What makes good toys for my rabbits?

katnanw · Jan 6, 2012

I've just gotten my rabbits this year (as a gift for doing well in my studies.) I'm 17 and I used to keep hamsters and cats so I figured a rabbit wouldnt be much of a difference. However the toys that the shop assistant recommended to me (corn chews and chew blocks) smell weird and my rabbits wouldn't touch them. I place an empty toilet roll in the cage and they seem to be more interested in that than the chew blocks. I read that rabbits need an assortment of toys but as I'm not working, I need to think and make some of my own, but I don't know what or how to make them. Also, can I reuse my cats' old playground (it's small and just nice for my rabbits) for them to exercise in? I've heard that rabbits get scared easily and even read that they can die if they smell a predator or something foreign for too long (it was on yahoo questions) . I'm really confused now and my rabbits look really bored sometimes

help ?

LakeCondo · Jan 6, 2012

Can you post a picture of the playground, or describe it>

My rabbit loves ripping apart the brown paper that sometimes is used as packing material. She stands on part of it, puts another part into her mouth & then pulls. It eventually becomes very small pieces. She also loves a big plastic box filled with things she can dig in. The bottom layer is flat stone to weight the box down & it helps wear down her nails as well. I added a cardboard box on top that she can hide in. I cut 2 holes into it & she has made them bigger. In fact, today I ordered 25 more boxes of the right size, which should last a long time. I didn't use any tape at all when I put the box together, but if you do, don't use plastic tape, use paper tape with glue.

What part of corn are the corn chews made of? The stalks are ok for rabbits, but not corn kernels or corn cob.

Nancy McClelland · Jan 7, 2012

Ours also love the rolls. Cardboard is very high on their list too--just love to chew boxes and let's not forget brown paper bags. We put litter boxes inside cardboard boxes and fill litter boxes with hand shredded newspaper too.

katnanw · Jan 7, 2012

LakeCondo wrote:

Can you post a picture of the playground, or describe it>

My rabbit loves ripping apart the brown paper that sometimes is used as packing material. She stands on part of it, puts another part into her mouth & then pulls. It eventually becomes very small pieces. She also loves a big plastic box filled with things she can dig in. The bottom layer is flat stone to weight the box down & it helps wear down her nails as well. I added a cardboard box on top that she can hide in. I cut 2 holes into it & she has made them bigger. In fact, today I ordered 25 more boxes of the right size, which should last a long time. I didn't use any tape at all when I put the box together, but if you do, don't use plastic tape, use paper tape with glue.

What part of corn are the corn chews made of? The stalks are ok for rabbits, but not corn kernels or corn cob.

Hi there

thanks for all those info, I did just the same and both of them LOVE IT. I got a wooden barricade twisted into a bridge from the local pet store and they love it too

I cant post a photo as I'm on my iPod but it's about the size of a medium storage box from IKEA and it has two floors with a ball of rope on the second floor and covered in carpet like material :O

katnanw · Jan 7, 2012

Nancy McClelland wrote:

Ours also love the rolls. Cardboard is very high on their list too--just love to chew boxes and let's not forget brown paper bags. We put litter boxes inside cardboard boxes and fill litter boxes with hand shredded newspaper too.

I don't have newspapers, is plain paper alright? :O