How much do rabbits sleep during the day?

Having spent almost four days in the company of Hollie, Rosie and BJ whilst they are indoors I have been very surprised by how little they sleep during the day. With them being outdoor buns I have had no idea how much they snooze when I am not around. As they are all about 7 years old I did expect more than the odd 15 to 20 minutes before they jumped up and groomed or ate.

Is this a normal sleep pattern noticed by those with indoor buns? Or is the bonding stress factor only allowing them short naps I wonder.

What I have noticed is that 10 minutes of galloping around the conservatory tires them out.

Yeah,
Sounds like the activity and rest pattern mine follow. Also Bertie is so chilled that he rests more but not sleeping. Never observed them for 24 hours. Here is a task for Tuckerbunnies.    

Daisy spends a fair bit of his time during the day asleep - well resting anyway lol, if he has a day where his routine changes he is exhausted the next day bless him x

I sleep a lot   

Reuben and Theo can get several hours quality kip behind the sofa in the middle of the day too. And the outside buns are generally resting from mid-morning until late afternoon before livening up for the evening.

When mine were indoors they spent most of the between mid-morning and late afternoon sleeping. Maybe they are more wakeful because it is a new situation and they still don't feel completely at ease.

My two sleep a lot but Binky defnaitely sleeps more. Holly is a very high energy bun and often when we are all relaxing, she is running around like a whirling dervish LOL. There is certainly quite a lot of just resting.

Hugs

JO xx

Myrtle will sleep for a couple of hours at a time but when we attempted to bond her with Patch she wouldn't sleep at all, she just sulked

Bear in mind that rabbits are (wait for it)...crepuscular (most active at dawn and dusk). This is hard wired into them as it is the safest time of day for them with regards to predator risk. Even Flo will bring herself in from the garden to snooze at around mid morning and then snooze until about 4pm and she loves being outdoors. It is one of the reasons that rabbits make such good pets for people who work as they are not really missing out on anything during the day.

Dougal is awake a lot during the day, he normally settles down around 2ish, sometimes earlier, sometimes later but he is up longer most times. He is so lively and then he is up and about in time again. He tends to go into his very own bedroom/warren at night and rests a bit more, then comes running across the bridge to see if I am on the pc and wants me to sit with him or chase and peek a boo, sometimes I say to him, you must be shattered , you never stop.

He is a happy little chap but he just frightened me as he almost broke his back leg. He flips over in his tent ( roley poleys) it is well funny but he has pulled some of the seam away in 2 places, so about 10 mins ago we where playing chase and he went to flip and got caught and tangled and panicked  I tried to help but he panicked to much and he flung out hard, it pulled his back leg, he seems fine but it scared me, I am going to see how he goes about on it later before bed. He has gone to relax/groom now in his room.

He stays in our bedroom most of the day, he does lie and sleep next ti humums chair as I spend a lot of time with him up here and he does rest more sometimes. More so if I am sat still in it and not up and down cleaning etc.

Willow and Mojo will have an active period when I go in there first thing in the morning, where they'll eat the brekky and they then like to have a good mooch up the hallway/in the utility room/ in my bedroom

If I'm home to pop in throughout the day, they'll usually be snoozing mid morning until about 12.30/1ish where they'll wake up and have some hay and a bit of a run and sniff around.

I'd say late afternoon was their most lazy time of the day, and then I can normally hear them thumping around throughout the evening, they'll go out into the hallway and play for about 45mins last thing at night while the chins have a run, and then they'll usually settle with their hay for the night.

I can normally hear when they're up in the morning as their room is next door and they make no acceptances for the fact I deserve a lie in of a weekend or day off, and will throw their toys about and make a right racket until I give in

It is very interesting to read your replies - I hope that Dougal is OK after his scare.

Apart from Herbie, I can honestly say I have never seen any of my crew properly asleep. Or can rabbits sleep with their eyes open?

Yes buns can sleep or doze with their eyes open.I have scared Bruce a few times by getting too close to him when he was sleeping with his eyes open.

The only one of mine I've seen properly asleep is Annabelle (surprise) she proprly looks like she is dead and it takes a volcano to wake her. She has no idea she is a prey animal.

I've only ever seen the others doze.

I love your comments about Annabelle, Katie. She is just wonderful, maybe a dizzy blonde, but a wonderful one   

Annabelle sleeping ....

Oh, they are brilliant! I love the way Charlie is peering at her in the second to last one   

I wonder what he is up to?
No rest for the wicked as they say??? 

Oh my

Here's Willow completely conked out when she was about 4 months old (note: she'd only just arrived about two hours ago!):

Annabelle must feel so safe and secure      

Hector sleeps from 11am-3pm, then from midnight-5am

No my two don't have a regular pattern. Although after bein groomed, pampered including reflexology for Bubbles (Bertie doesn't like his feet touched-typically male?) and facials for both, they briefly sort themselves out and then flop....for ten minutes
Bertie sleeps whilst tucking his head under Bubbles if she keeps still long enough