Thumping

[Rozy1990]

I have a 9 month old house bunny who loves being out all the time but as a ruke spends alot of his time thumping – over nothing he can be in his crate with the door open or just playing with some toys on the floor. I know they do this when they are not happy – but surely he cant be that unhappy – he binkies all the time and lays down and grooms the cats all the time so i dont think he is unhappy, Any idea why he might be doing this?

[LoveChaCha]

Rabbits have really good hearing! Sometimes they thump because they hear something outside and it spooks them. They wish to warn us of noises that may be dangerous.

Some rabbits thump for attention. Some thump for their treats! They are silly buggers

[Deb'sBuns]

When my Sara Jane was alive she used to get everyone going. Now that she’s gone they hardly ever thump.

[mia]

My female thumps while playing and lots of times, during and/or before running and binkying. She also thumped when she was locked in the crate. So, I don’t think that it is always an indication of being unhappy; should be taken in context.

[TaraMichele]

 Sofie thumps all the time too, especially if you stop petting her, she also does thumps right before a binky, but shes the princess so she pretty much gets what she wants Cady on the other hand thumped a couple times when we first got him not we just get lots of foot flicks

[Michelle&Lolli]

The main reason for thumping is to alert others of danger and to express anger. Some are more “vocal” in their displeasure than others. Some will thump at every little sound, needing to alert everyone of danger. Like Chacha said – some thump for attention. Sort of a “hey! PAY attention to ME!”

I’ve never read this as being an actual behavior for thumping, but Eddie used to start racing around, thumping whenever he would get REALLY excited about something. Coincidentally, it was usually when I’d give some banana. LOL He was also good at startling himself awake and freaking out, thumping while he dashed for cover. I knew he was startling himself because I would look to Lolli to see if she was scared too and 9 times out of 10, she was perfectly fine and looking at him like the dumb boy he was sometimes. lol

I wouldn’t worry too much about your bunny thumping unless he seems scared and is trying to dash for cover all the time. Then you might need to do some investigating. I would always look at my bunnies to see why they were thumping but as long as they weren’t both scared, I didn’t pay too much attention. Otherwise he might just be more “vocal” about everything that honks him off – good AND bad. LOL

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