At birth, a rabbit's eyes are sealed shut and will remain this way for approximately two to three weeks after birth. They will be blind as well as deaf.
The reason behind this is to allow the baby rabbit to develop further outside of their mother who will be ready to breed again sooner.
This does however make baby rabbits a prime target for predators which is why rabbits will often hide their babies inside a nest.
It’s important not to force a rabbits eyes open as this will cause damage that cannot be repaired and can lead to permanent blindness. You should leave any kits to develop in their own time after they have been birthed.
Kits will open their eyes from 10 – 21 days. This ranges depending on the rabbit but even with vision they won’t be able to see very far.
In most cases a baby rabbit will stick to their nest and only be able to see their mother and siblings.
Over time your rabbits vision will improve and they will become more adventurous as their eyesight sharpens.
Once a kit is ready to leave the nest they will have their eyes open, ears up and be hopping around.
What do I do if my baby rabbit doesn’t open their eyes?
The problem can happen during gestation and after birth. If your baby rabbit cannot open their eyes by day 12, you should call your closest exotic veterinarian.
Potential Causes of Eyes Not Opening
Birth defectsPoor nutritionInjury during or after birthUnderdevelopment
If your rabbit is still blind or deaf they might:Not react to your movements Not react to loud or unusual noisesStruggle to feed from their mother
Contrary to popular belief, rabbits are not born color blind. However, their understanding of color perception is limited.
Domestic rabbits have retinas which contain more rods than cones meaning that they don’t have the ability of seeing as much color as we do.
This doesn’t matter too much though as rabbits typically have better low-light vision to help avoid predators.