Suddenly very afraid/jumpy- Different behavior

[MACKS111]

Hello everyone, I am new rabbit owner. I have a female about a year old and have had her for about 2 months maybe. She has been very good, calm and behaved since we got her, no problems litter training she did it on her own very quickly. She also sleeps in there sometimes too!

Today I came home and let out of her pen as usual and pet her everything was fine. Then all of a sudden she started RACING around the room, like a rock skipping on water so damn fast my head couldn’t keep up with her, she was like a little brown rocket! Then she settled in the corner under an office chair where it was dark and started thumping loudly. I went to pick her up and she wouldn’t struggle as she usually did when she was content prior to this behavioral change. She remained in my arms as i laid down and stayed which was surprising because usually she jumps off immediately. She is all of a sudden very frightened of me or in general or something. 

Could it be some kind of medical condition? She looks fine, we have been running low on hay but there is little left- will get more tomorrow. Her food is abundant as well as some wood, chew toys of sorts and car toy. 

[Emmie]

Well the running around sounds like a happy bunny being let out of their cage. I know Thane does this, Then he will go underneath the table and chill there for a bit.

The thumping, do you mean he thumps his back legs? Thane will do this if he hears/smells something that isn’t right to him, like a high pitched noise I can’t hear or when I’m cooking!

I’d suggest just backing off and seeing how he is. Sometimes thumping can indicate they’re in pain. Keep an eye/ear out for loud tooth grinding noises.

[Deleted User]

I just want to clarify. The running was not your little girl doing a Bunny500, right?

The thumping may be a sign of her not being happy about something. Something may have scared her.

I second Emmie. I would monitor your bun to see how she is doing. If she starts tooth grinding or more thumping I would call your vet just to get a read on if they need you to bring her or not.

By any chance were you wearing a new perfume or a new pair of shoes? These things can cause an adverse reaction to appear from buns. If you were wearing a pair of heels the clickclacking of the shoes may have upset her. My little ones can’t stand perfume or even scented lotion. Hugo will thump his foot at me when I go near him after putting lotion on.

[Baxter n Boos Mom]

Yes I agree with Emmie and Skipper’s Mama that bunnies love to just take off at top speed. My Baxter does it a few times a day, and after running at top speed – he needs to catch his breath, and will just chill for a few seconds.

And bunnies can thump when scared, uncomfortable, to warn other buns of danger, or when they want attention. It’s funny, we have a gate to our master bedroom. Baxter is always looking for an opportunity to sneak in there – and when he gets the chance he immediately goes under the bed…then starts to thump, cause he knows he’s going to be in trouble 🙂

Gotta love them!

[MACKS111]

She does laps around the room but it seems as if she is terrified because during her laps she finds a spot to hunch up her back to the wall and she’s breathing very quick. She was also thumping after she runs. She even ran lightning fast right into the pen which is metal. I have seen her do the bunny 500 late at night with happiness however when she was doing it today I can tell she was afraid

[Baxter n Boos Mom]

Bunnies have amazing hearing – and maybe she heard something outside that frightened her 🙁 If she let you hold her, which is not normal – then it doesn’t seem like you are the cause of her fear. My skittish bun used to hide behind me for protection, when the more aggressive bun chased him.

As Skipper’s mama said – just keep an eye on her, and try to see if certain noises/smells trigger her fear/flight.

[NuggetBuns]

If she only did it one time, it was probably something she saw or heard that scared her. The first time I heard Nugget thumping and running around like she was spooked was when she spotted a cat outside. The cat was walking past our apartment building and we were in the living room with Nugget. I didn’t take too much notice until she started hopping around trying to get through the ex pen gate to the other side of the apartment (away from the sliding door where she saw the cat). She panicked and would run and thump, run and thump, then crouched into a corner looking scared. We had to reassure her that the cat was not coming in to eat her lol. Bunnies get scared easily and are always paranoid. I wouldn’t worry if your bunny is back to normal now.

It’s really interesting to see this behavior, and just like Baxter, Nugget also thumps when she escapes her area and knows she’s in trouble b/c the bf chases her.

[Emmie]

Thane did something very similar this morning. I was feeding him some Thyme and all of a sudden he flipped out and started thumping his back legs. I think the wind outside startled him or something.

How is she now?

[Author]

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