my rabbits feet: thumping

Question
nowadays my rabbit is doing  many new things.once when we took it up in the night we were amazed listening the voice of its backfeet. it did a loud tapping noise with its feet.after some days it did a same noise again.is it trying to say anything?is it afraid of anything?again on the same day when we were switching of the lights it ran very fast to the other room.i did not see it running so fast before.its not scared any body in the house. what is its problem?

Answer
Dear Jahnavi,

Rabbits thump with their hind feet to signal many different things, and the message being sent by the thump depends on context, the rabbits posture, and how the thump is "delivered."  

Rabbits will sit very straight and tall, ears upright and eyes very wide, and thump regularly and strongly if they suspect there is a threatening danger nearby, but they are not yet ready to flee.  One final strong THUMP! is often delivered as the rabbit finally decides to run away!

Sometimes a rabbit will thump for attention.  She might stand at the foot of your bed or chair, stare up at you, and if you fail to get the message, she will THUMP! loudly and then maybe jump into your lap or start digging in frustration.

There are warning thumps, alarm thumps, excitement thumps...many different kinds.  You can learn what your rabbit is saying by when she does it and the context in which that thumping occurs.

Rabbits will run very fast when startled, or if they feel there is danger.  Changing the lights might have made her scared, and she scuttled away to hide.  It's normal behavior for a species that has evolved to quickly escape predators:  don't think, RUN!  Or you'll end up as dinner.

You can learn more about your rabbit's body language here:

http://www.rabbit.org/behavior/body-language.html

and get all the best information about health and care here:

www.rabbit.org/

Hope this helps!

Dana