# HELP! Won't stop thumping!



## KaliQ (Sep 20, 2013)

My mini lop Sherbotsky started thumping about an hour ago and has not stopped. She darted around her room like she was scared but now is on the shelf in her cage thumping away. She did stop thumping to eat her breakfast but started up again a few minutes later. I tried sitting with her and giving her treats and petting her but she's still going. Our house does have mice which we are working on getting rid of and I checked outside her window and found no animals that might scare her. I'm worried for her feet as she had an episode of sore hocks a bit ago, and her heart with all this stress that she is apparently experiencing. Please help! Why is she doing this?
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## rebeccalyn7 (Sep 20, 2013)

Try putting her in a different room?
See if she keeps going?


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## Nancy McClelland (Sep 20, 2013)

Cover her hutch? Good luck.


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## KaliQ (Sep 20, 2013)

Thanks, I will try that once she gets down off her shelf. Picking her up makes her more scared and I can't get a good grip on her at the moment. Her shelf is padded so its better than the floor outside of her room.


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## KaliQ (Sep 20, 2013)

Covered her hutch and rubbed her neck and nose a bit to see if that would calm her. She has calmed a bit and hasn't thumped now for about a minute. Thanks all for your help!


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## KaliQ (Sep 20, 2013)

Good news! After covering her hutch and leaving her alone for a bit Sherbotsky has calmed down and is now happily stretched out in the living room (opposite side of house from her room)!!! Her thumping gradually got softer and less frequent and she eventually came out of her cage on her own and gradually got farther out into the house. I'm not sure what spooked her but whatever it was she thinks it's gone now. Thanks again everyone!


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## FuzzButtLover (Sep 20, 2013)

Late to the game but I'm glad she calmed down. I love her name!!!


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## Liung (Oct 4, 2013)

I'm having this problem too!

My female rabbit Delilah has been thumping almost non-stop for probably over 20 minutes now. Average 1 thump per minute but as many as once every 20 seconds or so. As far as I can tell, nothing set her off.

We keep her and my other rabbit Lahi in a 5x10 enclosure in the basement, with all the bunny amenities. But it's concrete floors! I'm seriously worried she might hurt herself thumping so hard. There's a pet crate with a plush pet bed in it and her giant litterbox and her cardboard hideaway for if she wants to get off the concrete, but she's not going in any of them.

Ah, I stand corrected, she just sat in her litterbox for a few thumps, then returned to the floor, and just now thumped again in her crate.

But nothing in particular happened before she started. I mean, I have my computer down here and I was listening to my online course videos, but that's nothing new that she's not heard before.

I went in to check it out. She's running to various spots in the enclosure, huddling a bit, and then thumping her foot a few times. Or thumping as she moves to the next spot. Her eyes are large and a little bit crazy looking. It's her dinner time and usually she'd be super happy about being fed but she's grabbing a few bites then returning to thumping. When I give her face rubs she calms for a bit, then dashes off again.

And this might be just her (she's an _extremely_ vocal bunny, is constantly making chuckling sounds when she's busy and chattering noises when she's happy and growling noises when she's angry--she was raised by dogs and I'm pretty sure she never got the "rabbits are quiet" memo) but as she's thumping she _groans_ first. So it sounds a bit like "_myerrrrrhhhh_*THUNK*!!" She's always done that as she thumps, but when she's non-stop thumping it's a worrying sound.

This isn't the first time it's happened but it is the first time it's lasted so long. The earlier suggestions of covering her hutch aren't feasible-- the enclosure is too big and is made of the house walls on two sides.

I'm at my wits end. She's acting and looking desperately unhappy. Our one rabbit Picca passed away two months ago, and while her brother Lahi has been depressed since then, Delilah was still in the process of bonding with her and didn't seem very affected. She started bothering Lahi too much (she was mounting him and in doing so was biting and pulling out the fur on his shoulders) so we separated them. Lahi's in a large cage within the enclosure so they can still see each other but not touch, so she might be getting lonely. Neither of them have been allowed out to run much as the basement's being reorganized and needs to be re-bunny-proofed, so they are getting a bit stircrazy. And just yesterday they went to the vet to have checkups and schedule a spaying for Delilah. They're both 100% healthy as far as the vet could tell.

She's been doing this more and more frequently. Does anyone know anything??


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## JBun (Oct 4, 2013)

Maybe you have a mouse or other critter hiding down there that is spooking her. I would sit and comfort her, and maybe even hold her until she settles down.


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## Azerane (Oct 4, 2013)

There definitely has to be something spooking her, even if it's an object in a different place in the room. Once I put something on top of the washing machine in Bandit's room and he was terrified. It took me a while to figure out what it was, but it looked like it was looming over him from down on his level. So check to make sure everything is where it usually is. Otherwise, you could try holding her, or if she has a carrier, try putting her in that for a while and draping a blanket over most of it to keep it dark and quiet. A smaller space may help her feel more secure.


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## PaGal (Oct 4, 2013)

Could you cover the enclosure with a tarp, sheet or blanket since it is large? That might help.

Remember buns have much better hearing then we do so she might have heard something you did not. She also may have seen or smelled something that has her spooked. Have you started using a different shampoo, perfume, etc?

Maybe since you are re-organizing the room you moved something that has her spooked. 

Thumper is pretty calm but I have noticed he will go on alert when I put something large in his room. Even something as simple as a large box will put him on alert.


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## Liung (Oct 6, 2013)

I ended up just waiting for her to stop. As far as I've heard she hasn't started up again in the few days since, but like I said, this is something she'll just start doing for no discernible reason. Who knows...

Mostly I just wish I knew of something that I could do if she does it again. Delilah's previous owner basically just had her in a cage and never let her out, and as a result she HATES being cooped up in tiny spaces. She'll literally start bouncing off the walls. As it is, she's getting stircrazy not being allowed out of the large enclosure we have them in now. Getting her into something that can be covered would work for _maybe_ an hour tops before she would lose her mind trying to get out. 

But thanks for all the suggestions and help! Hopefully she'll be happier after she's all healed up from her surgery and we can let her run around again and be with Lahi.

In the meantime, have a picture of the rare creature known as a relaxed, non-hyper Delilah!


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