Muting a Thumping Bunny

[belleandferdinand]

Two of my three bunnies are thumpers — Cornelius thumps when he’s freaked out (me turning the light on in the middle of the night, so generally not that frequently) and Belle seems to delight in doing it every single morning around dawn. Are there any suggestions for quickly stopping the thumps (aside from me getting out of bed and bribing them with cuddles or treats, which I presume must encourage the thumps, but at least lets me sleep)? Cornelius will endlessly thump (last count before I gave in was 20) and Belle will do about 6.

ps. my neighbor keeps complaining about me "hanging pictures in the middle of the night". Ha. I wish

[wordmonkey]

Are they all bonded??? Does this happen the majority at night?

Thumping is another individual quality. It is a sign of displeasure, want/need or danger. Once one starts the others may follow to alert or to say what the hell?!?

If they are a bonded trio, not all in the trio will receive the amount of affection aka grooming that they desire. That in turn may cause displeasement. We have a pair and when the lady doesnt get the desired grooming, then the thumping comes out.

I live in an apartment. Ours thump when our A/C turns or when theres a heavy vibration or thud. Took us a couple months to figure out that the A/C vibration from outside traveled through the wall and across the floor triggering one to thump, which would cause the other to thump.

Figure out the trigger that is affecting Cornelius and that may be able to stop excessive thumping. The problem is you may not even notice the trigger. Took us a couple months to figure out that the A/C vibration from outside through the wall and a room was the trigger. And still what can you do?

 

 

 

 

[Hedi]

Do you have a pretty normal routine as far as bedtime and morning breakfast? I wonder if they dont have a normal schedule they are responding to that?

My buns have the bedroom next to ours so we can hear anything. They pretty much always go to bed at 10pm during the weekday or maybe a little later on the weekend. At bedtime I go around and pet them all and give them a treat. I tell them goodnite, shut off the lite and close the door. After that we rarely hear as much as a peep out of them. I think they understand that its quiet time.

In the morning as soon as I get up (which can be anywhere from 7am-11am because Im not working d/t illness) they know it and will start rustling around in there. I go in and immediately give them pellets before I do anything for myself.

We have had the schedule since Carrera was a baby and they seem to understand it. We rarely hear anything out of them. If we are awake we may hear a bell ring on a toy or them jump and make a thumping sound but thats it.

I was wonder if your buns arent responding to outside stimuli maybe they are trying to get your attention for food ? Do they have a set schedule for food and bedtime?

My Cooper during the day when we first got him would thump and thump if another bun was out because he wanted out to play. Exactly like what your buns are doing-constant thumping for attention. After we bonded him that completely stopped so he could care less now if he even gets to come out in play from their cube house.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Do you cover their cage at all to let them know it’s quiet sleeping time for the humans? My two used to make a rukus until I started to cover them every night before going to bed. Also, with the noise, I do not know what kind of cage you have or what the bottom is like, but I used to have a huge dog kennel and the plastic tray rested on the wire bottom and I ended up putting a towel between the tray and the wire bottom to deaden the thump noise.

[MooBunnay]

In another post – some people suggested some type of padding on the floor which could also soften the sound a bit more. My bunnies are big thumpers when they smell a funny smell – maybe a sillly question but do you live near any restaurants or stores or anything that opens early in the morning? Or maybe a neighbor (like mine) has an old car that they smell the fumes from (OK, yes, a strange suggestion but thats what happens at my house! the neighbor leaves for work and all I hear is *thumpthump* until his car and the exhaust smell are gone!) I know that dawn is a typical time for bunnies to wake up – but a lot of bunnies that belong to people I know gradually get used to the human’s schedule – so maybe if you can come up with a way to soften the thump sound in the morning, you can sleep through it so they don’t think that their thumps are on the schedule to wake you up and get grooms

[kralspace]

I’m sorry to be so useless, the first thing that came to my mind was “socks”….lol

[BinkyBunny]

kralspace – FUNNY!!

BelleandFerdinand – During the school year, my bunnies thump because our "teacher" neighbor loads his car with lesson plans and such early in the am. The closing and opening of the car door sets them off.

What really helped was to have a fan going (not directly at them) and a radio (not loud) in their area. That seems to sort of "shush" out other noises. 

A friend of mine said she found out that her bunnies were thumping at a "rat". She didn’t know that for the longest time, until she one day walked in to see what all the fuss was about, and the rat ran off. NOT saying you have rats….nope, I’m just offering any possibility.

It could have all started as a warning thump and then they  learned "wow, if we thump, we get yummies!"   The genesis could have gone like this:  Ferdinand starts thumping again one morning.  Belle asks, "What are you thumping for this time, I don’t hear anything?". Ferdinand smiles and says, "Just watch….juuuusssst watch."   A few seconds later, here you come, sleeply stumbling over, and give ’em a treat.   Then your rabbits look, at each other,  and Ferdinand says to Belle…"and that’ my dear is how ya train a human."

Regardind the padding. When we did live in un upstairs apartment, thick rubber padding (like the kind for exercise mats, and working in the garage) and carpeting remnants over gave our sleep deprived neighbors peace again.

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

I’m tempted to put some baby socks on Frankie now just to take a picture… hahah

[Hedi]

When we first got Cooper if any of the other buns were out he would thump hard and long wanting attention and to get out. We have wood floors so yeah, it was loud. But once I realized that he was responding to the other buns being out and wanting to join them I stopped running upstairs to make sure everything was ok.  I didnt want him to learn that if he thumped we would come running.

Rabbits learn fast. You have to let them know you are the boss. lol

You also have to remember that rabbits have amazing sense of sound. They have to out in the wild and our buns are no different. Is there something in your house that may drive them crazy? Something with a low hum? Something rattling?

Go in their room and see if you hear anything strange. Is your TV too loud? Music too loud?  If our TV is too loud the buns wont come down to see us from their room upstairs. I cant blame them. lol

My buns run and hide when they hear pots and pans making noise. I can only imagine how loud it is to them. They also hate the dishwasher. lol

[kralspace]

Heidi, that’s funny about the TV being too loud. I thought I heard someone in the house one night and got the baseball bat to take a look. Pringles had crawled into a bottom kitchen cabinet and was throwing pots and pans out into the floor, scared me to death…lol

[Vinnie D.]

Nel has only thumped once.  She was sleeping then suddenly ran into the kitchen and began thumping for half an hour.  I think maybe she had a nightmare.     

[Author]

Messages