Rabbit questions

pboae

There cage is like their bedroom, it's a place to hide, sleep and rest rather than somewhere to play. So a bigger cage probably isn't the answer. I'd look at make the run more interesting instead.

It's not so much the quantity of the toys, but the novelty of them makes them stimulating. How many times would you read the same book or watch the same film before it stopped being interesting?

Carboard boxes, wooden boxes and hidey holes, wooden chewing blocks, cardboard rolls, and proper rabbit toys too, they are all great fun for them. But change them regularly. Change their toys every couple days, give them some new ones and some old ones when you swap them round. Something they were bored with last week, may well be fascinating again next week.

Or you could save some toys especially for their playtime, so that when you get them out to play they are excited and ready to play. It gives a bit of structure to their excursions!

Rabbits are such lively, intelligent animals, they need a lot of stimulation to keep them happy.

MoneySavingStudent_2

Brill!
My rabbits (well the female one, Hunny) comes when you call her name
i know Hunnys really intelligent little thing!
Is there any rabbit toys that sort challenge them? instead of just a box they chew or piece of wood? Maybe like a treat ball or something that spins?
Could you suggest something? Maybe something fun they cud play with?

Doesnt really matter size wise because they can have it out when they run around the room etc! hehehe

pboae

Chewing things is what they like best.

You can buy things that are a bit like rabbit toys, with several strands of chew blocks fastened into chains, you clip it to the top of the cage and the whole thing moves about so they have to work hard to keep hold of the chain.

There are ones a bit like wheels as well, which again they have to trap to chew.

Also sturdy wooden houses that they can jump on top of, ramps they can climb on (and chew!).

Anything they can shred and then burrow and play in the shreddings (like phone books, but not catalogues, too much ink and shiny paper).

A box with more boxes inside, and scrunched up newspaper or wooden blocks inside those boxes.

I have seen a rabbit treat toy, I think it was part of the Yummy Ball range. It was made of plastic though, and you had to teach the rabbit to play with it the 'right' way to get the treats out. I wasn't entirely convinced, but I've never seen one in action, so maybe rabbits would love them.

MoneySavingStudent_2

the rabbits already have one of them things on a chain. Which they do like now and again.
The wheel sounds good though! I will look into that!
Bebe the big rabbit has one of them treat balls. She loves it! You can shut the trap too so they dont have too many treats or owt but you can have it open and its great to watch them!

They have a ramp to get up onto the top level of there cage which they have really started chewing! lol

Ill go give them some more toys and change them around more often then! I thought i was doing something wrong, i think they just like new toys then get board quickly so ill change them around more often!

thank you ill let you know how it goes!!

bw130270

We have three rabbits and I have to agree with some of the others, they need to be out for at least an hour every day, if your garden is secure let them play in there.

As for chewing, get down the woods and pick up some free logs, and let them chew on them

tiamai_d

Mr rabbit likes to 'decorate' her hutch! She chewed like mad at each new hutch till she got it just right! Exactly where your bunnies are doing it too.

Plenty of toys and exercise. The treat balls are great. You can stuff the cardboard tubes with their favourite treats, then block the ends with hay so they have to work at it.

Also if the are small enough go to B&Q and buy some plumbing supplies! The large white tubes (if the rabbits can get in and out safely) and the fittings, chop up the tube into sections (sand down any rough edges) and make some interesting mazes. And you can change them around every now and again.

jenquack84

Hi,

We have 4 rabbits that live indoors. I agree with the previous posts, rabbits really need to get out and excercise daily. Apart from a sign of boredom, chewing the cage is their way of getting your attention! They're trying to tell you that they want to come out to play.

If they are indoor bunnies, and you want to make them a bigger cage that they can't chew, you can use these grid things (in the states, where the idea comes from, they're called 'Neat Idea Cubes'), that connect together. You can make much bigger and better cages than you find in pet shops, and much cheaper too. B&Q have them for £22.98 for 24 grids, they look like this:



They can be made into any shape you want, but need securing with cable ties. The great thing about them is that you can make them as big or as little as you like, and you can add levels, ramps etc, and have doors wherever you want them. If you do a google search for 'neat idea cubes' you'll come up with loads of links to how rabbit owners have built indoor cages out of them. Here is a picture of mine (before the flooring was finished)

(sorry if it's a bit big, had trouble resizing it)

The whole thing is approx 4.5ft tall, 6ft long and 3ft deep, and cost around £85 to build, including cuts of lino for the flooring etc...

Of course, they will still need a variety of toys- I give mine empty cardboard boxes, empty toilet roll tubes, spare phonebooks that they can dig and chew up, and we buy them willow balls that you can get very cheap in Pets At Home... I just feel better knowing that when we go out they aren't cramped into a small cage and have plenty of room to exercise even when we can't be there to supervise their run time...

Hope that's helpful! (And if you don't have indoor bunnies then I've just made a tool of myself lol :rolleyes: )

across

i have two rabbits and have had them since they were tiny (thought they were two girls because they were so small you couldnt tell what they were for weeks i got them about six weeks old and one day realised they were two boys say no more!:rotfl: ) anyway they constantly climb on each other and one of them has lots of cuts now were the other one digs his paws in it looks sore but he is happy apart from that i have appointment at vet tomorrow but wondered if anyone else had this problem and if you split them up and if wounds heals or if it is fatel, thanks!

chattycathy1674

Hiya,
Not clued up on rabbits but it sounds like a dominance thing.

Best idea is to speak to the vet tomorrow.

Hope ya ickle bunnies are okay.

Cathy
XoXoX

mrcow

You need to split them up now and get them neutrered. Male rabbits will fight.....even to the death if need be. Once neutered, they may be okay together, but you need to keep a close eye on them still in the early days.Leave it a couple of weeks after neutering before reintroduction as it takes time for hormones to calm down.