I opened the window for 2 min – Thumping spree

[Alisha]

Like I said, I opened the window – honestly, so she could look outside but she decided this was dangerous I guess and it’s been at least 5 minutes since I’ve closed the window and the blinds and everything is back to normal and she is still sitting in one spot thumping over and over lol Not sure when it’s going to stop…she’s fine right? XD Geez I didn’t know she wouldn’t like it this much. She’s been outside a few times and she didn’t thump those times.

**update: I thought maybe I could comfort her because she LOVES getting pet. She will sit by me for hours as long as I’m petting her. It’s her favorite thing. So I went over to her and started petting her and she moved up closer to me and started grunting and then thumped and ran back to her spot and thumped again and came up to me and looked up at me and made the grunting noise again and thumped and just did that back and forth. It’s almost like she was saying “mom, there’s danger!” lol I don’t know but I feel so bad. Now she’s hiding under my sheets thumping every once in a while… but I think she’ll be okay

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

There are many things which could have triggered this episode. Rabbits are prey animals and their senses are always tuned on “DANGER!”. Rabbits are creatures of habit and some may display anxiety when a situation suddenly changes. I always think of bunnies as a bit autistic: heightened senses, startled when faced with new situations and they may display panic when they’re overstimulated.
When your rabbit is thumping, please treat it seriously and try to comfort her. She’s really scared of something, even though you may not have picked up on it. Thumping is an action to keep the group safe, so as a group member it’s best to react to those thumps. I usually respond to his thumps by taking it as a serious warning, looking out the window for possible threats etc. When Breintje sees that I’m taking action it calms him down a lot. Usually it’s nothing more than something rustling in the garden, or some music far away.

You can actually spot different urgency levels: usually Breintje stands on his hind legs (periscoping), using his ears as a radar to pinpoint the oddity, and then gives a warning thump. One weekend night he was sitting next to me on the couch, and he was happily loafing. It was very late at night, and we like to spend these quiet hours next to eachother. Suddenly he flew up and started to give a series of very loud thumps. It really scared me because this was so different and sounded really urgent.

I grabbed my flashlight and started to inspect the gardens and the hallway leading to the bike storages. Then I quickly went into the house again to check if he was still so upset. I searched a bit further around the flat and I found out that the entire lock of the outdoors bike storage had been removed. Next morning a text to the neighbourhood whatsapp group showed that it must have happened that night. Breintje probably heard a burglary attempt, and it’s likely that my flashlight shining scared burglars away. So yes, sometimes a thump really is a danger warning, also to danger for humans.

Rabbits have very sensitive hearing and they have this instinct to communicate distress through thumping. It may be that she heard something which you can’t hear, but she found very distressing. The rumble of an engine, or vibrations from construction far away. One thing that also causes distress are shapes in the sky (which may be seen as birds of prey). Won’t be the first bun to get scared from an airplane, a kite or a plastic bag blowing in the wind. Rabbits have poor vision nearby, but like their wild cousins they can see pretty far to spot aerial danger. Another possible trigger is a new distressing scent, which may be simply because the rabbit isn’t used to it.

My bunny was super upset one morning, constantly thumping and shaking with fright. I had no idea what was going on and I had explored everything around the house already. Then I noticed that my neighbour across the hall had his front door open to get soe fresh air. He was playing music on a very respectable soft level, but it was dance music with a heavy bass. Breintje was constantly triggered by those vibrations. When the neighbour shut his front door, Breintje stood on his hind legs, looked around and promptly loafed.

[Alisha]

Good to know. Thank you for the advice on investigating so the rabbit sees you’re taking it seriously. I hadn’t thought of that. I think petting her made her a bit more satisfied as I was giving her attention but I could have maybe looked out the window or something.

We’re really close since I work from home and we spend literally 24/7 together unless I leave the house for something (which isn’t often) so I’d like to make sure I can be everything I can be for her.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

That’s great ^_^ Rabbits like to form deep bonds with group mates and like to feel connected. They will treat their humans like rabbits too so you can form a warren together. It makes them feel happy and secure. Deep down a rabbit is always afraid of becoming someone’s dinner, it’s such a strong instinct that even domestic rabbits still have a bit of it. Which is why nothing makes them happier than having quality company, a safe hidey hole, and a quiet/stable environment.

Petting her is great too, rabbits like to be comforted. What you can do after the initial inspection phase is using rabbit body language to signal that it’s okay. Rabbits copy group behaviour, so you as a group member can change their mood. Rabbits lie down when stuff is fine, and may groom themselves or click their teeth softly. One way I use to calm Breintje down is to pretend to be a chill bunny. When I could still get on the floor I used to lay flat, play with my hair a bit, close my eyes and softly click my teeth in that tic-tic-tic pattern. You can also use the bed or the couch for this, and it’s likely that the rabbit will join you.

[Alisha]

Since she was under the sheets, I decided to join her and just lay next to her. After a few minutes she decided to go out and investigate. As she was doing that I emphasized on making sure the blinds were closed and the window was closed etc and yeah she seems calmer but I think she went back under the sheets hahaha

[Alisha]

She started pooping all over. What an odd reaction to the window lol Super on guard and over protective. I’m assuming now since she’s bathing herself, she’s gotten over it.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Pooping all over is a territorial reaction: this place smells like me and is therefore MINE. Something breached her territory. It could have been another animal, or just the scent of one she isn’t used to.

Has she been spayed btw? Territorial pooping often happens in hormonal buns. (Many people don’t know this, but girls need to be fixed too. They have up to 80% chance of developing cancer in their lady bits by age 4 )

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Alisha on 6/26/2018 10:52 AM
She started pooping all over. What an odd reaction to the window lol Super on guard and over protective. I’m assuming now since she’s bathing herself, she’s gotten over it.

Oh gosh yeah it definitely sounds like she wants to reiterate that it’s her space so chances are she smelled another animal nearby. Glad she’s okay now

[Alisha]

Yes I know. She’s only 4 months old so she isn’t fixed yet. I’m hoping I can afford it too because I live on my own with no help but I was calling around last week for rabbit savvy vets in my area and they all had quotes around 225 dollars so I’ll need to make sure I have that and make sure she’s old enough

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

It’s true that it varies when a rabbit comes of age: dwarfs come of age around 3 months, larger breeds can take 4-7 months. As soon as they’re displaying typical hormonal behaviours they’re old enough. For males that’s spraying, humping and love dances. For females that can also be love dances, territorial pooping and false nesting behaviours. Females who display false nesting behaviours can become wickedly agressive and protective of their “nest”. I hope that she will spare you the experience.

Rabbits are insanely territorial, females even worse than males. My slippers once were the site of a full-blown territory war between Breintje and the neighbour’s bunny which I was feeding while she was on a weekend trip. Breintje kept following me around harrassing my slippers by pushing and chinning to scent-mark (my right leg was already bad back then, so it was awful). In the end I had to go and feed Ollie barefoot, with my sleeves and pant legs rolled up. Ollie wasn’t fixed yet, so his scent was much stronger than Breintje’s. In the end I just put my slippers on the carpet and took a shower so Breintje could do as he pleased. He was still chinning and rubbing them when I got back half an hour later…

[Alisha]

Do you think that her digging/chewing up my carpet is a nesting thing or is that just a rabbit thing in general? Because it would be nice if that lessened after she got fixed… lol

The breeder told me she was a girl but a lot of people on the forums kept telling me not to assume her gender so early. I feel like she acts like a female. She hasn’t humped anything. But she has laid on her side and stiffened up while panting so I assumed that was kind of a female stance to take while going through hormones. Do females spray too though? Because I’m pretty sure she’s sprayed on a couple of things. It dries as this thicker white/light yellow stuff. She got all these hormones at once and did a bunch of crazy stuff like spraying, pooping, etc but then she calmed down. Now she just does things here and there.

[Author]

Messages