Mental stimulation ideas for 5 y.o lop who doesn’t enjoy toys he cannot eat?

[Raelinn & Gus]

And I do not mean chew – I mean eat. If it isnt a borderline treat, he isn’t interested.

For reference, he loves the Oxbow lollipops, timbells, and any brand of timothy sticks. Hates things like apple sticks, those dangling chew toys, that kinda thing.

In terms of bunstruction, he greatly enjoys eating cords and baseboards, as well as napping in the cats’ litter boxes, and the occasional nibble of cardboard boxes.

I’ve been leaving a small cardboard box and a short line of cord protector on the floor for him, but it both looks terrible and while he doesn’t currently swallow the plastic from the cord protector I worry he will eventually.

Any ideas on what I could get him that would give some better stimulation? Open to DIY but has to be relatively easy, as I am disabled.

Bonus points if it gets him out of the kitty box, I cannot seem to get Gustavo to leave the litter alone!!

So far I am thinking of trying out that Oxbow cardboard maze, a simple dig box, and stacking cups with his pellets in them.

- Raelinn the Human 🫡 - Gustavo the Bunny 🐰

[LBJ10]

What about a treat ball (to put pellets in)? Or another type of puzzle toy? My bunny loves his puzzle toys. He’s not as enthusiastic about the stacking cups, but he will pull them apart if I put pellets in there.

[BrunosMama]

I’ve stuffed brown paper lunchbags with hay and treats and tied them off with natural hemp rope. They love destroying them and rummaging for food. I’ve also done this with toilet paper tubes.

I think Small Pet Select makes a cord protector. It may be made out of a little more bun/pet friendly material. You could trim sections off for him to play with, maybe, but I definitely get the concern of him ingesting stuff.

I wonder if you used a wood pellet or similar bedding in the dig box, if it would be similar to the feel of cat litter. It may satisfy his kitty litter habit. I feel ya on this, though. Our bun Georgia loves the cat boxes and insists on sitting, digging, and pooping in them. Sigh.

[Wick & Fable]

Wick is like this. If plausible, what I do is break up his small amount of daily pellets into smaller portions and will hide/scatter them around throughout the day.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Bam]

I do like moderator Wick. It’s enrichment plus it tends to slow eating (less risk of inhaling pellets).

My buns are mainly interested in tearing up cardboard boxes, so I give them cardboard boxes  when I’ve ordered stuff that comes in a box.

They also like making holes in (cheap) fleece blankets, but the blankets need to be attached to something. Rabbits like to chew stuff that’s attached or heavy so they can pull at it. (They obv never use their “hands” like squirrels and most rodents do.)

My Yohio (who Gus reminds me of) liked stuffing a big fleece blanket into his big cardboard house. Then he pulled the blanket out again. I dont know if that was actually sad and a sign of frustration or if it felt meaningful for him – I guess we can never know that with rabbits. But he sure spent many hours doing it and it seemed like sth of a mission. (He was free roam, never caged.)

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