Thumping bunny

[ErinF]

I’ve had my bun for about two months and he’s about five months old, and I only sort of know what I’m doing 🙂 He seems comfortable with me, and will run to me, circle my feet, and hop on my lap, and will usually welcome head and back rubs. This morning something TERRIFIED him, and he booked it back to his cage and began thumping. I’d been working in silence a few feet away and can’t imagine what set him off. I reached in and petted him and spoke soothingly, and it didn’t last too long, but my question is, should I have just let him be and go/do whatever makes him feel safe? I didn’t want unsolicited contact in his home base to make him even more stressed, but just wanted to fix it! I’ve seen him visibly anxious before but he’s never thumped, I thought that was relatively rare?

[Bam]

Thumping is not rare 🙂

I think you did great. Since rabbits are flight animals, they tend to hate being lifted up or even touched when they’re  scared. It just stresses them out further. Imo its better to talk to them in a calm, normal voice and to offer a small treat.

Offering a treat is good because it’s not just soothing, it’s also a way for you to assess how scared the bun is. A terrified bun wont take the treat. A moderately upset bun will take the treat and the likelihood that devouring the treat makes the bun forget about the perceived danger is high.

From your description this does seem to have been a response to a perceived threat -a rabbit’s senses of hearing and smell are vastly superior to ours, so even when we cant hear anything, the bun very well could have. Thumping is however not always about fear. It can be about frustration or anger. It can be a normal part of the zoomies -i e when the (young) bun races around in what seems like a frenzy, doing quick turns and binkies.

 

 

[ErinF]

Thank you, that makes me feel better! I did offer him some arugula during this too, and he gladly took that, then I got to thinking I didn’t want him to associate arugula with being scared, and THEN I decided I was an overthinking psycho and headed here 😂

[DanaNM]

Some buns are a lot more reactive than others! My Cooper is like this, especially if it’s very quiet in the house. A small noise will trigger him to sound the alarm! I usually do some voice reassuring but just leave him be. He tends to go back to normal quickly.

If you notice this happening a lot, adding some white noise (like a fan or quiet classical music) can help.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Author]

Messages