Won’t play with toys?

[Koakuma Heaven]

Hi guys, first of all thanks for reading & I appreciate any help you can give.
I’ve had my lionhead, Celyn for a little under a month now, he’s still quite skittish around me but will take food and treats from my hand and sometimes let me fuss his head. He’s eating plenty (hay, greens & some pellets) and drinking normally, his cage is open almost all the time and he’s happy to hop in and out, wander around or just lay on a cushion and ‘watch’ tv.
My only concern is he doesn’t seem to be inclined to play at all. He has cardboard tubes, balls, a dig box and chews. I asked the foster owner what he liked and she said he loved to play with a ball with a bell inside, he had one of those and I’ve only seen him touch it to move it out of the way.

I’m worried as I’ve read playing is important for both physical and mental stimulation, does anyone have any ideas? Is there a way for me to instigate a play without scaring him?

[hannaroo]

Hi welcome to BB,
First of all congratulations on your new bunny!
It’s perfectly normal for your rabbit to be skittish at first. Rabbits are a prey species so even when they’re used to humans they still have that instinct to be nervous.
Of course your doing all the right things so far and it’ll just take time for them to be used to you. One of my rabbits was confident with me from day 1, the other still freaks out if I make a sudden movement!

As far as toys go your set up sounds great! He probably just needs to get used to his new home a little more. My rabbits like chew toys and treat balls (a plastic ball that they can get pellets from when they roll it) and plenty of space. 98% of their time they ignore their toys and graze on grass or just run around the garden or our rooms!

You can try stuffing toilet tubes with pellets and hay to create an interest in toys?

Rabbits spend their time on average
46% resting
27% eating
8% grooming
19% exploring

So don’t worry if your bun isn’t constantly playing with toys!

Have you taken him to the vets for a check up since you got him just to rule out any health issues? (Although unlikely if the behaviour is out of the ordinary it’s defiantly worth a trip)

Hope this helps

[Koakuma Heaven]

Thanks for the advice I haven’t taken him yet but he had a vet check before he left RSPCA care just to make sure he was all ok.

He loves his pellets so I’ll definitely try a treat ball or somesuch to get him interested, thanks again!

[hannaroo]

Then I would just assume he needs to get used to his new forever homes rescue rabbits can have sad backgrounds or just be stressed after coming from a shelter so e may need a little extra time to get used to you! He’ll be right as rain soon though!

[LittlePuffyTail]

How old is your bunny?

Some ideas that my bunnies like (they are 6 years old and lazy, not big on play):

-Get one of these treat balls made for cats. You put a small treat in it, set the dial so they have to work to get the treat out by pushing the ball around. Olivia has become very clever with getting the treat out! I use a piece of dried papaya which works well. You can buy these balls for a couple of bucks at Walmart.

– Olivia loves stacking cups made for babies. I stack them up and she loves to knock them down.

-Olivia also likes to play with a deck of cards. I fan them out and she pulls the cards out one by one.

-Some bunnies prefer food-motivated toys. You can make a treat bag with a brown paper bag, fill it with hay and healthy treats (only a small amount) like bunny-safe dried flowers, dried fruit, pellets, etc.

-And all bunnies love a cardboard box with a door and windows cut in it!

[Author]

Messages