Getting the most out of playtime with Shelter Bunnies

[Harley&Thumper]

I recently started volunteering at the local pet shelter and my job is to take care of the bunnies at a local pet store. Part of that means playing with the bunnies. I only have enough time to spend about a half hour on the floor with the bunnies. I want to make sure they can get the most out of that half hour in terms of exercise and socialization. Do you guys have any tips on that? I’m sorry if the question is a little unclear.

[Mikey]

Not trying to be rude, but rabbits need six+ hours a day, every day, of socialization and exercise, minimum. Only having 30 minutes out per day isnt going to make a difference to them because the time is just so short. Its better than no time out to exercise and socialize, of course. I know this is part of the sad life of petstore bunnies, though.

In all honesty, the time limit is just too small to really aid their exercise, but you can work with them on human socialization in that time limit. Since youre helping them get adopted out, the best thing I think you could do is try to get them used to human contact. Pet them, talk to them, groom them, and maybe even try to hold them a little bit

[Azerane]

I don’t think it’s quite fair to put home lifestyle expectations on rescue rabbits waiting for adoption in a pet store. While yes it would be wonderful for them to have more interaction and play time, that’s not always going to be the case and it’s only temporary until they find a new home, and it’s the sort of thing that seems a bit beyond Harley&Thumper’s control. H&T doesn’t mention whether they take the rabbits out for that play time, or whether they get into a pen with them to interact. If the buns already have their own pens they probably have lots of room for exercise.

One thing I’ll recommend is play time with treats. This encourages interaction with you and can also get them moving. Get them to follow you for treats, climbing on you for treats, spinning in a circle for treats, jumping onto boxes etc etc. You can use their pellets for treats if they’re not getting them free fed, rather than dosing them up on treats every day I agree that petting them a lot and getting them used to handling will also be really beneficial for new owners. If they’re in the same playpen that they live in for playtime with you, you could add new toys into it during that playtime, things like tunnels or boxes, etc. New toys often make bunnies curious and want to explore and run around.

[sarahthegemini]

I would probably opt to focus on human to bunny socialisation, so sitting with them, talking to them, hand feeding treats and petting if they’ll allow it

[Harley&Thumper]

Mikey

You’re not bieng rude, just preaching to the choir. I would love to see the shelter that has the resources to give rescue bunnies 6+ hours of play time outside of the cage.

Azerane & Sarah

I do take the bunny outside and put them in an x-pen, I recently started to hand feed them their daily greens and I pet them while doing so.

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