Substitute for wires that bunny likes to chew?

[leyls]

My bunny May seems really attracted to think that dangle. If she sees a wire hanging or the sleeve of a sweater dangling, she MUST bite and chew on it! A friend of mine told me that her behavior may be related to how rabbits make burrows in the wild; when they see a root danging down from the top of their burrow, they bite the root off (and it might even be a tasty snack).

Whenever I buy or make toys for May i try to draw inspiration from the activities that she thinks are loads of fun, like burrowing in the blankets on my bed, which told me that she would love a box filled with scraps of paper to dig inside of. And she loved it!

Now I’m stuck trying to find out how I can use her wire-chewing hobby to come up with a new toy idea. I’m thinking something dangling from the top surface of a box, so she can get inside the box and go wild. Any suggestions for bunny-safe materials that I can dangle and allow her to chew?

[Bam]

They like twigs, my Bam’s favorites are apple or willow. He also likes bilberry twigs even now in winter when they have no leaves. Other safe twigs are f ex hazel and rose and rowan, normal green spruce and pine (but other types of coniferous plants can be toxic, especially yew). Bunny-safe strings to tie things in are hemp and sisal, there’s also paper twine. You want types that haven’t been dyed, of course.

The coarser stems of Italian parsley could also be used- the bunny probably will eat the leaves first though, and leave the rest for later.

[tobyluv]

Branches from a willow tree would be the most similar to a wire. You could also use apple tree branches (from unsprayed trees), but they might be thicker and more rigid. I have read that sisal rope (untreated) is safe for rabbits to chew on, and so is seagrass rope. You could also hang long strand hay. Some varieties of hay might work better than others.

[leyls]

Thanks for the suggestions! I already give her plenty of apple branches from our backyard, and she devours them, but I haven’t tried hanging them up for her to get to. The sisal rope sounds like a great idea, and the willow branches do seem a lot like wires. I’ll give it a shot, thanks!

[leyls]

[Azerane]

You can also feed her her veggies on a “clothesline”. Hang up a sisal string across her space and use pegs to attach her greens so that she has to reach up and forage for them.

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