New behavior, not sure what to think

[mynameisjeff]

Hi folks -

Last night our rabbit Austin started thumping in his cage.Typically if he thumps it's a one-time deal, most likely because he'smad about something. Last night's thumping wasdifferent. It was a louder than usual single thump, repeatedevery 30 seconds to a minute. This lasted for about half anhour. I was worried that something was wrong withhim. I tried petting him, and gave him a small treat, but thethumping continued. Any ideaswhat this might be about? This morning he seemed to be OK,eating his hay and pooping in his box, although his morning run throughthe house was a little shorter than usual.

Jeff

 

[Nessa1487]

Skippy did that, he was pretty scared though. Iopened the cage and he went flying for the futon. (He hides under theresometimes.) There were no loud noises, so I don't know why he did it.But, I was told thumping was a sign of anger,fear, and them warning youof danger. Skippy finally calmed down after I pet him, I guesssometimes they just need someone to sit with them?...

 

[lucylocket]

COULD HE BE ANNOYED AT SOMETHING

HAS ANYTHING CHANGED

VARNA XXXX

 

[mynameisjeff]

I was wondering if he was annoyed withme, but that might just be my rabbit codependency working. The only thing I can think of that changed was Ilined the bottom of his cage yesterday with newspaper instead of thesheet that was in there previously. I had actuallyconsidered this as a possible reason.

jeff

 

[LuvaBun]

Could there have been something which might havecaused Austin to feel threatened? Perhaps an unusual noise, orsomething out of place? If so, he could have been doing it more as awarning than annoyance. Or perhaps he just wanted you to take extranotice of him

Jan

 

[Snuggys Mom]

My rabbits do that when we're about to have severe weather. They can sense it.

Last year we had a very minor earthquake (tremor) and they wentcrazy. I didn't even know until I saw it on the news, butthey did!

 

[bunnydude]

Interesting that you mention this... there havebeen a few times where Devon has thumped for long periods of time forno apparent reason. My guess is that something in his environment wasdifferent, and that scared him. Perhaps it was the change in bedding.

 

[sunnybunny]

The only time I've seen Sunny do that is rightbefore a severe thunder storm. It hadn't even started yet, and so I hadno idea what was up with her.

I now figure that she could hear the thunder long before we could.

She does thump when she's annoyed, but it's always just one thump....That time it was repeatedly.

 

[sunnybunny]

About the change in bedding.....Very possible that's what upset him.

I was watching a show on Animal Planet a while back, and there was an"animal psychic" that said to go with your gut feeling about what'sbothering your pet. It's likely, she said, that you''re actuallypicking up on their thoughts and feelings.

Who knows....:dunno:

 

[cheryl]

He could be thumping at a number of things.........maybe he heard something that you didnt hear..

one night i was on the pc,and i could hear Jack thumping his foot,hecontinously did this for about 10 min,i went and had a look and he wasjust sitting in the hallway,so i went back to the pc and the nextminute jack runs to the loungeroom door and thumps his foot,wow,he wasreally giving that foot a good exercise lol,i got up to see what was upwith him,and jack is sitting there with this big eyed look on hisface,and i go to have a look down the hallway,and there is Missy,ourpet rat,she somehow got out of her cage lol,jack was scared of a littlerat hehehehehe



cheryl

 

[sunnybunny]

Maybe he wasn't scared, Cheryl....Maybe he was trying to tattle-tale!

 

[cheryl]

sunnybunny wrote:

Maybe he wasn't scared, Cheryl....Maybe he was trying to tattle-tale!

yeah maybe lol,maybe he was just warning everyone that there was alittle itty bitty rat on the loose lol,but i will never forget the lookof sheer horror on jacks face lol,poor little bugga seen somethingsmall and strange looking and didnt know what it was lol.



cheryl

 

[thor]

Regarding the constant thumping..Thor used to dothis as well, different times, and different reasons. Here'swhat I figured one midnight thumping episode was all about...I have apair of huge "rabbit" slippers (I'm sure you all know the kind), well,earlier on in the evening, I left them out, so Thor could play withthem (which she likes doing). Usually, I put them away, butthis night I didn't. One was sitting unusually close to hercage...my husband and I retired, and a few hourslater..thump..thump..etc. Every 15-20 seconds...I had to findout what was the cause of this thumping. I think Thor feltunsure, or even threatened by this inanimate rabbit slipper that wasn'tmoving! When I went to check on Thor, I removed the slipper,and went back to bed. No more thumping!!

 

[RapidsWannabe12]

That's really weird...He's probably annoyed at something.

 

[mynameisjeff]

Well, it's looking like it was indeed thebedding. I washed the sheet that I removed (a ratty old redflannel sheet that he likes to dig on) and put it back on the floor ofhis cage. Within a half hour he was back on the floor of hiscage, scratching and digging at the sheet. For the past twodays when the sheet was missing he had only come down from the 2ndlevel of his cage to use the litter box and getwater. Now he's happy bunny again.

Thanks for your input everyone!

Jeff

 

[sunnybunny]

See, this is exactly why I find them to be themost fascinating pet. They have their own very strong ideas aboutthings. They don't just cave in to whatever a lowly human tells them todo.

Glad you figured it out!