Dealing with a Noisy Rabbit at Night
Imagine, you have a midterm at 8AM and you stood up studying until 2AM. Once you feel you have crammed enough information into your brain, you lie down in your bed. All is calm and all is well.
Then your rabbit begins to drink water. Quietly at first. Then suddenly they start pulling on the bottle making the noise even louder. After 5 minutes of loud slurping and wrestling with their bottle, your rabbit finally calms down. You begin drifting off to sleep. You're at the state where you're half awake and half asleep when suddenly, your rabbit begins digging at the bottom of their cage.
You sit up in bed and call out to them.
They stop.
You begin drifting back to sleep but, they go back to digging.
Louder and faster this time.
Now it's 4AM and you and your roommate are furious. How do you deal with a noisy rabbit at night?
Many new rabbit owners will experience this sort of behavior in the early morning or just before sundown. Often times, this active behavior extends to the late hours of night time leading people to believe rabbits are nocturnal animals. In fact, rabbits are not nocturnal, they sleep at night and during the day. So what kind of animal are they?
Rabbits are crepuscular. A crepuscular animal is most active during dusk and dawn. Therefore, your rabbit will spend most of the day and night sleeping. You might be wondering why your rabbit is so active at night? There are a two reasons for this behavior.
1. Your Rabbit is Not Getting Enough Exercise.
Rabbits need at least 4 hours of exercise. I don't mean exercise as lifting weights and jump rope, I mean they need 4 hours of free roaming. You don't need 4 straight hours of free time in the day unless, you do. I don't expect you to and you shouldn't expect yourself to as well.
One major tip to providing your rabbit with enough exercise is breaking up the 4 hours according to your schedule. Typically, I let Wilmington roam while I shower in the morning. After I get dressed, I put her back in her cage and let Ollie roam while I do my hair and make breakfast. I live at home and my parents are fine allowing the rabbits total range of the home.
Wilmington and Ollie are not free-range rabbits. That means I do not let them have total range of the home when I or my parents aren't home. I keep them in their respective cage while I'm not home. My schedule changes for every semester and as a result, so does their free roaming schedule.
If you live in a dorm, you will have to communicate with your roommate. Let them know that you're letting your rabbit out to roam. If you or your roommate do not feel comfortable giving your rabbit total range of the dorm, consider getting a puppy play pen or NIC grids. You can use a puppy play pen as a designated "bunny play area" - a place designated for your rabbit to hop around in. You can zip-tie NIC grids together to build the perfect size play pen for your rabbit or barriers. NIC grids are more versatile than puppy play pens. There are many ways to utilize these items according to your room and lifestyle.
2. Your Rabbit is Sleeping More Than Usual
Then your rabbit begins to drink water. Quietly at first. Then suddenly they start pulling on the bottle making the noise even louder. After 5 minutes of loud slurping and wrestling with their bottle, your rabbit finally calms down. You begin drifting off to sleep. You're at the state where you're half awake and half asleep when suddenly, your rabbit begins digging at the bottom of their cage.
You sit up in bed and call out to them.
They stop.
You begin drifting back to sleep but, they go back to digging.
Louder and faster this time.
Now it's 4AM and you and your roommate are furious. How do you deal with a noisy rabbit at night?
Many new rabbit owners will experience this sort of behavior in the early morning or just before sundown. Often times, this active behavior extends to the late hours of night time leading people to believe rabbits are nocturnal animals. In fact, rabbits are not nocturnal, they sleep at night and during the day. So what kind of animal are they?
Rabbits are crepuscular. A crepuscular animal is most active during dusk and dawn. Therefore, your rabbit will spend most of the day and night sleeping. You might be wondering why your rabbit is so active at night? There are a two reasons for this behavior.
1. Your Rabbit is Not Getting Enough Exercise.
Rabbits need at least 4 hours of exercise. I don't mean exercise as lifting weights and jump rope, I mean they need 4 hours of free roaming. You don't need 4 straight hours of free time in the day unless, you do. I don't expect you to and you shouldn't expect yourself to as well.
One major tip to providing your rabbit with enough exercise is breaking up the 4 hours according to your schedule. Typically, I let Wilmington roam while I shower in the morning. After I get dressed, I put her back in her cage and let Ollie roam while I do my hair and make breakfast. I live at home and my parents are fine allowing the rabbits total range of the home.
Wilmington and Ollie are not free-range rabbits. That means I do not let them have total range of the home when I or my parents aren't home. I keep them in their respective cage while I'm not home. My schedule changes for every semester and as a result, so does their free roaming schedule.
If you live in a dorm, you will have to communicate with your roommate. Let them know that you're letting your rabbit out to roam. If you or your roommate do not feel comfortable giving your rabbit total range of the dorm, consider getting a puppy play pen or NIC grids. You can use a puppy play pen as a designated "bunny play area" - a place designated for your rabbit to hop around in. You can zip-tie NIC grids together to build the perfect size play pen for your rabbit or barriers. NIC grids are more versatile than puppy play pens. There are many ways to utilize these items according to your room and lifestyle.
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| You can find this 14" X 14" NIC grid on Amazon here. They do have different colors |
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| You can find this play pen on Amazon here. |
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| This play pen is a lot cheaper. You can buy it here and check out the awesome tip someone left in the reviews. |
2. Your Rabbit is Sleeping More Than Usual
This issue connects with the first issue. If your rabbit does not get enough exercise, they will take out their energy during terrible hours and through negative behaviors. There are a few ways to keep your rabbit from napping all day.
One tip to keep your rabbit awake during the day is providing toys. Rabbits are smart animals and they do get bored. Try providing your rabbit with an array of toys to keep their minds and bodies occupied. You can make your own toys or buy them.
Another tip to keep your rabbit awake during the day is keeping your curtains/shades open when you're out. I do this for Wilmington and Ollie. I don't have any scientific proof to prove this helps but, light lets them keep track of time. In addition, Natural lighting brighten ups your room and gives your rabbit some sun. Whenever I leave the curtains/shades open, Wilmington and Ollie gravitate towards the light.
Extra Tips
Besides giving your rabbit more exercise and keeping them awake during the day, here are some extra tips to make sure your rabbit doesn't disturb you the night before a knowingly stressful day.
Try to take noisy toys out of their reach. Toys that jingle or make any sound, you want to remove from their living space. Wilmington loves to rearrange her cage at night. Often times she will throw her food bowl or any toy she doesn't like around her cage.
If your rabbit loves to chew, meaning they'll chew on toys or at the cage, give them timothy hay. Do try to avoid giving them timothy hay the moment they make noise. Rabbits are smart and they will learn what to do when they want some hay. Nightshade loves to bother my boyfriend by chewing at the cage at night. She makes less noise when she is given food or timothy hay before hand. Plus, your rabbit chewing timothy hay is a lot quieter than chewing on cardboard.
Place a blanket or a towel over your rabbit's cage. Rabbits respond to routines. They seem to love them. Placing a towel or a blanket over their cage before going to bed will signify bed time. This may work for your rabbit but, not all rabbits will get the hint.
Right before you are about to fall asleep, remove their water bottle. This sounds morbid and cruel but, if your rabbit is like Wilmington and Ollie, they will drink water at inconvenient times. Ollie loves to drink water between 11pm and 1am. Often times I will wake up simply because Ollie is drinking water or Wilmington is pulling on her water bottle. If I forget to remove their bottle and they wake me up, I let them drink water until they pause then remove the bottle. I wish I had a better tip for this issue but, so far it's the only thing that works.
Extra Tips
Besides giving your rabbit more exercise and keeping them awake during the day, here are some extra tips to make sure your rabbit doesn't disturb you the night before a knowingly stressful day.
Try to take noisy toys out of their reach. Toys that jingle or make any sound, you want to remove from their living space. Wilmington loves to rearrange her cage at night. Often times she will throw her food bowl or any toy she doesn't like around her cage.
If your rabbit loves to chew, meaning they'll chew on toys or at the cage, give them timothy hay. Do try to avoid giving them timothy hay the moment they make noise. Rabbits are smart and they will learn what to do when they want some hay. Nightshade loves to bother my boyfriend by chewing at the cage at night. She makes less noise when she is given food or timothy hay before hand. Plus, your rabbit chewing timothy hay is a lot quieter than chewing on cardboard.
Place a blanket or a towel over your rabbit's cage. Rabbits respond to routines. They seem to love them. Placing a towel or a blanket over their cage before going to bed will signify bed time. This may work for your rabbit but, not all rabbits will get the hint.
Right before you are about to fall asleep, remove their water bottle. This sounds morbid and cruel but, if your rabbit is like Wilmington and Ollie, they will drink water at inconvenient times. Ollie loves to drink water between 11pm and 1am. Often times I will wake up simply because Ollie is drinking water or Wilmington is pulling on her water bottle. If I forget to remove their bottle and they wake me up, I let them drink water until they pause then remove the bottle. I wish I had a better tip for this issue but, so far it's the only thing that works.
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