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After a joyful day with your bunny rabbit, nighttime comes and you really want to sleep to get yourself charged up for the next day; now your bunny becomes a party animal and your sweet bunny makes noise all night.
Why doesn’t your bunny want to fix his sleep patterns and instead chooses to remain awake throughout the night? Are there any ways to make your rabbit sleep at night?
To make your rabbit sleep at night, make sure that his home is safe, quiet, and dark. Providing your rabbit with a comfortable bed filled with plenty of hay will help your rabbit calm down and sleep more soundly. Ending each evening with some fun playtime will also encourage them to sleep well at night.
Even though rabbits aren’t noisy, they can still keep you awake at night with their thumping and hopping in your bedroom while playing.
Luckily, rabbits are quiet animals by nature, unlike dogs who continuously bark or walk around meowing like cats. This means you’re in an excellent position to get your bunny’s sleep schedule adjusted.
In this article, I will explain why some pet rabbits don’t sleep at night and how you can make your rabbit sleep peacefully at night.
Why Is Your Pet Rabbit Not Sleeping at Night?
First, if your bunny rabbit staying awake and making noise at night it is not because he’s nocturnal { Click here to learn what your bunny is if not nocturnal. >>> } Rabbits normally sleep during the night, and if yours isn’t there is a reason.
Let’s dig into why your bunny rabbit might not be sleeping at night.
1. Not Feeling Safe
Your bunny needs a small secure bed to sell soundly. A place where she feels well protected from preditors.
2. Not Comfortable
While a quick nap on the floor is fine, and good night’s sleep requires a comfy bed.
We prefer a bed of hay for our bunnies. They each have a bed box of some kind and that bed is stuffed with timothy hay.
3. Too Much Light
Rabbits are crepuscular which means that they are most active at dusk and dawn. In addition, their eyes are sensitive to blue and green light.
If their your bunny’s sleep area has night lights, a tv, leds, or other light sources, not only does it feel like dusk all night, but the blue and green light is going to hype your bunny up.
Make it dark!
4. Too Much Noise
No one feels safe at odd sounds in the night.
5. Not Sleepy
Our family has always said, “A tired kid is a good kid”. The same is true of bunnies. If your rabbit sleeps all day, it probably isn’t going to sleep well at night.
6. Illness
If your bunny normally sleeps through the night, but has recently started staying up at night it might be because they’re not feeling good.
Your rabbit won’t sleep at night when they are ill or not feeling well.
Digestive problems like bowel disturbance, bloated abdomen, abdominal pain, and intestinal obstructions can make your rabbit feel uncomfortable and irritated, and it won’t let them sleep at night peacefully.
11 Tips To Get Your Rabbit Sleep at Night
Although rabbits are crepuscular (which means a creature that is most active at dusk and dawn), you can control their sleep schedule to a great extent by following the steps below.
1. Avoid Lights In The Rabbit’s Room
How would your little bunny be able to sleep with lights on? Just like a human or most pets, rabbits need a dark environment to release the sleep hormone.
As rabbits’ eyes are susceptible to light, you should turn off all the lamps, bulbs, or LEDs a few minutes before bedtime to make your bun ready for sleep.
And keep the lights out!
Suppose you turn on the lights while your rabbit is sleeping; they will likely wake up immediately and in a bad mood. you wouldn’t like to deal with.
Also, make sure the windows are curtained unless you are an ‘up at the crack of dawn’ kind of person. Rember that rabbits are crepuscular in nature and the crack of dawn is a perfect time for them to want to go exploring.
2. Keep Your Rabbit’s Bed Nice & Quiet
Like rabbits’ eyes, their ears are also sensitive and alert them even if a pin drops on the floor. They can hear noise from a great distance which causes them to lose sleep.
Rabbit’s hearing range is from 360 Hz to 42,000 Hz, which is almost double that of humans. It’s difficult for them to cancel noise which makes them irritated late at night.
If your bunny sleeps with you in the bedroom, you will have to be extra careful not to wake up your rabbit because of noise.
3. Give Your Rabbit Sufficient Space to Sleep
Do you keep your rabbit in a small cage? He will probably make more noise due to less space and comfort. Being in a cage is hard for a rabbit as he wants to dig in the bottom continuously — This often makes them frustrated and awake at midnight.
For a rabbit to live in a cage, make sure it has at least 8 square feet of enclosure space and 24 square feet of running space for proper exercising and playing with toys. If your house doesn’t have enough room for this size of cage, choose a cage that is at least four times the size of a rabbit.
{ Click here to see our recommended rabbit gear, including cages and hutches. >>> }
Since rabbits are highly active, if they don’t fulfill their energy potential, they will keep irritated at night — Don’t make them bored ever as a bunny parent.
4. Provide Some Quiet Toys For Your Rabbit
Considering your rabbit’s messed-up sleeping habit, you should give him some toys to kill their boredom at night so they don’t disturb you while sleeping. But the toys shouldn’t be loud enough to bother you.
Killing their boredom is one of the best solutions for controlling their unnecessary thumping at midnight.
If your rabbit’s cage has rattle toys hanging, remove them in the nighttime so everyone can sleep better.
~Stacey
5. Make Your Rabbit Feel Safe
Do you have any other pets in the house? If yes, then the chances are your rabbit will feel unsafe in their presence at midnight.
They will thump at midnight if they feel scared of other animals or the environment. Sometimes, it’s inevitable to keep rabbits in a room with other pets. In this case, enclose the cage with a blanket to cover the view sight of your rabbits.
Another reason your rabbits might be feeling scared is loud noises or loud music. Remember that rabbits are sensitive creatures; they won’t sleep if they are mentally stressed.
6. Exhaust Your Rabbit With Some Activity Before Bedtime
It’s a unique trick to keep your rabbit asleep at night. As a pet owner, you would like to play with your rabbits in the daytime. When rabbits feel tired, they will more likely sleep because of exhaustion.
The best time to play with your rabbits is in the evening so that they are prepared for going to bed at the same time as you do.
7. Give Your Rabbit a Comfortable Bed
The rabbit’s bed should be as soft as the rabbit itself. Paper bags or simple cushions never serve as the best beds for rabbits — They will remain uncomfortable throughout the night.
So what’s the solution then?
Get your bunny a comfortable bed that fits your budget and then stuff that bed full of timothy hay. That’s the perfect bunny bed.
8. Let Your Rabbit Eat Enough Hay
Hay is a regular part of rabbits’ diet — When they are getting bored at night, it’s best to serve them fresh, soft, and fine hay to pass the time and prevent boredom.
Above all, hay is actually good for a rabbit’s digestive system and can eliminate many gastrointestinal problems which cause a lack of sleep at midnight.
Not only do we provide our bunnies with timothy hay in a hay feeder, but we also use it as bedding so they are both comfortable and have a midnight snack easily available.
~Stacey
9. Fulfill Your Rabbit’s Social Craving
Rabbits are one of the most friendly pets ever — I love playing with them in my free time to provide them with mental stimulation and exercise.
Make sure all their social desires are fulfilled before going to bed. Otherwise, they might be calling you with thumping at midnight to get attention.
10. Ignore Your Rabbit’s Thumping for Good
As I said above, rabbits thump to get attention — Sometimes, it’s okay to calm them down when they feel scared and unsafe in the middle of a night.
But if your bunny keeps thumping and making loud noises, it’s time to ignore them for their own good. Or else, they won’t sleep till morning.
11. Keep Your Rabbit Awake in Daytime
Sounds like oppression to your cute bunny, right? But it’s not, trust me!
As a rabbit pet owner, I can tell that bunnies are more comfortable sleeping at night than in the daytime. You’re actually favoring them for good sleep if you keep them active in the daylight.
Their nature also supports daytime activity which is a clear indication of why you should make your rabbit sleep at night.
That’s it for this article — How do you get your rabbit to sleep at night?
We hope this helps you and your bunny get a better nights sleep.
If you have other suggestions to help other rabbit lovers keep their bunnies quiet at night, email us or leave a note in the comments below.
~Stacey