Why Do You Think Your Bun Thumps?

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agnesthelion

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Okay, thumping is new to me because Agnes has never once thumped. Then again, she could quite possibly be the most laid back bunny ever ;)

Archie is a thumper. When you google what thumping is it says that rabbits do it to warn their warren of impending danger.

But there has to be other reasons. Because I'm almost positive Archie does it for different reasons.

He loves going under the treadmill. I have a rubber mat that my treadmill sits on. Every time he goes under it he thumps. I swear he either likes the way it sounds or is so narcissistic, lol, he feels the need to announce his prescence under the treadmill. "I am here".

He also thumped the other day in the NIC condo probably 10 times. Nothing was going on. Agnes was sleeping, i was watching tv, he just kept thumping! What the....? What was he trying to say then? Even Agnes was like uh, what's going on??

So I'm curious, what are the reasons your bun thumps?
 
My buns will thump when they hear, see, or smell something strange, they'll thump when they don't want me picking them up, they'll thump when I put them back down after picking them up just to let me know they were not happy with what I did. But they've also thumped when they are running around playing and having fun. I think it's a way to communicate strong emotions, whether happy or upset, and maybe also a way to get our attention.
 
Scout rarely thumped and it did seem to be a warning. She would thump if a sound concerned her and then she would look at me. If I said, it's OK, she'd relax.

But Halo is a different matter. She thumps if dinner is late. She thumps if there's no cilantro. She thumps if people are arguing on tv. She thumps if she wants Harvey to get out of the dig box. And sometimes I can't figure out why she's thumping:) Maybe it is just "look at me, I'm here".
 
katherine at sacred stories wrote:
But Halo is a different matter. She thumps if dinner is late. She thumps if there's no cilantro. She thumps if people are arguing on tv. She thumps if she wants Harvey to get out of the dig box. And sometimes I can't figure out why she's thumping:) Maybe it is just "look at me, I'm here".
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Yes Katherine exactly!! I think it's kinda funny. I swear Archie does it if I haven't said his name in the last 5 minutes. He's just a clown. I just chuckle and think to myself "oh you little self absorbed, I want attention and things my way bun"

If he were a human, he'd be the person that loves to hear himself talk. Like Donald Trump :biggrin:
 
katherine at sacred stories wrote:
But Halo is a different matter. She thumps if dinner is late. She thumps if there's no cilantro. She thumps if people are arguing on tv. She thumps if she wants Harvey to get out of the dig box. And sometimes I can't figure out why she's thumping:) Maybe it is just "look at me, I'm here".
Click to expand...

Lol, Katherine, that is too funny :)
 
Scone hardly ever thumped - the first time he did it I'd had him for four or five years, and I couldn't figure out what it was. I had some Boy Scouts camping up on my hill, and one of them came into the house for something - I don't know what it was, maybe the smell of woodsmoke or just surprise at someone new, but it sounded like a something fell off the top shelf of a bookcase, right next to me (Scone was sitting between my feet at the time). How could such a small bunny make such a big noise?

Natasha is much more of a thumper. She certainly thumps when she's scared - sometimes she'll run into my bedroom in the middle of the night and thump until I wake up and tell her everything's OK (and if I don't wake up quickly enough, she's been known to jump up on my pillow and thump, and believe me that will get your attention). If anyone comes into the house who has been near a dog, or has one, she runs under my bed and thumps. She'll also thump in frustration or annoyance, if I've been plucking out the loose fur too much, or I'm teasing her.
 
Qtip has a few different thumps. She's got her one really loud "AAAAAAAH SCARY THING!" thump. I've only ever heard that twice from her. Then she's got her "I'm kinda scared, kinda annoyed, and I'm gonna thump every 20 seconds or so until you stop whatever is scaring me" which is usually done while running (like when the smoke alarm goes off). Then she's got her "it's 3 am and nothing appears to be wrong but I'm thumping ever 20 seconds and hey look, I got your attention" thump that she'll sometimes do when we're at the house and she's in her NIC cage. And then she's got her playful bunny thump. This one usually happens during the bunny 500 or if we're playing together. It's more of a "ha! Look at me!" thump and is much quieter than the other ones.
 
I have not paid enough attention to when my rabbits thump, but it is normally while they are out to run. I have yet to witness it though. So I am no help. What everyone is saying is really interesting though.
 
My Conan hasn't thumped yet, and I've been looking for it. Well, he does do it when he's scratching himself but I call that accidental.

When I was reading up thumping, I found it amusing that some bucks do it after a successful sexual encounters, sort of to alert the rest of the community of his manliness. Heh, that's hilarious.
 
JBun wrote:
My buns will thump when they hear, see, or smell something strange, they'll thump when they don't want me picking them up, they'll thump when I put them back down after picking them up just to let me know they were not happy with what I did. But they've also thumped when they are running around playing and having fun. I think it's a way to communicate strong emotions, whether happy or upset, and maybe also a way to get our attention.
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Nala's a major thumper, often for the same reasons. she's a very... expressive... bunny! sometimes she'll jump down the levels of the condo and then thump even though she's on her way out to eat... maybe she doesn't like the noise it makes when she thunks down onto the bottom level?

she'll thump when I put her in the carrier even though she knows we're going outside to play.
she'll thump - sometimes - if she thinks she's gonna get picked up or if I just put her down (other times she's fine with it).
I'm pretty sure she thumps sometimes just to get Gaz's attention because she wants to play.
 
Our three all thump for different reasons.

Junie is the biggest thumper. She thumps if she hears something suspicious or scary, she'll thump in the morning if she wants her breakfast faster, she thumps if you're annoying her (trying to pick her up, picking fur off her butt), she thumps when she sees the travel carrier, and she does this take off thump when she's running around and playing. Sooo...pretty much any reason under the sun. Sometimes she thumps and I'm not sure what she's thumping about! It's funny because sometimes she thumps really loud, then sits for a second, then follows it up with this tiny little thump.

Nibbles thumps when he's mad at us (usually after we've taken him to the tub to brush him). Every now and then he'll thump if he hears something scary sounding.

Crispin almost never thumps on his own. The only time he thumps is after Junie does it several times and seems agitated. I think he thumps out of confusion, haha!

Interesting thread! I love how different all these buns are!

EDIT: I have two videos of Junie and Nibbles thumping, if you're interested :)
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY6aJt2F5iA&feature=plcp[/ame] (Junie)
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7PEzmqPXEI&feature=plcp[/ame] (Nibbles)
 
I think Teddy just likes to hear the noise. She thumps when she's mad, playful, scared, EVERYTHING.

Maya's foster parents said she never thumps, but she does here. She likes to break through the barricade under my bed, and then thump every 5 seconds because she can't get back out unless I move my entire bed. :foreheadsmack: I wonder about her sometimes...
 
OOoh Harvey is a thumper. His thumps sound different depending on what is causing it, if that makes any sense.

He has his playful thump, his i'm scared and going to wake you up thump, he thumps when I'm upset (kind of like a knock it off) and ooooh he thumps when I mess with his space. Never mind I was trying to clean up his mess. He's a messy rabbit.
 
This thread is hysterical. Love hearing the thumping stories :) I just knew there was more to it than warning the warren.

Rabbits never cease to amaze me. I love em!
 
Troller wrote:
When I was reading up thumping, I found it amusing that some bucks do it after a successful sexual encounters, sort of to alert the rest of the community of his manliness. Heh, that's hilarious.
Click to expand...

Come to think of it, Archie did that too at the very beginning of their bunny dates!

I was like, dude, your neutered and Agnes put up literally NO fight at all. You're not that cool :wink
 
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