looking for games for a bunny who doesn’t like games

[Molly G VT]

I’m looking for games to play with my bunny, Liela, a 6 month old Mini Lop! 

I’ve read about games before and tried them with her, but she’s not interested. she’s most content when we’re snuggling or when i just sit on the floor with her and watch her do her own thing, but I’d like to find something we can to interact besides snuggling.

any suggestions??

[Elrohwen]

Have you tried teaching her tricks? Either with or without a clicker, you can teach her to stand on her hind legs, or spin in a circle or something. My bunny loves it and it gets him off his butt and moving around.

[Sadie]

ooooo…. how do you do this?

[Elrohwen]

http://www.clickerbunny.com is a great resource. It explains everything from just starting out with the clicker to teaching tricks. It took a week or two for my bunny to really “get it”, but I just worked with him for maybe 5-10 minutes a day and he eventually figured it out.

And you don’t even have ot use a clicker. You can just hold a treat over his head; when he stands up to get it, say the command (“up” or “stand” or whatever). Then say “Good” and give the treat. If you do this in a consistent manner and only use the word “good” each time, he’ll learn that “good” means “You did what I wanted and a treat is coming.” That’s the basis of the clicker as well.

Another trick my bunny loves is touching a target. I use a small tupperware lid as the target and he gets a treat if he touches it with his nose. I can throw it on the floor a few feet away from us and he’ll run over and touch it, then he gets a treat. He learned it in about 10 minutes (this was the easiest trick for him) and he loves running around after his lid. It’s really good for getting lazy bunnies to move their butts a bit.

[Dust Bunny]

those sound so cute! I’ve gotta try that

[Elrohwen]

Also, I find pellets make good treat. They’re tiny and you can just take them out of their regular pellet ration. You can also easily feed 20 pellets and it hardly makes a dent in their daily food. 20 pieces of fruit would be way too much.

[Billie]

As a Flemish giant, Jolene is not a very excitable breed so it’s tough getting her to play games as well. I also have found that teaching tricks is one option. From what I have heard and witnessed, rabbits love to eat so the inclusion of food will make it enjoyable for her. So far, Jolene knows “up,” “come” and “stay.”

Hide and seek is also fun. I stare at her from around a corner or behind a couch, hide, then peek out again. She’ll come running over to where I am. I find a new spot close by and repeat.

[Elrohwen]

Billie, that sounds so cute! I try to play hide-and-seek with Otto and he looks at me like I’m crazy 😛

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Clicker training is awesome-I’d totally recommend grabbing a clicker and a book and going to. One of my buns is a super friend to my other bun but hated me, and to boot is a nervous bun. I started clicker training just a few weeks ago with him and you wouldn’t believe the difference-he’s asking me for snuggles, and is starting to become more adventurous It’s a great way to bond-AND to give your rabbit some control over their environment-if I could suggest a clicker with different volumes (lowest is usally best) And Karen Pryor’s ‘Reaching the Animal Mind http://www.reachingtheanimalmind.com/?gclid=CLCX6-mPzqACFQ0eDQodhl1N0Q

What kind of games have you tried? Bunnies generally like 1 or more of the following: digging, chewing, shredding, chasing or being chased, boxing.
So when I play with Kahlua-she likes me to roll a toy or present her with one, and they she grabs it, rears up and bats it around. When she stops-I present her with another toy to do the same-she LOVES her slinky She also likes a goofy game of chase, which she initiates with a toe bite

Whereas Rupert really likes shredding and there’s nothing he likes more then a good phone book

So just keep trying to find what your bun likes-and don’t be discouraged -there is something out there

[wendyzski]

Pepper and I just had the following conversation (translation courtesy of The Language of Lagomorphs):

Pepper: I wanna play!  (running around my feet while I’m on the toilet)

Me:  OK, now I’m ready to play (lying down on the hallway carpet)

Pepper:  You know I’m in charge, right?  (hopping up onto my back)

Me:  Sometimes (petting her once she hopped off)

Pepper:  HEY – I don’t like that ! (when I petted her back – she grrphed and lunged at me)

Me:  OK (stopped)

Pepper:  I really didn’t like that (turns away to play with a bookend on the floor)  but I guess i forgive you (shoves bookend at me)

Me:  Hey this is fun (plays with bookend)

Pepper:  Maybe it is smart after all (shoves bookend again) but this thing is moine mine (chins bookend)

Me:  You know, it’d be nice if you’d groom me for a change (puts head down)

Pepper:  No, I’M the one in charge here!  (growls and lunges, tries to nip my arm)

Me: That is NOT COOL!  (THUMPS, gets up and sits with my back to her)  I mean it (looks over shouler a minute at her, and waits)

Pepper: I’m sorry (nose-bonks my butt)

Me: OK, I guess I forgive you (pets her head a little)

Pepper: I don’t think I want to play any more (noses bookend, then grooms)

Me: OK  (pets a little more)  Bye now!  (gets up and walks away)

[BinkyBunny]

 Wendyzski – HAHHA! You have the LOL (Language of Lagomorphs) down!  That’s great.  

Molly G VT - You’ve gotten some great tips regarding clicker training which may be something fun to try.  

My bunnies, even though they are creeping up in the years, still just HAVE to check out anything knew. So when I put down a tunnel or cardboard structure, they can’t help but check it out and explore it. You can try that with your own bunny.   Though there are cardboard structure you can buy, I’d test out your bunny’s interest with just plain ‘ol cardboard boxes – cut at least two holes in a box for an exit and entrance as bunnies don’t like to feel trapped, and/or put a bunch of boxes together to create a tunnel.   Normally you can get boxes at your local grocery store, just make sure pesticides weren’t sprayed inside of the boxes.  

Oh….and my bunnies like to chew on phone books every night.    Just another idea. 

Have you checked out our toytest section?  Some good homemade ideas (be sure to check out the archived section of previous ideas as well)

Good luck and keep us updated. 

[Author]

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