Before anyone worries he free roams plenty during the day and he’s in a cage at night because I live in a rental and he can’t be trusted not to gnaw on the baseboards. I would also like to make it clear I am not trying to punish or train him out of a fear response. These thumps are different than the ones when he’s afraid. If anyone’s worried I can go more in depth about his body language but to sum it up I’ve seen him thump and then flop. He’s also eating pretty often when he thumps. He reminds me a lot of a dog that barks whenever anyone walks by the house. This evenings several hour thump-athon is because someone is sleeping in the living room. This someone has been here for hours, moved all around the house, come in and pet him, and he has no problem with it. However for the last nearly three hours he has been thumping anywhere from every couple minutes to every 20 minutes. I have tried gently talking to him and petting him for nearly 40 minutes. I have tried positive distraction: he always has plenty of hay and cardboard to chew on but I put extra of both in his cage in hopes that new stuff would distract him. I’ve tried negative distraction: a little spritz with a water bottle. It doesn’t scare him or hurt him in anyway but he will stop to groom himself and often forget what he was thumping about. I feel so helpless and frustrated because I’m very sensitive to sound and can’t sleep like this even with earplugs in and white noise playing. I’ve been trying (unsuccessfully) to find ways to dampen sound in his cage and am getting a yoga mat to put at the bottom of his cage even though I’m pretty sure he’ll just pee on it and chew it up. If anyone has any good advice or has health with something similar I would love to hear.
by Mint_Tea_7