Like humans, rabbits have various beautiful eye colors. The most common eye color of rabbits is brown and sometimes blue. But why do some rabbits have red eyes?
If you know what color your rabbit’s eyes are, you’ll be able to figure out what breed they are. Their eye color will also reveal their overall wellness.
This article gives reasons behind the red eyes in some rabbits and other details about rabbit eye colors, including:
- Why Do Some Rabbits Have Red Eyes?
- Is it Normal for Rabbits to Have Red Eyes?
- Care for Albino Rabbits
- Red-eye Infection in Rabbits
- What Kind of Rabbit Has Red Eyes?
- What is the Rarest Rabbit Eye Color?
- Why Does My White Bunny Have Red Eyes?
Is it Normal for Rabbits to Have Red Eyes?
Albinism causes red-eyed rabbits. Albinism is a genetic abnormality that causes a rabbit’s fur and eyes to lack pigmentation. Melanin pigmentation gives a rabbit’s hair and eyes their color. So, what is melanin?
Melanin is a pigment found in all living things. Melanin’s principal roles are to protect the skin from UV radiation from the sun and to give color to various regions of the body, such as the skin, hair, and eyes.
The color of rabbit eyes is due to two melanin pigments: pheomelanin produces a light brown color, while eumelanin creates a dark brown tint. The size of these particles will also impact the color of rabbits’ eyes. Larger particles give the rabbit dark brown eyes, while tiny particles give the animal blue eyes.
Suppose there are problems with any melanin-making process and the animal lacks pigment. In that case, the animal turns white instead of the typical hue of its species. An albino rabbit exemplifies this condition with red eyes and a white coat.
In animals, the lack of melanin is not a regular occurrence. Albinism is a suppressed trait, which means that both parents must inherit the recessive gene and pass it on to their children for albinism to develop.
Although this albinism gene exists, albeit rarely in wild rabbits, it has been bred into pet rabbits. As a result, breeders have produced pure white rabbits in large numbers. Lately, albino rabbits are also raised as experimental animals.
Care for Albino Rabbits
Albino rabbits are, for the most part, the same as any other rabbit. Thus, they should receive the same basic care. Their care covers things like their diet, the size of their enclosure, and how much time they spend exercising. Likewise, they need grooming in the same manner as any other rabbit. However, albino rabbits are sensitive to sunlight, so they should be indoors at all times, protected from sunlight. Otherwise, they are healthy.
Red-eye Infection in Rabbits
No matter what color your rabbit eyes are, they should be clear, without any discharge, redness, puffiness, or excessive tearing.
Red-eye infection can affect rabbits of any color, unlike albino rabbits with red eyes. Red-eye in rabbits is quite similar to human pink eye. When the blood vessels in the rabbit’s eye enlarge, the rabbit’s eye turns red. Swelling, weepy eyes, and pimples around the eyes are common symptoms of this infection.
A variety of conditions can cause a rabbit to have red eyes. The following are some of them:
- Allergies
- Glaucoma
- Overgrown teeth
- Bacterial infections
- Fungal infections
- Conjunctivitis
If your rabbit develops a red eye infection, you should schedule an appointment with your rabbit’s veterinarian. He will determine the cause and assist your rabbit in recovering.
What Kind of Rabbit Has Red Eyes?
Albino rabbits are the kind of rabbits with red eyes. There would be relatively few red-eyed white rabbits in the world without the assistance of breeders. The breeding is so that those who want to keep white rabbits as pets can do so.
Many breeders had to create rabbit breeds or sub-breeds that were not mixed with other rabbit colors to keep the red-eyed white gene alive for future generations. Several breeds can be bred with albino coloring, especially older varieties. Still, only a few will always have white fur and red eyes.
Interestingly, only three rabbit breeds are known to have red eyes all of the time. Of the three, the Florida White is the only breed that is entirely albino. Although the albino gene is present in Himalayan and Californian rabbits, they are mosaic albino rabbits with distinct markings on specific body parts.
A rabbit is not strictly albino if it has any markings of any color. A Himalayan or Californian rabbit, for example, cannot be albino because of its black paws and ears. However, white fur always indicates the presence of the albino gene.
Florida white
The Florida White rabbit breed is the only one with pure white fur and red eyes. They were raised to be research animals having a good temperament. However, because they have a friendly disposition, they have become a popular companion breed.
Himalayan
The body of this breed is white, while their nose, ears, tail, and feet are all black. They have a genetic defect that prevents the albino gene from fully overcoming the rabbit’s coat color.
Due to their calm and gentle demeanor, Himalayan rabbits are popular pets.
Californian
This rabbit is frequently confused with the Himalayan rabbit. The California and Himalayan rabbits are nearly identical in appearance and disposition. They have white coats and crimson eyes due to the albino gene, but they also have dark patterns on their noses, ears, feet, and tails.
Many other rabbit breeds have red eyes on occasion. These rabbits can have furs in various colors, but the albino gene is also present.
The albino gene can be carried by every rabbit, though it is dormant. Because many people wish to own a stunning pure-white rabbit, some rabbit breeds are genetically modified to carry the albino gene. Many of these breeds will even have sub-breeds that are exclusively albino.
The following are the most prevalent domestic rabbits with the albino gene:
- Angora rabbits
- Flemish Giant
- Holland Lop
- Jersey Wooly
- Lionhead
- Mini Lop
- Netherland Dwarf
- New Zealand
- Polish
- Rex rabbits
- Satin Rabbits
Why Does My White Bunny Have Red Eyes?
Albinism is responsible for this appearance. Typically, pigments in the eye reflect light. But instead, in albino rabbits, the iris reflects light directly from the blood vessels. The reason is that albino rabbits’ do not have this pigment(melanin) in their fur and eyes. This is why white albino bunnies have red eyes.
Albino rabbits with red eyes are all white. White rabbits aren’t all albinos, though. So while white rabbits with other-colored eyes are less common, you can still locate healthy white rabbits with brown-colored eyes.
Rabbits with red eyes always have white fur as well. However, suppose you know a rabbit with colored hair and red eyes. In that case, it could be suffering from a severe medical condition. It’s best for such a rabbit to visit the veterinarian as soon as possible.
What is the Rarest Rabbit Eye Color?
Rabbits with marbled eyes are believed to be the rarest. Marbled rabbit eyes are a genetic combination of two other eye hues, which is why the rabbit’s iris has color specks. A part of a rabbit’s iris, for example, can be blue while the rest of the eye is brown.
Sectoral heterochromia, a rare hereditary disease in which each eye has a slightly different color pattern, causes this unusual eye color. It separates the iris into multiple regions of varying sizes and colors, resulting in various brown, blue, and blue/grey tones.
Other rabbit eye colors:
Brown
Rabbits have a dominant gene for brown eyes. As a result, brown is the most prevalent eye color in domestic rabbits. There are at least four shades of brown, ranging from lightest to darkest, within the brown family.
Blue
These bunnies have a unique blue iris, which is uncommon but lovely. However, the blue might sometimes be more grey than blue. The reason is that rabbits with blue/grey eyes have small eumelanin particles but larger pheomelanin particles. Though not so common, blue is a natural rabbit eye color.
Red
Albinism causes ruby red eyes, rare in the wild, where the albinism gene is recessive. However, due to the popularity of red-eyed white rabbits as pets, many breeders produce them for profit.
Pink
It’s unusual to see a rabbit with pink eyes. However, a rare occurrence is a brown-eyed rabbit with a specific set of genes that causes the iris to appear pale pink. Pink eyes occur when a dormant gene or two copies of a dormant gene dilute the color of the rabbit’s eyes.
White
A rabbit can only have white eyes if it has a cataract, affecting older rabbits. Therefore, it’s easy to see a photo of this color and incorrectly conclude that rabbits with this color eyes are accessible. It is, however, something you do not want your rabbit to have.
Conclusions
It is pretty informative to find the answer to the question,” why do some rabbits have red eyes?“ Rabbits, it turns out, have a variety of eye color options for the same reason humans do: genetics. Every rabbit is lovable and unique, regardless of its eye color. So, always inspect your bunny’s eyes for signs of infection to keep it as healthy as possible.