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Thumping

Usually it's because something has scared them. In the wild they do this to alert the rest of the rabbits that danger is around. My rabbit did this recently when a cat came in the yard.
 
Lynn's Bunny said:
Usually it's because something has scared them. In the wild they do this to alert the rest of the rabbits that danger is around. My rabbit did this recently when a cat came in the yard.
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oh really? wow this is additional information for me...This forum is really helpful specially for new bunny mum like me..uhmm could it be that there might be a new pet in their house? a cat or dog or an intruder animal maybe?

I'll note this down, just in case i notice my bunnies thumping., thanks... :wave:
 
My bunny sometimes does it seemingly out of the blue. But sometimes its when he's annoyed, normally about 5 minutes after hes had a few squirts with the water spray and is sulking.
 
as a sign of danger or of being annoyed, arthur only ever thumps if there is danger (a cat in garden or something spooks him) but dora, she is a stroppy bun and thumps and stomps at the slightest thing, (moving her litter tray, taking her bowl out to feed her, trying to pick her up ) generally anything that annoys her. x
 
nessar said:
My bunny sometimes does it seemingly out of the blue. But sometimes its when he's annoyed, normally about 5 minutes after hes had a few squirts with the water spray and is sulking.
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Think I would sulk and thump if I'd had water sprayed at me.:(:(
 
Babsie said:
Think I would sulk and thump if I'd had water sprayed at me.:(:(
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Haha yeah the funny thing is its good few minutes afterwards, after he's groomed it off, like he's been sitting there thinking about being sprayed and how mean I am and getting stroppier and angrier till he stamps!
 
nessar said:
Haha yeah the funny thing is its good few minutes afterwards, after he's groomed it off, like he's been sitting there thinking about being sprayed and how mean I am and getting stroppier and angrier till he stamps!
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Why do you spray him with water? :?
 
Fluffers said:
Why do you spray him with water? :?
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To stop him attacking furniture, wires and jumping on the bed. Picking him up and putting him somewhere else doesn't work, and I often can't get over there fast enough. I've pulled a couple of muscles (I'm often covered in a couple of blankets) and sent my laptop flying already trying to and I've only had him a month so far. Plus he's deaf so he can't hear me say no. It's the only thing I've found that works so I keep a plant-mister near me when I'm working just in case.
 
nessar said:
To stop him attacking furniture, wires and jumping on the bed. Picking him up and putting him somewhere else doesn't work, and I often can't get over there fast enough. I've pulled a couple of muscles (I'm often covered in a couple of blankets) and sent my laptop flying already trying to and I've only had him a month so far. Plus he's deaf so he can't hear me say no. It's the only thing I've found that works so I keep a plant-mister near me when I'm working just in case.
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Oh right. I don't know of anyone who uses this method to stop a bun from chewings things etc. I know water is sometimes used when trying to bond two buns as a system of stopping one attacking the other but I don't know how successful it is for "training" a bun. I'd be a bit worried this might cause him to be aggressive as he's just doing what a bun would do naturally.

Is he neutered? If not I'd suggest that would help as he is probably frustrated & bored. Neutering often calms them down. Also make sure he has lots of toys & things he can amuse himself with + consider bun proofing an area which doesn't have wires or things he isn't allowed to touch :)
 
Fluffers said:
Oh right. I don't know of anyone who uses this method to stop a bun from chewings things etc. I know water is sometimes used when trying to bond two buns as a system of stopping one attacking the other but I don't know how successful it is for "training" a bun. I'd be a bit worried this might cause him to be aggressive as he's just doing what a bun would do naturally.

Is he neutered? If not I'd suggest that would help as he is probably frustrated & bored. Neutering often calms them down. Also make sure he has lots of toys & things he can amuse himself with + consider bun proofing an area which doesn't have wires or things he isn't allowed to touch :)
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I'd agree with this. Bunnies are natural chewers. Surely rabbit-proofing would be better than spraying with water - I know I couldn't bear to do that to mine.:cry::cry::cry:
 
In response to the couple of posts above:

He is not neutered, but probably will be soon. He has toys, that he does not play with. I cannot rabbit-proof all my wires as I have to move them around a lot, however they are inconspicuous. Unfortunately if I only let him run in the place that has no wires it would cut his running-area in half. He is also a big rabbit, 5kg and I cannot stop him going anywhere, I am sure he would destroy/push over/jump over any barriers. He usually gets 3 warnings (pick up put down) before a spray. When I first had him, I had to spray him minimum of 5 times a day often more, now it isn't even needed every day, so I would say it is working. He is not scared of the water, and often just stares at me and carries on until I spray him again. I have had limited success using hand-signals and will always use this first.

He has been left to do as he pleases (with some dangerous behaviour) for 3 years, I am doing my best. My house rabbit book written by the founder of the british house rabbit association suggested using a water spray. Like I said before, I cannot think of another way to train him, being that he is deaf and doesnt respond to things like thumping the ground either.

Apologies to the OP for this thread going completely off topic. If anyone has any suggestions about what I could do better or even about how cruel I am could they please PM me instead.
I will welcome any constructive suggestions :D
 
nessar said:
In response to the couple of posts above:

He is not neutered, but probably will be soon. He has toys, that he does not play with. I cannot rabbit-proof all my wires as I have to move them around a lot, however they are inconspicuous. Unfortunately if I only let him run in the place that has no wires it would cut his running-area in half. He is also a big rabbit, 5kg and I cannot stop him going anywhere, I am sure he would destroy/push over/jump over any barriers. He usually gets 3 warnings (pick up put down) before a spray. When I first had him, I had to spray him minimum of 5 times a day often more, now it isn't even needed every day, so I would say it is working. He is not scared of the water, and often just stares at me and carries on until I spray him again. I have had limited success using hand-signals and will always use this first.

He has been left to do as he pleases (with some dangerous behaviour) for 3 years, I am doing my best. My house rabbit book written by the founder of the british house rabbit association suggested using a water spray. Like I said before, I cannot think of another way to train him, being that he is deaf and doesnt respond to things like thumping the ground either.

Apologies to the OP for this thread going completely off topic. If anyone has any suggestions about what I could do better or even about how cruel I am could they please PM me instead.
I will welcome any constructive suggestions :D
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:wave: I hope you haven't been upset or offended by anything I said. I was very careful (or thought I was) how I worded my reply and I'm certainly not an expert in training buns and don't claim to be. I was just trying to help and offer suggestions to improve the chewing situ based on my own experiences. I certainly wasn't implying that you are cruel and I'm sure you have given him a lovely home and you are a great bunny owner.

I definitely think neutering is the way to go and I'd be surprised if he doesn't improve as a result. I'd say it's very likely that's he's frustrated (even if only some of the time) and so removing this emotion has got to be a good thing (for both of you) :D You could then maybe consider getting him a friend (not sure if this is an option for you) as this may help the situation further i.e. he'd give the other bun attention rather than the wires & furniture :lol:

Keep us posted on how you get on & best of luck. Some pics of the big fella would be lovely too :D
 
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