by J-J Newman Rode

Almost all rabbits like to play, even those who are getting on in years and seem most content to just eat and sleep. Even rabbits who come from neglect situations eventually figure out what the toys are and how to play with them. All of us have seen the wild abandon with which our buns run, leap and twist in the air as well as any Olympic gymnast. It is so wonderful that at times it can bring tears to your eyes!

Toys provide more than fun for our rabbits. They are a necessity for a healthy rabbit, providing mental stimulation and physical exercise, and they can work wonders in bunny-proofing your house. A rabbit who is provided with plenty of chewing and digging alternatives is much less likely to chew baseboards and dig up carpet. A bored bun is very often a destructive bun.

So how do you choose a good toy for your rabbit? Watch your buns and use your imagination! By giving them toys that satisfy their individual personalities, you are providing mental and physical stimulation, protecting your house and giving your bunny a lot of good, plain fun.

Pushers, Folders, Bunchers:

A few towels or a fluffy blanket on the floor can entertain these buns for hours. Some of these buns also love to tear holes in the fabric, so do watch and make sure there aren’t dangling strings, etc. that the bunny could eat. Also, make certain that the rabbit is not eating the fabric.

Chewers:

Many rabbits that are abandoned at shelters are there because of chewing. There are all kinds of good toys for serious chewers. A great selection can be found at on-line retailers. Our buns all have cardboard ‘houses’ with multiple rooms and sometimes multiple floors—I’m the construction crew and the buns are the deconstruction crew! Best yet, these construction materials are both easy to obtain and easy to recycle.

Shredders:

Phone books are also popular at our house. They make such a nice sound when the pages rrrrrip!! Everyone at my office saves their old phone books for me, and that usually lasts us until the next year. Untreated wicker baskets, paper towel rolls and apple tree twigs are also a big hit. And, all the rabbits love it when I cut some small pieces of untreated pine 2×4 and boil them up with some beets. Let the wood pieces dry and voila!! Safe and delicious chew blocks.

Throwers:

It never fails to make me laugh when a bun starts throwing things around. Of course, I have to get in on the game then, and we can play ‘catch’ for quite some time. Good throwing toys include wire cat balls with (or without) bells inside and a whole variety of plastic baby toys-keys, small plastic cups, etc. One of our buns’ favorites are a couple of small cowbells. It seems as if the more noise the rabbits can make, the happier they are. Of course, sometimes I have to put the cowbells away for my peace of mind!

Diggers:

Digging is one of the most serious activities to channel away from your house and into some type of play toy. Provide the digger with a digging box. Take a cardboard box and fill it with shredded paper, hay, old catalogs or the like. Our most serious digger also uses her digging box as a litter box, so for her I use a large, plastic storage box with high sides and fill it 1/3 full with recycled paper litter. (I originally used a small children’s wading pool, which she loved, but I got too tired of lugging it in and out, to and from the compost pile!)

Carpet Diggers:

Replacing wall-to-wall carpet is not cheap. The easiest way to protect carpet is to place heavy ceramic tiles in the corners and to get plastic runner material that is used in hallways to prevent carpet wear. Cut it to size and cover the areas where your rabbit wants to dig. He or she can still dig, but it won’t do any harm. At our house, these areas are behind the couch and under the bed. But, if it’s a more obvious spot at your house, it is very easy to just pick up the plastic or ceramic tiles if you have company.

Litter Box Diggers:

While this does no harm, it can be very annoying! An easy way to prevent this is to get some wire mesh from the hardware store (we use 2”x4” mesh) and cut a grate that sits in the box on top of the litter. Other options involve purchasing dish drainers or needlepoint plastic canvas from local retailers. Anything that will allow urine and feces to fall through will work.

For more information, see “More than Just a Chew Stick” by Margo DeMello.

Some Good Bunny Toys

• Paper bags and cardboard boxes for crawling inside, scratching and chewing. Bunnies like them much more when there are at least two entry points into the box.
• Cardboard concrete forms for tunneling.
• Paper towel and toilet paper rolls (especially stuffed with hay!).
• Untreated wicker baskets or boxes full of shredded paper, junk mail, straw or other organic materials for digging.
• Old phone books for shredding.
• Wire balls and other cat toys that roll or can be tossed (but not eaten).
• Parrot toys that can be tossed or hung from the top of a cage and chewed or nudged.
• Hard plastic (not teething) baby toys like cups, rattles and keys that can be tossed.
• Children’s or birds’ mobiles for bumping and nudging.
• “Critter Castles” (2-story cardboard boxes with ramps and windows) to climb in and chew on. Also, kitty condos, tubes, tunnels and trees.
• Nudge and roll toys like large rubber balls, empty oatmeal boxes and small tins.
• Rings from canning jar lids are great for throwing and making noise.
• “Busy Bunny” brand toys.
• Plastic slinkies.
• Toys with ramps and lookouts for climbing and viewing the world.
• Dried pine cones.
• Cleaned and dried laundry bottle lids.
• Little kids’ jungle-gym type toys.
• Whisk brooms or heads from larger straw brooms (after they’ve been chewed too much to sweep with
  anymore!)
• Towels and small washable cotton rugs for bunching and scooting.
• Untreated wood, twigs and logs that have been aged for at least 3 months. Apple tree twigs can be eaten fresh. Avoid other fruit trees, many of which are poisonous.
• Untreated sea grass or maize mats from places like Pier One or Cost Plus World Market.
• Things to jump up on (many buns like to be in high places!).