Whole lot of thumping going on.

[DottieNLiz]

I rescued my large English Spot rabbit (Dottie) from the Humane Society about 3 or 4 weeks ago. They estimated her age to be about 2 years old and I believe she is NOT spayed (working on finding a bunny vet in the area). Although I have had to relocate once since I got her, she has plenty of room and has an entire bedroom open to her to move around in 24/7 and after bunny proofing I have recently started to let her wander the entire level of the house freely while supervising her (she’s super curious)

However, her first roam out she wandered under a bed. She started thumping like crazy, which I had never heard her do before. At first I thought something spooked her, but she continued to hop around investigating the room like normal, but every time she went back under the bed she started thumping. She doesn’t seem scared, just thumping. I thought she would get used to it, but now she’s thumping all the time. Last night she woke me up. She was thumping so loud it sounded like there was someone throwing things around in her room so loudly that I got up to check. Opened up the door, normal looking bunny hanging out in the middle of the room looking at me like I’m the weird one. She stopped after I checked on her though. I’m concerned she’s scared or upset or lonely. Any advice???

[LopNessMonster]

My bunny used to go through thumping phases. I never figured out what the deal was but she would wake me up with her thumping in the middle of the night. I would check on her and nothing would be off. Plenty of water, plenty of hay, no weird smells (that I could tell, but bunny noses are better than mine), cage arranged the way she likes it. She wouldn’t always calm down after I checked on her though sometimes if I let her out to run for a bit that would settle her. She seemed fine, would eat a treat or some pellets if offered so I just rolled my eyes and went back to bed. She would do this every night for a few nights in a row and then stop for a few weeks. She hasn’t done it in a while but lately she’s taken to shaking her cage door which is even louder and more obnoxious. If Dottie seems ok when you check on her, I wouldn’t worry too much. I think they sometimes are just stomping for attention or maybe they are noticing a smell or a sound that us sleepy humans don’t.

[Katscarpena]

Chipper goes under the couch and thumps. Can’t figure out why for the life of me. I’m curious as to why as well. Can’t seem to put my finger on what’s setting him off.

[kinggoblin]

Mine thumps when he’s scared. Like when we are visiting family, they live in the woods and you can hear coyotes at night. He doesn’t like this.

But he also thumps when he’s mad. If I have his x-pen closed up to 1 or 2 squares big when cleaning he gets mad and thumps the whole time. If he sees the carrier he thumps at us and grunts. He also thumps if anyone but me (and even then he is not happy……) touches his stuff. When family watches him they can’t clean his pen because he gets so mad and they are afraid of him, lol. He thumps and charges at them.

[DottieNLiz]

Thanks everyone for the input! I’m glad I’m not alone in having a bunny that seems to have really random thumping habits. She’s continued to thump while under the bed, but less so and now spend more time relaxing and laying under it. However her midnight loud thumping escapades have continued. I’m thinking about switching to feeding her in the morning and not at night, maybe she’s just too energetic and mad that her upstairs nightly running around is over and she has to be back in her room.

This morning when I went to check on her before work to make sure she had everything she needed she bum rushed the door ready to be let out to hop around the upstairs as she pleased. I had to put my foot in front of her to keep her in there and she was so angry she lightly nipped my foot, and then the other one when I squealed and switched feet. She’s got a WHOLE lot of bunny-tude and is clearly running the show. lol

[laurabee]

Thumping is all about context! If rabbits are scared that a predator is approaching, they thump their legs backwards. You mentioned that your rabbit does not show signs of being scared. so my best guess is that she is playful and/or bored. You mentioned that she has free range of the home– does she also have toys and ramps? Those may be a good idea if you haven’t set those up already.
Also, she may just want human contact and attention. Many rescued rabbits are used to being handled by humans. I would try (slowly) to win over her trust.

[BlueMoods]

Yep, all about context. Thumping is the signal for other rabbits to pay attention to the one thumping. That might be because they feel threatened, are scared, see, hear or small something unfamiliar, want to play, want to be groomed, are telling another that it’s their territory… It’s an attention getter, you have to examine the attitude of the thumping rabbit and the situation, often closely, to “read” why the rabbit is thumping.

Have you tried putting her bed under your bed to see if she will go relax in it? She may want under the bed for her favorite space or, she may want you to crawl under there with her and pet her or play with her under there. Rabbits are strange critters at times.

[JackRabbit]

Totally agree about context.  When she thumps under the bed, are you in it?  If so, the bed may make a noise when you move (echos through the box springs? bed slats creak?).

I actually had a conversation with my little Marlee (I’m not crazy! I spoke, she thumped!).  She was upset about something and had thumped a few times so I opened her cage door so I could lay down on the floor to pet and comfort her (don’t even think about picking this little bunny up!).  Here’s how it went:

Me:  “What’s wrong sweetie?” (reach in and pet her)

Marlee:  Thump

Me:  “Are you angry?”

Marlee:  Thump

Me:  “Okay, I’ll just wait for you to calm down”

A few minutes later . . .

Me:  “Are you still angry?”

Marlee:  Thump

Me:  “You need to get over it”

Marlee: (Turns around and gives me the butt) THUMP

So, context and communication!

[DottieNLiz]

Aw, your Marlee sounds as full of attitude as my Dottie is!

The bed is really high up from the ground and I couldn’t get her to come up on the bed on her own (she’s not a rabbit that tolerates being picked up either) and I was really sad that we were interacting less because of it. So I ended up taking the frame apart and just putting the mattress and boxspring on the floor (the things we do for our bunnies right?) and now she’s constantly on the bed making a playground out of burrowing under the blankets and between the pillows.

She even does the bunny 500 into the room from down the hall and leaps from the middle of the room onto the bed (its actually pretty impressive). Sometimes its somewhat startling because I’ll be laying on my bed reading and a then all of a sudden a bunny lands in front of me. lol So we are spending much more time together and I’m working on getting more toys and boxes for her to sit in and feel safe and cozy and entertained.

Also, she isn’t thumping loudly at night anymore, but from the sounds of all the advice about all the different reasons and moods that rabbits thump for, who knows what she will decide to do and when. At least now I know its not always because she is scared or upset! It’ll take me a while to really learn all of her different moods and likes/dislikes. I had no idea rabbits would be as complicated of creatures as they are! I love it!

[Colleen]

This is happening with Luna too. I brought her to my new apartment on Monday, and she gets 4 to 5 hours of solid running time when I get home from work. I shut her into my largest bathroom where her cage is and litterbox are with plenty of hay, water and food (and a cold pack to rest on) while I’m at work, and I attempt to work from home as much as I can. She’s so active and inquisitive, it’s exhausting, lol. But when she goes under my couch (which is pretty low to the ground), I often hear a thump once and a while. I’m usually not on it. She’ll thump, then hop out, and within a few minutes start running laps around my apartment, jumping in the air and doing this twisty hop. Then she’ll go under a coffee table, stretch out and her sides are moving rapidly and her ears are completely erect.  Does this mean she’s afraid or just excited? I don’t see the whites of her eyes, and usually when her sides are moving that fast, her eyes are almost half closed. I’d love some insight into this.

[Helenmarie85]

Our brown bun Bella thumps. She mostly does it when scared or annoyed .. her big annoyance when she thumps her feet like crazy is when trying to be caught to bring her in the house .. she HATES being caught. Once I have her shes ok. But she will only be calm for a minute before scrabbling to be put back down again!!

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