Red-eyed rabbits are quite interesting pets due to their bright red eyeballs. Pet lovers are amazed mainly by their peculiar but beautiful red eyes. But apart from you fancying their red eyes, has it ever occurred to you— why do rabbits have red eyes?
The answer is two folds. On the one hand, rabbits can have red eyes due to a genetic mutation called albinism. These rabbits are called albino rabbits, and their furs are completely snowy white. On the other hand, bunnies from other breeds can have red eyes due to viral or bacterial infections. However, this condition isn’t normal and must be treated accordingly.
If you’re into the facts about albinism and red eyes in rabbits, read on to know more. We’ve got lots for you to explore and learn.
Why Do Rabbits Have Red Eyes?
As we’ve mentioned earlier, red eyes in rabbits occur due to a genetic mutation, called albinism. That’s why these rabbits are known as albino rabbits.
In this condition, rabbits are left with no pigment in their fur, producing no other color but completely white. This makes a very beautiful contrast between the dazzling red eyes and the snowy white bodies of the rabbits.
However, you must know that red eyes in rabbits aren’t actually red; they’re mostly pink, which projects a red reflection when exposed to light.
Some pet lovers might be speculative and fussy about red-eyed rabbits. It’s because many people think that the red eyes reflect the aggressiveness in bunnies, but this is absolutely not true.
Albino rabbits are just like regular pet rabbits. Breeders also focus on breeding meekly albino rabbits so the owners don’t have a hard time handling them.
Which Rabbit Breeds Do Have Red Eyes?
It’s the Albino rabbits that possess red eyes. These bunnies have a genetic system that produces a pigment. This pigment then reflects a particular wavelength on the rabbit’s eyes, making the irises look pink to red depending on the intensity of light.
This genetic function works influentially in devoiding the rabbit’s coat of any color at all.
Although a small number of pet owners may be skeptical, Albino rabbits are highly popular among rabbit lovers due to their pure and delicate white coats.
Do you have any Albino rabbits at home? Yes or no, you must be curious about knowing more about this wonderful rabbit breed.
That’s why our next section is going to share with you all the top facts about albino rabbits and the albinism condition.
Top 6 Facts About Albino or Red-Eyed Rabbits
Albino rabbits aren’t a rare breed anymore since they’re regularly bred throughout the US for laboratory experiments and domestic companion purposes.
However, there are many facts that might still intrigue you about these white furry and cuddly animals. Below, we’ve gathered six facts about Albino rabbits that you might not have heard of before:
1. Albino Rabbits with Blue Eyes
Did you know that albino rabbits can have blue eyes? Yes, these genetically mutated bunnies develop red or blue eyes. What eye color your albino bunny will have depends on the type of albinism it carries in its system.
The reason behind these albino rabbits having blue eyes is that their melanin suppression remains incomplete in their eyes. Their irises receive a small amount of pigment from the gene, which alters the light refraction, making their eyes look blue.
2. Reason for the White Coat
The same reason that’s responsible for the albino rabbit’s red or blue eyes is why the pigmentation process in them stopped. Hence, the albino rabbits are deprived of any color in their coats, resulting in white-out furs all over their bodies.
Besides, albino rabbits lack the two melanins that are responsible for fur colors. One is eumelanin, and another is pheomelanin. Eumelanin contributes to making the rabbit furs black, while pheomelanin is responsible for making them yellow or red.
3. Comparatively Poor Eyesight
Albino rabbits might have ruby-red eyes, but their eyesight is comparatively poorer than the other rabbit breeds. Unlike the regular wild and pet rabbits, albino bunnies take some time to sense and scan a particular area to spot objects or any danger.
Although they have eyes on the two sides of their heads, they’re not gifted with depth perception along with wider field vision.
Red-eyed bunnies more often do the ‘parallaxing.’ Parallaxing is the term for moving the head very slowly from one direction to another to measure the distance between two different objects. Albino rabbits do this more than the other breeds due to their shallow perception.
4. Light Sensitivity
No matter how beautiful or attractive their red eyes appear to many of us, albino rabbits find it hard to endure the sunlight for a long time. Their lack of iris lets the sunlight directly access their eyes, making it irritable for them to stare longer.
That’s why as a caring pet owner, it’s better if you keep your albino coney in a place where excessive sunlight or any other light can’t penetrate.
5. Albinism Trait
Albino rabbits fall under a recessive trait. It means an albino rabbit can’t be further produced if you use it to crossbreed with a brown or gray rabbit. The very next albino bunny may be naturally produced in the next generation.
Even if any rabbit bears the albino gene down the line, it may not give birth to the rare bunny breed— red-eyed and white coat albino rabbit. Since their gene is very rare, human intervention is imperative to make the real white fur albino rabbit break the recess.
6. Red Eye Confusion
Like us humans, rabbits can have red or pink eye disease. In rabbits, it’s called a red eye infection. However, you must keep in mind that this red eye infection can occur in any rabbit breed.
What happens is that the infection starts in the rabbit’s blood vessels, which in turn makes their eyes swell with a smear of redness. You may notice bumpy areas around your poor bunny’s eyes, while watery eyes are very common in this case.
Reasons why rabbits can have red eye disease are:
- Bacterial infections
- Conjunctivitis
- Allergies
- Glaucoma
- Fungal infections
What If Your Bunny Isn’t White But Has Red Eyes?
Here’s another fun fact; if you were convinced that only albinism is responsible for the red-eyed rabbits in the world, you need to think twice. Haven’t you ever seen a red-eyed rabbit before whose coat isn’t milky white?
There are many other breeds of rabbits with red eyes. Let’s make this easy for your comprehension.
The three major rabbit breeds with the albino gene are Florida White, Californian Rabbits, and Himalayan Rabbits. Among these, the Florida White is the only rabbit breed with white furs and red eyes.
The Himalayan and Californian rabbits have ruby eyes too, but they don’t possess stark white coats. Instead, they’re gifted with mosaic coats, having particular spots throughout their bodies.
Moreover, some rabbits might have red eyes if they’re crossbred with albino bunnies, although they wouldn’t have the most appealing white coats. Sometimes, if you’re lucky enough, you may find one or two offspring of these crossbreeds absolutely white, but sometimes they’re not white at all.
A few such fascinating breeds with red eyes are:
- Britannia Pettite
- Jersey Wooly
- Netherland Dwarf
- Holland Lop
- Polish
- Satin Rabbits
Treatments for Infectious Red Eyes in Bunnies
Since you now know that red eyes can be an infection in your poor rabbit, there must be a cure, right? But don’t try any DIY on your rabbit’s eyes because a slight mistake resulting from a lack of medical knowledge can make your bunny lose its eyesight forever.
At the vet’s, you can have all sorts of medical treatment for your bunny’s possible red eye infection.
Let’s find out some of those treatments:
- Systemic Treatment: Your vet can either provide systemic nonsteroidals to your bunny that works as an anti-inflammatory agent to relieve your bunny from irritation or flares. Conversely, systemic antibiotic therapy may be necessary sometimes if the topical treatment isn’t working out.
- Topical Treatment: The vet may approach your bunny’s eye infection with ophthalmic antibiotics. Besides, the vet will try to identify what type of bacteria has invaded the eyes to provide the best antibiotic solutions.
- Dental Treatment: Dental conditions may lead to red eye infections in rabbits. In that case, your bunny will have to go through the dental treatment first before receiving any topical or systemic treatments.
- Close Observation at Hospital: If topical or systemic treatments aren’t working well on your rabbit’s eye condition, hospitalization may be required. There your bunny may go through nasolacrimal duct flushing, surgery for corneal ulcers or uncontrolled glaucoma, etc.
Are There Albino Rabbits in the Wild?
Naturally, no. Since albino rabbits are lab-experimented rabbit breeds, it’s nearly impossible to find them roaming in the wild. Albino rabbits have pure white coats, which can easily give away their presence to predators.
Hence, you can see all sorts of colors and shades in wild rabbits, which helps them camouflage or blend in with nature. Nonetheless, chances are very slim that one or two albino rabbits might be found in the jungle as the result of recessive genes.
As mentioned earlier, albino rabbits can’t tolerate bright sunlight and predators. So, even if there’s an albino rabbit in the wild, it will most probably be busy burrowing.
Albinos are available as pets nowadays since many breeders are breeding them for domestication. But an albino bunny hopping around in the jungle is a hard thing to find.
Bottom Line
So, your conception regarding red-eyed albino rabbits probably may have been debunked, if you’ve thoroughly read our article. The information here must’ve helped you grasp why rabbits have red eyes.
Remember, your adoration or pampering toward an albino rabbit may be satisfactory for you. However, since albinism is a genetic mutational factor and such rabbits are extra-sensitive in their eyesight, you must be careful about their play zone, companions, etc.
Lastly, don’t confuse red eye infection with albinism. Immediately call a doctor whenever you’re in doubt. A vet will be able to solve your dilemmas and provide the right solution.