When you adopt a rabbit, giving it a hutch isn’t always enough, especially if you and your family are out of the home the entire day.
To keep it busy when you’re away, you can give different types of toys to your rabbit. It will have a healthy outlet for its energy, and you’ll be a happy pet parent!
Let’s look at more reasons in detail and the types of toys that will be best for your bunny buddy.
Reasons Why You Should Engage Your Bunny With Toys
Rabbits need a lot of mental stimulation and outlets to release excess energy. One of the best ways to do that is by giving them toys that will help them stay active mentally and physically.
What Happens if You Don’t Give Toys to Your Rabbit?
You may ask, “why does my rabbit need to let off its energy with a toy?” Here are the reasons why:
- If your rabbit is alone in the house most of the time, it’ll get bored quickly. This can lead to depression and destructive behavior.
- Your rabbit needs to exercise daily and let off excess energy. Otherwise, it may gain weight and may start behaving offensively with you.
- If rabbits don’t get constant mental stimulation with puzzles and similar activities, it’ll enforce negative behavior in them.
Here’s How a Toy Will Benefit You and Your Bunny
A toy isn’t just for them when they’re alone at home. Both you and your bunny pet will benefit from having at least one rabbit toy at home. Here’s how you both will benefit:
- Rabbits are playful by nature. Giving your rabbit toys will help you bond with it.
- Playing with your rabbit daily will help to establish trust and friendliness.
- You can help your rabbit strengthen its mind while teaching it something new with a training toy.
- While you’re away, toys can help your rabbit strengthen its muscles and teeth.
- Rabbits have a habit of chewing and digging. Toys can help keep them away from chewing and digging on your furniture.
The Top Types of Toys That Rabbits Love
Rabbits love toys that’ll keep them engaged and active. They are playful and social, so the ones that will keep them busy and will make them feel excited are the best toys that you can give to your pet.
To keep them physically active, you can give them toys that’ll keep them climbing, hopping, and wrestling. They can strengthen their muscles while also releasing their energy in a meaningful way. They can even use toys such as tubes as a safe space to hide when they want to be alone.
You can keep your bunnies mentally active by giving them puzzle-solving toys. Some of these involve different pieces on a table that they can move, and some have hidden treats in the puzzle board that your rabbits can chew on when they solve the board.
You can give chewable toys to your rabbits. Since rabbits have the habit of chewing on and digging in things when they’re bored or feel stressed, these toys can be a perfect diversion.
A List of the Best Rabbit Toys
Buying toys for pets, especially rabbits, can be pretty confusing. You may not understand which toys your rabbit will find amusing and which it will ignore. You’ll need to buy new toys frequently, which will give you more opportunities to experiment.
To make things easier for you, here is a list of sixteen toys you can use to keep your rabbit healthy mentally and physically. You can train your rabbits with these, teach them something, or simply keep them busy and amused.
1. A Set of Balls for Bunnies
You can buy a fun set of balls for your rabbits. These are loosely bound balls made from willow bark, seagrass, and other digestible fibers that bunnies love nudging and rolling around. You can also train them with these balls to fetch, improving their coordination.
They find it fun to hop and fetch the balls. These balls have gaps, and rabbits love to chew on them. To make chewing on these toys healthy for rabbits, you can stuff these gaps with grass, hay, or finely chopped carrots.
2. Hay and Seagrass Cubes
These cubes look like pellets for rabbits to chew on. You can use them as treats or as an exercise toy for your rabbit’s dental health. These cubes made with a fine blend of different types of hay and seaweeds are perfect for playing with and also for your pet’s gut health.
Tip: make holes in these cubes, poke through a digestible rope, and hang them from the bars of the rabbit cage. Your rabbit will be encouraged to jump and chew on these cubes. Hopping is a fun activity for rabbits, after all!
3. A Chew-on Bowl
If you want to feed your rabbit and help it wear down its teeth simultaneously, a chew-on bowl is perfect. These bowls are made with hay, grains, and certain vegetables that make them sturdy enough to strengthen your rabbit’s gums and promote good digestion at the same time.
You can simply put your rabbit’s regular food or some treats in the bowl. Your rabbit will feed from it and can chew on the bowl at the same time!
4. Hanging Chew Toy
A hanging chew toy is made with materials safe for rabbit guts. This toy consists of a woven mat, ropes, tassels, and wooden structures, making it perfect for climbing and exploring while also working well as a chew toy.
Seagrass is often used to make this woven mat. The wooden blocks and balls are made from edible wood like pine and guger wood, and the rest of the structure consists of things like loofa, rattan, willow bark, hay, sisal, and other similar fibers.
Secure the mat to the wall or on your rabbit’s hutch with wooden pins, and see how your rabbit enjoys stretching, mounting, and chewing on it!
5. Carrot Treat Wood Roll Toy
Another innovative rabbit chew toy is a wood roll that has holes filled with chunks of carrots. Sometimes, these carrot chunks are mixed with seeds but note that these shouldn’t be consistent in your rabbit’s diet.
This toy is perfect for keeping your rabbit’s dental health well-maintained. And rabbits love getting occasional delicious treats!
However, whatever treat you’re giving with the wooden log, check first if it’ll harm your pet’s gut health. Seeds and nuts can be fun to chew on for your rabbit, but they can hurt its sensitive stomach.
6. Apple Orchard Sticks
If you want to give your bunny something natural, then a stick of apple wood is the best toy you can find. Apple orchard sticks are chewy enough for rabbits to stay busy with.
Your bunny can improve its dental and gut health with these fibrous sticks. You’ll save your furniture in this way as well since rabbits tend to start gnawing on anything they can find when they’re bored or in distress.
7. Foraging Rabbit Toy Mat
Plastic training toys are okay for your rabbit when you’re supervising. However, they can be a choking hazard when you’re not around. Don’t worry, there’s a solution for that- a foraging mat.
These mats are often woven with hay, but you can find or make them yourself with bulrush, sisal, or corn leaf. You can hide treats like vegetables in the mat and let your bunny browse through the fibers to find the food.
This mat ensures your pet doesn’t get intestinal blockages and has a healthy exploring and chewing experience. The base also allows your pet to dig.
8. Fidget Sticks
Fidget sticks are made with hay tightly packed and twisted together, making them fun to chew and play with. The types of hay they are made with vary, so you can test and see which flavor your rabbit likes the best.
You can also play fetch with rabbits and other pets, which can help you reinforce a stronger bond.
9. Learn and Treat Rabbit Puzzle Board
Puzzles are one of the best toys to exercise your rabbit’s brain. It’s much better when they can play and eat at the same time! As they’re explorative by nature, trying to figure out a solution to a puzzle is the perfect mental stimulation for them.
Put your rabbit’s natural problem-solving skills to the test. Let your rabbit hunt down and topple over the puzzle pieces to find the treats. You can spruce it up by letting your rabbit play with different difficulty levels.
These learn-and-treat puzzles are always made of plastic. Therefore, they can be hazardous, and you should only let your rabbit play with the puzzle under strict supervision.
10. Treat Balls
Treat balls are like another puzzle. You can fill the balls with treats that you know your rabbit enjoys. Every time it can open it successfully, it gets the treat.
Be careful, however, when you give this ball to your pet. They are made from plastic, and the slot has a door that your rabbit has to slide open. These parts can break easily, making them a choking hazard. Always keep your rabbit under strict supervision when it’s playing with this ball.
11. Activity Table With Treats
An activity table has multiple features in it. It has toys to climb on and chew, and your rabbit can also use this table for hiding.
When you buy one, ensure it’s sturdy enough to carry your rabbit’s weight and heavier toys. It should be tall and wide enough to allow your bunny to hide, but it should still be low enough for them to jump on it easily.
This table has wooden ropes, blocks, cylinders, and balls made from wood safe for rabbits to chew on or nudge.
12. Hanging Pumice Stone
This may sound weird, but a pumice stone is a safe toy for rabbits. Pumice stones are perfect for your rabbit’s teeth and grooming. So if your pet loves to groom itself, you can buy them this toy.
You can secure the pumice stone to the top or side of your rabbit’s cage. It’ll encourage your rabbits to jump and chew on them, which is excellent for exercising and grooming.
Small and medium-sized rabbits can enjoy jumping and climbing on these stones. Bigger rabbits may not be able to do so. However, they can hold and chew on it, scratch it, and may even use it to hang on.
13. A Digging Box for Rabbits
Have you seen cat-scratcher boxes? These boxes are mostly made with cardboard or soft wood. You can get something similar for bunnies too!
Domestic rabbits genetically have the habit of digging when they’re tense. Without a specified digging space, your rabbit can dig holes in your furniture. That’s something you don’t want, right?
You can give your rabbit a step-in scratcher made with cardboard or hay. These are high enough not to let the scrapings scatter outside the box while still allowing your bunny to hop in effortlessly. Train your pet to dig on it every time it gets the urge to do so.
Choose the scratcher box carefully, and don’t buy a box with sand, soil, or gravel. These can get into your rabbit’s respiratory or digestive systems.
14. Hiding Toy Pet Castle
Bunnies are naturally prey animals and they want to hide whenever they think that a threat is approaching them. That’s why you need to give them a toy that will be a safe retreat that can also divert their mind.
A hiding toy castle can be the perfect escape space for your pet. The castle comes in two or more levels, with openings on each wall and each level high enough for your rabbit to jump in or out. It’s also high enough to encourage stretching.
The castle has a roof for your pet to enjoy a birds-eye view. You can mostly find castles made of cardboard, but you can also find them made with chewable materials.
15. Hiding Tunnel Rabbit Toy
Sometimes, bunnies want to hide somewhere they can explore in privacy. You can get them expandable hiding tunnels.
You can find this hiding toy in a few forms. You can buy the plastic once, which you can roll open, expand, and perhaps connect a few tunnels.
You can also find this toy made with hollow wood or woven with hay or willow branches. These don’t only have openings on the sides but also on the top for your rabbit to peek outside the tunnel.
16. A Willow Tent for Hiding
Another great toy for your rabbit to hide and relax in is a willow tent. Willow bark is woven into a V-shaped tent, big enough for your rabbit to hide in, relax, sleep, and feel safe.
Your rabbit can even chew on this tent for stress relief. This tent can be a safe retreat for your bunny, helping it with psychological well-being, and exercising its gums as it can also function as a chew toy.
A List of DIY Rabbit Toys
Although most of the rabbit toys that you find in stores are safe for your rabbits, you may still feel skeptical about their quality. It’s totally justified, as bunnies are very sensitive pets.
You can make DIY rabbit toys at home. Let’s walk through some ideas.
1. DIY Stuffed Small Animal Toy
You can easily make stuffed toys for animals with brown paper bags, rolls from toilet paper and paper towels, and egg cartons.
- Stuff a brown paper bag with hay and grass, and tie either end with ropes made from edible fiber. Your rabbit will love gnawing on it, which will be good for its gut.
- Similar to the previous toy, you can make it with toilet paper rolls as well. Your rabbit may prefer this, as the paper roll provides a more sturdy structure to chew on.
- You can also stuff an egg carton with hay or grass in each egg compartment. Every time your rabbit chews on it, it’ll discover something different. This will keep it interested in exploring, which will exercise its gums and brain at the same time.
2. DIY Digging Trays
You don’t need to buy a digging box for your pet as you can make one at home easily. Here are some ideas for digging boxes or trays:
- Buy untreated wicker or straw baskets and layer them inside with straw placemats. This will create the perfect box for your rabbit to dig and chew on. Ensure that the box is high enough for your bunny not to make a mess outside but still give them room to hop in and out.
- Line a straw or wicker basket with newspapers to make a digging ground. Make sure that no colored ink is there, as it can harm your bunny’s tummy.
3. DIY Hanging Toy
Remember the suggestion for using a toilet paper roll to make a stuffed toy? Here’s another idea for it. You can stuff toilet paper or paper towel rolls with hay, willow branches, paper, or loofah.
Stuff a few of these, make holes on two ends of each toy, and join them using ropes made from hay, sisal, and bulrush. This toy will encourage them to chew, jump, and reach for different levels.
4. DIY Tunnels
- Bunnies love brown grocery bags, mainly because they can hide in them and have total privacy. Most of them are big enough to fit an average domestic rabbit. You can place a brown grocery bag in your rabbit’s hutch.
- Prepare a cardboard box without any tape and staple pins to be your rabbit’s safe hiding space. You can line the box with newspapers to make it snugger. It won’t just be a hiding spot but will also be good for climbing and gnawing.
- If you have a wide wooden log in your backyard, you can get it hollowed by an expert. Your bunny can then use it as a hiding tunnel.
5. Objects to Gnaw on
Here’s a list of natural things that your rabbit will love gnawing on:
- Willow branches
- Applewood branches
- Pine cones
- Untreated logs
- Untreated wooden blocks
- A straw broom
You can also get tough chewing toys for animals. These will help to strengthen the front teeth. Be careful, however, that there are no small parts in these that your rabbit might choke on.
Things to Consider Before Buying Accessories for Your Pet
We sometimes tend to buy every toy we find in the shop for our pets. Parental instincts, maybe? However, you should be mindful about what you buy for your bunny.
Let’s take a look at things you should avoid giving to your rabbits, as well as things that are safe for them.
(a) What You Should Avoid
Although some things may look harmless, refrain from the following items for your rabbits:
- Avoid giving them pitted fruits like cherry, plum, peach, apricot, and redwood. All of these are poisonous to your bunny’s delicate body.
- Don’t give them any metal or plastic. Carefully examine and take off any metal pins that the toys may have.
- Check carefully whether the toys you’re buying for your rabbit can be choking hazards. Don’t give them small and fragile toys that they might accidentally swallow.
- Avoid giving rabbits painted and stained toys. Be careful not to provide them with toys that have glue or any other adhesive.
- Refrain from giving your rabbit any fabric. Wool, threads, and similar materials can cause gastrointestinal blockage.
- Also, don’t give rubber toys to your pet or treats in any rubber container. Rubber is treated with chemicals that can be toxic to your pet. These are easy to tear while chewing, creating possible digestive obstructions, and are a choking hazard.
(b) Use These Instead
Here’s a list of things that will make good toys for your rabbit:
- If you’re getting wooden things for your rabbit, always buy untreated ones. The raw taste of wood is very appetizing for bunnies.
- Buy wooden sticks that have been cleaned thoroughly to eliminate parasites. Don’t give rabbits wooden sticks and branches from your backyard.
- Give them cardboard items, newspaper, paper towels, and toilet paper rolls to chew on.
- You can give them small toys made for other animals. They are made from durable materials, so your rabbit won’t be able to break them easily.
- If you want to let your rabbits play with plastic toys, then let them play with them under strict supervision.
- Give them objects that allow them to mark their territory within their hutch.
Conclusion
Rabbit toys are of great use for both you and your bunny to strengthen your bond while exercising your pet’s body and mind. If you have other animals around the same size as your rabbit, you can also use these toys for them. Using rabbit toys as default will bunny-proof your house!
You can either buy a toy or make one on your own, whichever you think will suit your pet the best! We hope this article guides you well in finding the perfect accessories for your bunnies!