Thumping...all the time...

[J.Bosley]

I need serious help.... ugh...

So my 7yr old Male, un-neutered, Holland Lop recently moved in with me. His whole life was spent outside, until he moved in with me. He seems to have adjusted fine, except he goes on thumping spurts!!!! He thumped ALL day today... and is still thumping and it is 10pm.

Not only does it keep me up, but we live in a Townhouse and neighbors are complaining.... is there anything I can do to try and get him to stop? I am hoping he is healthy enough to be neutered, and I am hoping this might help with the thumping, but I honestly don't know what to do! Sometimes he will be quiet for days, and then just start. And a lot of the time it is at night.

 

[whiskylollipop]

I don't know why he would be thumping, unless there's something about his housing he doesn't like? Once I lined the walls of my bunny's cage with 15-inch high cardboard in an effort to keep hay from spilling out, and he was quite thumpy about the fact that it was hard for him to see outside it.

I do know that if you can house him on concrete or some solid tiled floor, the thumping sound will be very much quieter, more like a muted slap than a resounding BAM.

 

[bellaterra214]

If he is new to you and your environment, the thumping it letting you know something is spooking him. Ask yourself these questions ( you don't need to reply, just trying to get you thinking)

How long have you had the bunny? Maybe he needs time to adjust
Did he come from a single bunny home? Maybe he's lonely
Do you have other pets?
Did previous owners have any pets? We can't smell it, but they probably can.
Are you doing a certain action when he thumps? Dishes, vacuum, dryers, lawn mowers outside, tea kettle whistle, hair dryer?
Are there birds on your window sill?
Does he thump when someone walks by outside?
Are there cats/dogs where you are? Neighbors?
Since he's an outside bunny, maybe he a bit more sensitive about predators?

There are so many different things...As he gets used to everything new, the thumping should subside. Both of my rescues came here with thumping and now they only thump when I try to stop what destructive fun behavior they are doing. Quite bratty my bunch. Maybe he's trying to get your attention.

Hope this helps

 

[bellaterra214]

Also, as far as your neighbors go, have you tried to explain the situation to them? That you have a new bunny, and the bunny is the one making the thumping noise. That you are working on a solution and ask for their patience. Maybe carry the rabbit with you. Who can stay mad at a cute bunny face, right? And of course apologize, apologize and apologize. They might just give a little and quit complaining enough for your rabbit to adjust. I would do exactly the same if I were in your situation.

 

[HototMama]

all of my male rabbits thump. it is a dominance thing. get him fixed and he should stop.

 

[J.Bosley]

I don't know why he would be thumping, unless there's something about his housing he doesn't like? Once I lined the walls of my bunny's cage with 15-inch high cardboard in an effort to keep hay from spilling out, and he was quite thumpy about the fact that it was hard for him to see outside it.

I do know that if you can house him on concrete or some solid tiled floor, the thumping sound will be very much quieter, more like a muted slap than a resounding BAM.

Hmm... nothing has changed in the past few months! He hasn't been with me long, maybe 2 months. Sometimes he is fine, and sometimes he thumps for days on end!

Unfortunately he is upstairs, and our floors are wood...so it echos like mad! I might look into an alternative flooring, thanks.

 

[J.Bosley]

If he is new to you and your environment, the thumping it letting you know something is spooking him. Ask yourself these questions ( you don't need to reply, just trying to get you thinking)

How long have you had the bunny? Maybe he needs time to adjust
Did he come from a single bunny home? Maybe he's lonely
Do you have other pets?
Did previous owners have any pets? We can't smell it, but they probably can.
Are you doing a certain action when he thumps? Dishes, vacuum, dryers, lawn mowers outside, tea kettle whistle, hair dryer?
Are there birds on your window sill?
Does he thump when someone walks by outside?
Are there cats/dogs where you are? Neighbors?
Since he's an outside bunny, maybe he a bit more sensitive about predators?

There are so many different things...As he gets used to everything new, the thumping should subside. Both of my rescues came here with thumping and now they only thump when I try to stop what destructive fun behavior they are doing. Quite bratty my bunch. Maybe he's trying to get your attention.

Hope this helps

He has been with me indoors probably 2-4 months.... I've had him his whole life. I am hoping it is an adjustment thing, and that neutering helps! I don't know what else to do... he is in a spare room along with my small geckos, which he could care less about (one jumped in his cage a few weeks ago, haha). He definitely does NOT like dogs, but they aren't allowed in the room.... he does thump when they go near the door, which I understand.

Really hoping he settles! I honestly haven't noticed any changes... no birds on the window or anything like that.

 

[J.Bosley]

Also, as far as your neighbors go, have you tried to explain the situation to them? That you have a new bunny, and the bunny is the one making the thumping noise. That you are working on a solution and ask for their patience. Maybe carry the rabbit with you. Who can stay mad at a cute bunny face, right? And of course apologize, apologize and apologize. They might just give a little and quit complaining enough for your rabbit to adjust. I would do exactly the same if I were in your situation.

That is a great idea! Thanks :biggrin: Maybe I will invite them over to meet Murphy next time I bring him outside. He is a pretty personable bun!

 

[bellaterra214]

If the room he is in gets pretty dark at night time, try putting in a night light. In nature, most of the city lights, moon and stars allows your bunny to see in pretty good ambient light during the night. They have poor vision.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We use a nite lite in the hall. I'd put some sound deadening matter under his hutch at night.

 

[Sialia]

I agree with the suggestion of adding a night light. My bunny, JoJo, is scared of the dark and thumps if he doesn't have a night light on.

He lives in my son's bedroom and we used a dimmer to keep the light on low overnight for my son. Well, one night I guess I had turned the dimmer down a bit too low and it gradually turned itself off. JoJo started thumping like mad - poor guy was terrified. Same thing happened another time when there was a power failure at night - I only knew about it because JoJo started thumping at 3 in the morning.