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Elijah thumping in the night - it's getting really bad!

Bunny Buddy

Wise Old Thumper
He lives alone outdoors (I know not ideal but he's only been here 8 weeks, had the snip 6 weeks ago, so looking for companion). He's the calmest, most placid bunny during the day - never heard him thump during the daytime.:?

Sometimes it's just a couple of thumps then it stops. I'd recently decided he did it for attention so ignored him unless it was really bad. Last night I think he must have woken the whole town :shock::oops::oops::oops: I went out to pacify him but he kept on thumping and running around looking alarmed. He was even doing a moany groany noise when he thumped - he was really upset :cry::cry: I've no idea what set him off - I couldn't see so much as a frog or mouse moving about! I'm 99.9% sure we don't have foxes and I cat proofed the garden and I've never seen a cat in my back garden since ... so I don't know what triggers it or how to stop it. (When I move him indoors at night he sometimes thumps as well - could be be scared of the dark??)

What do other people do? Does putting a cover over make any difference?

I have the option of moving him in and if he bonds with existing rabbits he can live indoors.

I can get him a companion and leave him outdoors (it would be harder to move him indoors with his own companion but it could be done if it gets to this stage. I don't want a group of four and the space the two live in would also accommodate a mini-lop also but be a bit small for four).... Is a companion likely to make any difference? Rudy often has thumping sessions and Tink sits calmly ignoring him, it doesn't seem to matter to him that his companion is calm!

Nobody's complained yet but I bet the neighbours are getting a bit sick of him .... I know my sleep cycle is suffering.

Any words of wisdom would be appreciated :wave:

Just a little moan - as soon as my head touched the pillow last night again at about 3.10 am Rudy started thumping :roll::censored:
 
Oh dear, naughty Elijah :no: George thumps too, but he only starts thumping when the security light comes on, meaning something is in the garden.

Has Elijah done it for the whole 8 weeks? Or has it got worse recently? I hope he settles soon for you, maybe once he has a friend he'll feel more secure? xXx
 
My two used to thump more or less at the same time every night and i found out it was because this was the time the neighbours put the cats out for the night.

Bunnies can hear and sense things that we can't so it could be anything. Hope he settles soon.
 
Has Elijah done it for the whole 8 weeks? Or has it got worse recently? I hope he settles soon for you, maybe once he has a friend he'll feel more secure? xXx

He's done it more or less from day one. I hear him most night. Thinking about it it isn't the dark as a few times he has done it after dawn but still during human sleeping times!!

Last night was the worst but there have been a few bad ones. I moved him in every night for about a week and another patch he lived indoors for a few days as the hassle putting him back out didn't seem worth it. If anything, he has been better since he moved into his new hutch.
 
mr fox? sets matthew off something terrible, and he's indoors.

Very unlikely but I'm not going to 100% because I think it's naive to say 100%.
My two used to thump more or less at the same time every night and i found out it was because this was the time the neighbours put the cats out for the night.

Bunnies can hear and sense things that we can't so it could be anything. Hope he settles soon.

Thanks. They do have a greyhound next door (just through the fence from Elijah) but I'm never aware of his presence except when I see them putting him in the car. I could understand him thumping during the day when the dog is out but he will be tucked up at night :?

With Elijah there's no pattern to it - it can be about 11.30 when I've fed him only 10 minutes earlier ... it can be early hours or 6.30 am when it's daylight. I've wondered if owls hooting could scare him but one time when I was calming him early hours I could hear an owl and he wasn't responding to it at all.

Hopefully I'll work it out. I think he'll be coming indoors tonight as I don't want him doing bad thumps two nights in a row!

Thanks for the suggestions/advice :wave:
 
Even if cats and foxes can't get in to your garden (or have a reduced risk of getting in) he could be hearing them just beyond the fences or hearing very small rustling sounds or something beyond what we can hear :wave: It sounds like something is spooking him anyway. I would first try putting something like a piece of old carpet over the front of the hutch and see if that helps him feel more secure. If it doesn't change anything then at least you know he's not reacting to something visual.
 
Even if cats and foxes can't get in to your garden (or have a reduced risk of getting in) he could be hearing them just beyond the fences or hearing very small rustling sounds or something beyond what we can hear :wave: It sounds like something is spooking him anyway. I would first try putting something like a piece of old carpet over the front of the hutch and see if that helps him feel more secure. If it doesn't change anything then at least you know he's not reacting to something visual.

:wave: Thanks, sorry I've only just seen this post, I don't now how I missed it :oops::oops: I think I'll wait until it's not really hot at night to do that, as I don't want to make him too hot at night. At the moment I'm bringing him in every night as we all get a better night's sleep that way.
 
our first rabbit used to do this, a french lop called thumper, hence why she got that name :lol:
things that set her off where even little things sometimes, like hearing neighbours, there voices, dogs, cats, sometimes even the wind
we made the bedding as thick as possible to try and drown out the noise

she imporved alot when we bonded her with mitzi, as she had another bunny to snuggle up with
 
our first rabbit used to do this, a french lop called thumper, hence why she got that name :lol:
things that set her off where even little things sometimes, like hearing neighbours, there voices, dogs, cats, sometimes even the wind
we made the bedding as thick as possible to try and drown out the noise

she imporved alot when we bonded her with mitzi, as she had another bunny to snuggle up with

Thanks :D Funnily enough he's extremely calm during the day. My next door neighbour (just behind his hutch) does have a shouty voice and I've never seen him flinch, when there was a low helicopter recently he wasn't at all bothered, lawn mowers and the bin wagon don't seem to bother him.:? It's only when everybody is trying to sleep that he lets things spook him.:?
 
Thanks :D Funnily enough he's extremely calm during the day. My next door neighbour (just behind his hutch) does have a shouty voice and I've never seen him flinch, when there was a low helicopter recently he wasn't at all bothered, lawn mowers and the bin wagon don't seem to bother him.:? It's only when everybody is trying to sleep that he lets things spook him.:?

maybe he feels more secure when he can see and things and people around him, but at night it stresses him more, as there are no people around to make him feel comfortable :?
thumoer never thumped during the day, but as soon as it went dark, her thumping started :lol:
 
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