Rabbits aren’t known to be very noisy pets.
However, often, rabbit owners complain that their rabbits are far too active at night when they are trying to get some sleep.
Rabbits that are kept indoors can spend the night thumping, running around, and playing.
Although this is entirely normal rabbit behavior, you can take a few steps to fix it.
This article will explain why rabbits are so active at night and how to solve this problem.
So, without further ado, let’s jump right into it!
Why is My Rabbit So Active at Night?
To properly understand why your rabbit is so active at night, it is crucial to understand what a rabbit’s natural activity levels are like.
As crepuscular animals, rabbits are mostly naturally active during the early morning hours (dawn) and the late evening hours (dusk).
In other words, rabbits will almost always wake up well before you do.
Moreover, rabbits do not sleep straight through the night as we do, and in most cases, after every few hours, rabbits will experience short intervals of heightened activity.
Rabbits’ natural daily activity levels mean that no matter what you do, your rabbits will be active at some point in the night.
There is nothing you can do to completely ensure that your rabbits sleep throughout the night or even to ensure that they do not become highly active at some point during the night.
Young Rabbit Activity Levels
Like most animals, especially small mammals, young rabbits are usually more active and energetic than their older counterparts.
Due to this, you may often hear your younger rabbits thumping, running, playing, and rattling their cage during one or two heightened intervals of activity at night.
While this activity level in younger rabbits is not relatively loud, especially when compared to some animals like an anxious dog or a spooked flock of small birds, a sensitive sleeper could easily be affected by active rabbits at night.
Having said all that, there are some steps you can take to ensure that your rabbits are relatively tired when nighttime comes around, and hence that they are not as active at night as they could be.
How to Keep Your Rabbit Quiet at Night
Rabbits’ nighttime activity may not be very loud. However, rabbits tend to thump, run around, play, and rattle their cage during their most heightened periods of activity at night.
This activity can be quite annoying, especially for light and sensitive sleepers.
Below are some steps you can take starting today to reduce your rabbits’ activity levels at night.
Provide Your Rabbit with a Consistent Daily Routine
You shouldn’t be very surprised if your rabbit doesn’t have a consistent daily routine and is very active at night.
A daily routine from morning to the evening will help your rabbit get used to eating at a specific time, playing at a specific time, and resting at a specific time.
If you can manage to provide your rabbits with a consistent daily routine from morning till evening, eventually, they will form a habit of taking more time to rest at night, and therefore be less active at night.
One of the best things you can do to keep your rabbits quieter at night is to feed them at the same time every morning. Ideally, this should be at around 7 am.
That way, you rabbits will begin to expect feeding time every morning at won’t get so agitated if they get a bit puckish at night.
Understand What Your Rabbit’s Thumping Means
The loudest sound that rabbits are capable of making is called thumping.
Thumping is when a rabbit actively slams their hind foot against the ground repeatedly.
At times, thumping can be a signal that your rabbit wants attention. At other times, thumping can be signal that your rabbit is scared.
Rabbits who learn that they can thump for your attention might start doing so every night to get you to come and play with them.
However, this is no reason to give your rabbit any attention.
If you do, however, respond to your rabbits’ cries for attention, your rabbit will learn that it can get what it wants simply by thumping very loudly.
Therefore, as a rabbit owner, you need to understand the difference between thumping out of fear and thumping for attention.
You must not pay any heed to your rabbit’s little thumping tantrums, and if you manage to do this, they will eventually cease this annoying behavior.
Provide Your Rabbits with Plenty of Space
Rabbits are much more likely to get upset and start making some noise at night if they are being kept in a cage that is far too small for them.
This might cause them to start thumping for attention or even to start rattling the bars of their cage.
Since rabbits are pretty active creatures, they need space to hop around and play with one another while inside their enclosure.
The minimum size requirements for your rabbit enclosure should therefore be as follows.
Your rabbit’s enclosure should ideally be at least 3 to 4 times the length of the rabbit and 1 to 2 times the rabbit’s length in width.
In other words, a rabbit cage of 2 ft. by 4 ft. should be ideal.
Importantly, if you cannot find a rabbit cage of these dimensions, it is always better to go for a larger cage than a smaller one.
Provide Your Rabbit with Some Daily Exercise
One way to ensure that your rabbit is less energetic at night is to provide them with some time and space to get some exercise before bed.
So, start making regular exercise a part of your rabbit’s routine by letting them out of their enclosure in the evening before bedtime and encouraging them to run around and play with one another.
If you can manage to keep exercise as a consistent part of your rabbits’ routine, over time, they will associate that time of the day with their high energy levels and hopefully settle down at night.
Help Your Rabbit Feel Safe
Your rabbits may be unable to settle down at night because they feel vulnerable, exposed, or unsafe in some way.
You can tell whether this is the case if they start thumping at night and not for attention.
Moreover, rabbits that feel unsafe at night might try to chew the bars of their enclosure in an attempt to escape.
The first step to making your rabbits feel safe at night is to ensure that their area is free from loud noises and sudden movements.
Perhaps a shadow from the window outside is spooking them, and you need to invest in some blinds.
Moreover, you can help them feel safer in their enclosure by providing them with a small hiding house in the cage where they can hide when they get scared.
Putting a blanket over a portion of the cage can also work wonders as it makes part of the cage quite dark and acts as a hiding house.
Lastly, if you have any other pets, like cats or dogs, at home, make sure they are not in the same room as your rabbits at night, as that could be more than enough to make them feel very unsafe.
How Much Sleep Does Your Rabbit Need?
As per multiple pieces of research, your pet rabbit requires an average sleep of approximately eight hours.
The amount of their nap time immensely depends on how comfortable they are being.
When they are rested in extreme comfort, their nap time can last as long as twelve hours.
Sometimes during most days, you will notice that your pet rabbit takes small naps from time to time.
The level of comfort also decides whether their sleep ratio is light or deep.
You can also read a complete guide about how to make your rabbit sleep at night.
One unique trait of rabbits is that they can snap back immediately into their senses when they are awake.
When Does Your Rabbit Love to Sleep?
This living thing carries the trait of being extraordinarily cautious.
When out in the wild, rabbits, unleash their predator quality. Unlike other pets, your rabbit needs sufficient sleep too.
However, considering its nature, your rabbit’s sleeping habit is quite different from other animals.
For starters, rabbits are very private in their actions. They enjoy their space enough, and what they want even more is being lost in their world.
Once they attain the level of privacy that they were aiming for, they sleep patiently.
You will mostly catch your rabbit sleeping when the sun is at its peak and find them a hell of a lot active when the sun dims down.
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