Bunny Behavior? (Thumping, Clicking, Odd noise)

[Oppa1995]

Hello everyone, 

I am still a fairly new rabbit owner, having had my lionhead rabbit for 2 and a half months. He is 1 year old and I like to think he is getting adjusted to his new living environment considering the abusive and neglectful household he had been adopted from, but this leads me to ask a few questions for clarification. 

First Question

I went home for the weekend so my roommate fed him and let him out of the cage (apparently he did not like this at all and would not give my roommate the time of day, which he has never done to me) which leads me to ask my next question. The other day when I got back I had him on my desk as I was typing away on my laptop (he usually lies down and puts his head where the warm air comes from and will actually fall asleep) and he would not come near me. Instead he stood away from my hands and stared at me and proceed to let out some odd noise and he thumped his feet quite a few times and quite loudly, he began to kick at things on my desk and then kept trying to run away. 

I am trying to not be offended, but does this sound like a problem? I am worried that the thumping of the legs and whimpering maybe means something is wrong medically with him? Initially however I just assumed he was behaving like a child and throwing a temper tantrum…any guidance would be appreciated.

Second Question

Prior to the incident a few days ago, whenever I would hold him and scratch in between his ears or his cheeks he would make a noise that sounded like he was clicking or tapping his teeth together and then would proceed to lick my chin. Does this indicate that he wants to be put down and left alone? or does it mean something else?

I hope someone will be able to answer some of these questions! I know they may seem silly but it is important to me that he is comfortable with his environment especially from the place he has come from. 

Thank you in advance

[LittlePuffyTail]

Bunnies thump as a warning. In the wild, they will thump to alert the other bunnies that danger is approaching. House bunnies usually thump when they hear a strange noise and/or something scares them. He probably heard something. When my bunnies thump, most of the time I have no idea what triggered it. They can hear things we can’t.

Your bunny obviously loves being scratched between his ears because what you are describing is “tooth purring”. It’s a gentle teeth rubbing noise. Similar to a cat purring. Bunnies will tooth purr when they are intensely enjoying physical attention. However, a louder, longer grinding of the teeth indicates pain. A pain grinding is more of a side to side, really rough grinding, chattering sound whereas a happy tooth purr is just a gentle tap tap tap, pause. tap tap tap pause. If you ever hear your bunny grinding his teeth in pain, you will know the difference.

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