Bored Bunny

[Daisy]

Hello!

My 2 year old holland lop, Daisy, has become completely bored of her environment. Every surface has been thoroughly explored and marked. Because she is so familiar with the area of our house where she is allowed to hop around cage free, she tends to just want to sit around. Whenever I take her into our bedroom (she is not usually allowed in there) she is very active, curious, and happy, so I know that the reason for the boredom is environment. Does anyone have any suggestions for games or toys that will engage her and keep her attention span? I am concerned that she is not active enough. I made a tunnel out of paper bags and she went through a couple of times but didn’t seem that into it. She has a few different toys (willow balls, toys made out of hay, a pumice stone, etc..) as well but usually only likes to play with them when she is in her cage. 

I am open to any ideas! 

[Azerane]

Cardboard boxes can make great toys, cut two opening in them and they can be tunnels, stepping stools etc. I use to cut an opening in a smaller box, then put that box inside a bigger box with an opening so it was like a burrow within a burrow. Great for chewing and ripping and digging. Just make sure to remove all sticky tape.

Otherwise, the best thing I found was to rearrange things, if you have bunny “furniture” that can be moved around, rearrange it every once in a while to keep it fresh, tunnel in a different location etc. You can also switch out toys on a weekly basis.

Otherwise, I don’t think lounging around necessarily always equates to boredom, more just relaxation. Often boredom in rabbits can lead to destructive behaviour like chewing carpet or digging/biting at their cage door etc.

[Yasmin&Quozl]

Cardboard castles seem to give many bunnies lots of entertainment! I found an easy way to construct them is to get a darning needle (thick needle with a large hole) and some bunny-safe natural cotton string and sew the boxes together. I made one for my rabbit that has a staircase, a bridge, a digging den, and a platform raised on kitchen roll tubes for hopping on!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-9Kduc2sM0

Or you can make a maze and hide treats throughout…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD-9_YFdVdA

Both of these toys can be changed and added to, build on an extension in a few weeks time to keep it fresh!

[Azerane]

Posted By Yasmin&Quozl on 5/14/2016 1:37 PM

Cardboard castles seem to give many bunnies lots of entertainment! I found an easy way to construct them is to get a darning needle (thick needle with a large hole) and some bunny-safe natural cotton string and sew the boxes together. I made one for my rabbit that has a staircase, a bridge, a digging den, and a platform raised on kitchen roll tubes for hopping on!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-9Kduc2sM0 

Sewing the boxes together is a great idea, I never thought of that before! Loving that box condo.

[Yasmin&Quozl]

I made these balls for Quozl today, she hasn’t ‘played’ with anything since we got her, thought she bounces about and binkies so she’s happy… Anyway, I made her these and filled one with pellets and the other with greens and she’s been nudging, nibbling and tossing them around for ages!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKk-moFvyLk

[Brambino]

Bramble has hours of fun with a ball of natural sisal twine. Its so cheap! Just bought a whole yarn and she plays and unravels, chews and scratches at it. Then i roll it back up into a ball and she starts all over again. The only down side is they should definitely be supervised, just in case they get tangled up. Bramble hasn’t to date but i wouldnt risk it!

[Author]

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