Reminder about toy safety

[SnowyShiloh]

Okay. Usually I carefully consider everything that I put into my bunnies' cages because we all know how nosy they are. If your bunnies are like mine, that means they have a remarkable talent for getting their body parts stuck in things. Aside from the possible strangulation danger, a bunny could panic if he/she has a toy stuck on them and could seriously injure themselves if it happens when we aren't home to help them.

My rabbits, Phoebe Mae in particular, love toys. Phoebs especially loves to chew on willow baskets and balls and can demolish a good sized one in a couple hours, so I periodically place large orders for chewable toys and took for granted that toys ordered from bunny websites would be safe. Last night I thought nothing of giving her the small basket with the handle in this photo:

I came downstairs this morning to find the basket tightly around Phoebe Mae's waist. I had to pull it off her- she wouldn't have been able to remove it herself. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be disturbed by the fact that she was wearing a basket, but it must have been uncomfortable. I don't want to think what could have happened if she'd panicked alone in her cage. I can't believe I didn't notice that she could have gotten stuck in it- I've had cockatiels for 10 years and am so used to looking at toys to see if they're safe!

Another time, Rory got one of these stuck on his head:

He chewed a hole through the side, poked his head in to investigate, and couldn't get it off. Thankfully I saw it happen and was able to catch him as he raced blindly around the room, but it could have been worse if I wasn't there. Phoebe Mae also once got her head stuck in a paper cup (again, I was standing right there and pulled it off right away). All of them (except Ned who hasn't had the opportunity yet!) have stuck their heads through the handles of plastic grocery bags and worn them like capes:

(not to worry, both times I was right there watching them play)

I could also see a bunny getting tangled in a long curtain cord or something.

I e-mailed the company I bought the basket from, and they replied that they'd never heard of a bunny getting stuck in that basket. I don't know if I should be proud of Phoebe for being so smart, or embarrassed! Regardless, they're going to consider putting a note about that basket on their web site about not letting bunnies play with that basket when they're alone.

Does anyone else have any dangerous bunny toy stories or have ideas of other toys or other things they could get stuck or tangled in?

 

[pherber12]

I seriously doubt that Phoebe Mae would be the first ever bunny in the history of the world to get stuff in that basket. I can't believe the company isn't considering taking that item off the shelf. The next bunny might not be as lucky as Phoebe.

 

[tonyshuman]

Yikes! I hadn't thought of that. I'm glad you caught it.

Tony has done the plastic bag thing several times. The noise scares him so he runs away, but it's attached and he gets even more scared when the noise follows him. He moves too fast to catch, sometimes!

My guys don't really care for toys. :dunno

 

[kirsterz09]

Another one is toilet/kitchen rolls, when clover was a baby she got one caught round her tummy and we had to cut it off!
We gave her one after reading on some websites that there a good toy.

 

[hartleybun]

a cautionary tail indeed. i have to admit im not a fan of those willow balls - in girlguiding we risk assess everythingand im always worried a bun will poke an eye out. (just cant stop thinking like a guider..) my buns do have the inside tubes of kitchen towels to play with - i stuff them with hay. they also like to nudge one of the dogs' footballs around the garden. the pile of grass cuttings is also great entertainment.

i've had rats in the past and any chew toy that can cope with them i would buy for the buns - after removing the obligatory rope.

 

[irishbunny]

I'm sorry, even though it's serious that image of her with the basket around her waist just made me laugh so hard, glad she didn't get injured! Some companys really don't care if the products are safe or not, so long as they get their money!

 

[BethM]

Great advice. I had one of those small baskets, and saw Nick sort of get it stuck on his nose once. It was sitting upright on the floor, and he stuck his nose right down in it, and the handle went over the top of his head. He shook it off fairly quickly, but I was right there watching him so I could have helped him if I had to.

I believe Sooska has also warned that one of her bunnies got one of the large willow rings stuck around his middle.

I use the smaller rings, small willow balls, and willow baskets like the dark one in the center of your photo, and they love those. I believe those are too small for my bunnies to get stuck in, and they eat them almost immediately.

 

[kirbyultra]

I bought a little straw ball with 2 holes in it to stuff hay inside. The point is for the bunny to roll it around and tug at the strands of hay to get the yummies out. The whole ball was about the same size as Toby at the time, so I figured there was no harm in it.

My baby Toby, about 2.5 months at the time managed to eat all the hay the first couple of times, but later on that week my husband discovered him in the morning walking around with it on his head, full astronaut style. Toby couldn't get it off because once he stuck his whole head in the hole, his ears pretty much prevented the ball from sliding out. My hubby took it off of him and told me about it that morning but I thought it would be ok if I stuffed it really full of hay and watched him play with it.

Well, it didn't seem to matter. Within minutes Toby got his head stuck in it again. It was hilarious for the first few seconds, but I imagine it could have been very scary if the bun struggled and strained to get it off.

I've stopped giving him that hay ball.

 

[maherwoman]

Wow...I don't usually wind up buying baskets with handles, but not because I've ever considered them dangerous. More that it just hasn't happened. And now it never will! I'm so super cautious with my kids (both furry and human)...

And the willow ball getting stuck on his head? Wow...I think Rory has some talent there, lol!

Love the bag photos...our kitties have had that happen once or twice...but kitties get panicked that the bag is following them, and race around until you take it back off. Needless to say, grocery bags don't hang out on the floor for long around here...it's always sad when a kitty gets scared!

Teddy's getting VERY adventurous lately, so I'm sure I'll encounter new things that buns like getting into (since each bun finds something unique to them, lol). I open the door, and he practically shoves me outta the way to get a good look about the place! It's so cute!!

How are your sweeties doing?

 

[Aina]

Skye has got a oatmeal container stuck around her. Luckily she doesn't freak out and didn't even thump. She hoped around like it was completely normal and when I came over to take it off she was like "hey mom, what's up?" Now I make sure that they have one side still on if they get them. My rabbits are in my room and I spend a lot of time in here so I am generally not too worried, but when school starts it will be a different matter.

 

[maherwoman]

LOL, Aina...Skye's so cute.

 

[SOOOSKA]

Beth your right, one of the willow rings got stuck around Winston`s tummy. It scared the heck out of me, it was so tight. Needless to say I will never buy them again.

Poor Phoebe Mae, I hope you gave her a traet after all that.

Susan

 

[jewelwillow]

Grace used to "play box" with me. I'd push an empty tissue box to her,sliding it across the lino and she'd push it back to me. We'd go like this for 5 minutes or so at a time, then she's start to grunt as she pushed it when she'd had enough. Anyway, she'd lie along side the box on occasion too (it was her friend) - I tried stuffed toys and other toys, but the tissue box was always her favourite. I always got the box with the puppy pictures on it, and one day I gave her a box with a different design and she didn't like it.

Anyhoo, one morning i came out and here was Grace with hole in the tissue box stuck over her head. She was headbutting the wall, and hilarious!!!!!! I felt awful laughing at her, and took it off right away, but it still puts me into peals of laughter every time I think of it. Needless to say, from then on, every new tissue box she got had it's hole enlarged before I gave it to her.