As a general rule Mostly active during sunset and sunrise hours. Every rabbit has a unique personality. That’s why, while some of them are super quiet at night, the rest can be hyperactive all through the night, thus causing loud noises and unease in the environment. Switch them to new toys that are Structurally Quiet. Also, you can use background white noise to muffle 1) Hepa Air Filter with Fan in Bedroom 2)Fan in Bedroom 3) Ocean Sound machines 4) He might prefer forest sounds 5) TV playing quietly
Common Sense Ways to keep your Rabbits Quiet at night
Ways to Keep Your Rabbit Quiet at Night. Every rabbit has a unique personality. That’s why, while some of them are super quiet at night, the rest can be hyperactive all through the night, thus causing loud noises and unease in the environment. So, if you happen to own a rabbit who does this all night, then, here are eight ways on how you can keep them quiet throughout the night.
Check Out Amazon for Resources about Breeding Rabbits
Do Rabbits Sleep at Night
Keep your Rabbits Quiet at Night – Yes Rabbits, Do sleep at night. They are Mostly active during sunset and sunrise hours. Probably due to survival instincts. But Rabbits do on average normally sleep 6 hours a night. So There are several ways that you can encourage your Rabbit to be quiet at night and we will explore those.
Can Rabbits See at Night
Rabbit can see better at night than we can. For a very detailed study of rabbits Vision at night check, This article Rabbits have their eyes located on the side of their heads, this allows the to see 360 Degrees. That helps when trying to avoid predators like Rabbit on the menu.
You can also Read our Guide –18 Ways to Make Money by Rabbit Farming—Extensive Guidelines for Rabbit Farmers
They do not have the color development as we do, so they do not recognize some colors. They cannot see Red. They have a higher ratio of Rods compared to the amount of Cones. This makes their vision very good at dawn and dusk, and also at night.
Baby Rabbits have their eyes open at 10 days old and begin seeing objects.
Why is My Rabbit Loud / Noisey at Night
Rabbits are crepuscular which means they are most active at dawn and dusk. Their Busiest times naturally are several ours before and after sunrise and sunset. Rabbits are industrious creatures. They naturally like to eat, chew, burrow and dig. Rabbits in the wild enjoy all these activities.
This is a problem if your Bunnies are living inside the house with you, especially in your bedroom. You are wanting to sleep and they are just busy.
Day Toys / Night Toys
Many Rabbit owners, use this to their advantage. They keep two sets of toys for their bunnies. One set that Rabbits can play with that is noisy during the day, then switch them to new toys that are structurally quiet. That way reducing the noise as they play with Them
Reduce Scary Unaccustom Noises
There can be many reasons your rabbit is noisy. Just plain busy, but then there are other things that can scare him and cause him to thump
- Hearing – Scarey Sound – Danger
- Smell – Wiff of a Predator – Danger
- Sight – Sight of something unfamiliar
- Bark – of a dog
- Sight – Cat or Owl on the Ledge – All items that can shorten a bunnies life
- That is how they stay alive in the wild
Make Sure The Rabbit is not Training You.
Sometimes if a Rabbit is all alone. It may naturally crave attention. If You have two rabbits, he or she can have companions, someone to bond with.
If your rabbit is all by itself – You are Maybe his buddy
If every time he rings a bell, gets two noisy, you jump out of bed and go cuddle with, him he will begin to associate being noisy with you come running. Same as if you gave him a treat. positive reinforcement for him and sleepless nights for you.
White Noise Background
A Good Solution is making some type of white noise in the background. Something a little louder than your bunny some rabbit owners have used
- Hepa Air Filter with Fan in Bedroom
- Fan in Bedroom
- Ocean Sound machines / He might prefer forest sounds – Smile
- TV playing quietly / also can make him think he is not alone / Might want to avoid action movies.
- Radio Playing
Sleeping Earplugs / Headphones
You can also just accept your bunny will not match your sleeping patterns. You can add to your sleeping edification theses items
- Earplugs
- Headphones
- Cell Phone / Youtube Ear Plugs
- Cotton
How to get your Bunny to Sleep With You
For your Bunny to sleep with you, it has to be his idea. They crave companionship, safety, soft environments. Make a spot he can make a small den/pile of blankets. Take him to bed with you but make his ability to come and go. Make your bed easily accessible to him.
Rabbits can jump height of 4 feet. But make it not a challenge for him. Hee can easily jump down, but then also make it easy for him to return
Be careful, Rabbits love to dig, they love to burrow, they love to chew. They are very delicate creatures. You could easily crush him if not careful.
If you buy him as a tiny Bunny. Training will be easier. Also, Neutering and Spaying will generally calm a rabbit down.
Make sure you choose a vet that has a lot of experience with Rabbits.
Caution if you give your Rabbit time outdoors, make sure he does not bring any guest back to stay with you also Fleas / Ticks, etc
Blanket Coverage
The first tip which I’d recommend is covering your rabbit’s cage with a blanket. Now, a lot of times when rabbits are locked up during the night, but left to see what’s going on outside like the lights shining and all, it forces them to become anxious and hyperactive.
We have had great success with this with other animals. Dogs and birds.
They’ll want to touch and feel those elements, thus, will result in them clinging and hitting the cage all through the night.
Nevertheless, you can prevent this by covering their cage with something like a blanket, so that they’ll see nothing but darkness. Once you do this, they’ll be left with no other option than to sit still at one place or go to sleep until the next morning, when you’ll take off the blanket.
The logic behind this method is to take any form of distractions during the night like lights, off their sight: fewer distractions, more sleeping time for the rabbits. Note, you don’t necessarily have to cover the entire cage, but the at least cover the front part where the light could be shining in from.
Hay
Another thing you can do to keep the rabbits busy all through the night is to make sure there is an abundance of hay in the cage. When they have these forages in the cage, they can either eat it or play with it throughout the night. After they are done fiddling with the hay, they’ll eventually get to sleep. The hay, in this case, is going to serve as a distraction and also a meal to them. They can either play with it or chew it because they love chewing things. It’s all going to be their choice.
Feeding Pattern
Now, this is one of the most potent ways to put a rabbit to sleep quietly. Just like humans fall asleep immediately after a heavy meal at night, so do rabbits too. Thus, if your rabbits often make a whole lot of noise during the night period, then you might want to make some tweaks in their food pattern.
By that, I mean, always feed them in the morning, and very late at night. Depending on when you’re about to sleep, you can feed them 30 minutes to that time. And the food has to be a heavy one so that immediately they’re done eating the heavy meal in large proportion, the next thing that is going to come beckoning in their minds will be to sleep. Nothing knocks a rabbit out faster than a heavy meal late at night, like between 10-11 pm.
Do Rabbits Need Light at Night
One of the mistakes you should never make is in placing lights inside your rabbit’s cage. If you do this, and the light happens to be on all through the night, then you can bet they’re going to be active and noisy in the cage all night long. Just like humans, it’s often hard for rabbits to sleep when light rays are entering directly into their eyes. So, if you must have some lighting in the cage, make sure the lights are off when it’s night time.
Indoor Free-Ranging
The next step would be free-ranging your rabbit. Now, I know not everybody can do this, but if you can, it’d be great because when they’re free-range, the rabbits won’t have a need to be chewing on the bars to get out or jumping around and all that sort of stuff, making a loud of noise during the night. And by free-range, I mean, not locking the cage so that they can have the free will on whether to stay in the cage or go outside of the cage. This will help them feel more a lot more content, and they’ll be able to go wherever they want, without having to raise the alarm.
Large Enough Cage Space
Rabbits are unique animals in that, not only do they love clean spaces and privacy, they would appreciate it if you also made the cage comfortable for them. One of the implications of not putting them in a comfortable space is that it can cause them to become uneasy, and as a result, disturb you all through the night. You can make life comfortable for them by always checking if there are enough hays, everywhere is tidy at all times, removing all lightings in the space, and so on.
Playtime / Exercise / Exercise / Excercise
Another logical way to ensure that your rabbits stay quiet, sleeping all through the night is by exhausting them during the day time. You can do this by giving them additional playtime, which, as a result, will stress them out and force them to sleep during the night. On the contrary, if you engage them less during the day time, then you might as well be ready for a tarry-night, as a result of the noise they’ll be making.
9 Ways to Exercise Your Rabbit
Playing daily with your Rabbit daily will give him companionship and exercise. Exercise is very important. For your Rabbit to stay healthy doing things to keep it from being obese is very wise of you.
- Play with Your Rabbit
- Get Him Companion Rabbit
- Rabbit Toys
- Ramps/stairs into hutches
- Cardboard boxes for him to chew on – cut holes that he can jump through and nest
- Wood Chew toys
- Untreated Wood
- Cat Balls
- Plastic Child Toys
Noisy Items they can Play With
Noisy elements like toys are of one the reasons why your rabbits could cause a whole lot of sounds during the night. As such, always endeavor to take these elements away from the cage, especially at night, to avoid sounds when the rabbits collide or play with it.
Listen to the noise they are making during the night and be creative and substitute quieter Items for them to play with.
Rabbit Associations
Rabbit Breeder Associations
Rabbit Association | Location | Link |
---|---|---|
American Breeders Association | United States | ARBA |
House Rabbit Society | California | HRS |
Ohio States Rabbit Breeders Association | Ohio | OSRBA |
Livestock Conservancy | North Carolina | LC |
Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund | United Kingdom | RWA |
British Rabbit Council | United Kingdom | BRC |
European Association of Rabbits.... | Europe | EAP |
Australian National Rabbit Council | Australia | ANRC |
Australian Rabbit House Society | Australia | ARHS |
ARBA - Rabbit Shows | United States | ARBA - Shows |
Final Thoughts
In a nutshell, rabbits are to a certain degree like humans in the sense that, when they have difficulties sleep, they’re bound to get bored and, thus, find a way to relieve themselves of the boredom by staying active all night long. So, if you happen to own such a rabbit, you can apply any of the above techniques, as that will help you in keeping them quiet all through the night. Cheers!