The Effect of Color on Rabbits

[PatS]

I did a quick internet search, but could not find out if there are any studies on how the color in a rabbit's environment affects productivity or well-being. I know there have been studies done that show that certain colors affect people and thus hospital rooms are painted certain colors, and so on. But what about our four-legged friends?

We are setting up our "rabbit barn." It is one of those sturdy "magnum" doggy runs. It is open air but roofed. The wire cages are attached to the wall of the run, backed by plywood to block most weather. I painted the plywood with white external gloss because it would be easier to clean than plain plywood. The run also has tarp/shade cloth that can be hung to block all of the weather when it gets windy/rainy/hot. The run is roofed and covered by trees on the north and west and once spring is here the area will be in their shade from early afternoon (about 1:00) on. The roof should protect them from direct sunlight.

The rabbits will have a wooden hidey-box inside the wire cage.

DH just asked if maybe we should paint the plywood backing green. The white does have a very bright look and industrial feel to it and maybe green or blue would have a calming affect. I figure it will be just as easy to clean as white. Any studies done on this?

 

[SMR]

Lighter and more reflective metallic colors seem to leave happier buns and active buns....darker colors seem to have more with drawn and sluggish in behavior. That's just from my own painting, I'd used a dark dark blue, very neon pink (it was a left over and not my first choice I assure), bright yellow, black, silver, dull gray, and copper. Dunno if there's any thing to it though really...I could just have strange rabbits lol.....

 

[akane]

Dunno about effect on rabbits but white will look dirty within 24hrs. Bucks will spray it and turn it to yellow streaks quickly. A hunter green or brown works much better. We did hunter green in the stable and have a few solid bottom plywood cages sealed with brown polyurethane. You only see the rabbit pee (and horse pee) with a flash taking photos. Everything on my camera shows up as white streaks whether it's rabbit pee or just some water that ran down for some reason.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Sky blue helps repel flies---

 

[arachyd]

I would try to find out first whether or not rabbits can even see color or certain colors. I think having the whole area a light color would be a mistake as it would give the impression of an open, airy place - a terrible thing for an animal that is food for just about every other animal. I think, if I ever have the option of a barn to keep my rabbits in I would paint the upper half a very light, reflective color (like sky blue as Frosted Rabbits said) and the lower half a dull green or brown.

 

[akane]

From what I can gather rabbits have very poor color vision and can see mostly blues, greens, some yellow, and otherwise mostly shades of grey. I think the shade of the paint would be more important than the color. Dark versus light would make more difference than whether you decide to use blue or green. Sky blue and navy blue will be more different to a rabbit than sky blue and lime green.

 

[MaggieJ]

Maybe you could tone down the shiny white with a dull green paint, using a crumpled rag to sort of make a mottled effect. It would be a quick fix and you can always attribute the "decorating" to Debbie Travis. :lol:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I believe as a general rule color vision is most developed in animals that rely heavily on fruit and/or flowers as a food source. This holds true for birds and insects as well, although they may see a different portion of the color spectrum.

I like arachyd's idea, but I think I would just pick a color that appealed to me and have one part mixed in a lighter tone.

Good idea Maggie! If it's water based paint, maybe a bunny would volunteer to do the "sponge painting"! :lol:

 

[akane]

I think birds of nearly all species have amazing color vision. Most even see outside our range in to the ultraviolet. A lot of our pet birds look really cool under black light because they give off ultraviolet colors for each other to see. They also see with far more clarity at the expense of night vision except in a few cases unlike rabbits who actually see the world with less clarity than us. That's why they get spooked easily if your shape changes like carrying or wearing something weird. Their vision is specialized for 360 degrees and to pick up movement and color differences in plants (mostly green) and predators(blending in to green or brown) not for crisp pictures.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

given the rabbits crepuscular nature, their vision is geared for low light-- more rods for black+white vs cones for color.Adn yes, able to detect the slighest movement-- so 'high speed' processing, as well.