based on our experiences with pet rabbits, volunteered hours in the rabbit shelter, extensive pet product research, and experienced peers. The purpose of this blog is to provide information about properly taking care of rabbits. Please know that it is still best to visit the vet regularly. For medical emergencies, contact a rabbit-savvy vet. Always observe your rabbits around new products or environmental changes.

Can Bunnies See in the Dark?

Bunnies cannot see best at night or in the dark but can see better than us. Rabbits have a grainy vision at night because of their unindented centralis. (Centralis helps humans and other animals to have a high-acuity vision)

Final Thoughts on What Do Rabbits See

There you go! There's the answer if you are still curious about what your bunny sees. Bunnies have dichromatic vision, meaning they can only see blue and green colors.