Toys designed for cats and dogs don't quite fill the needs of rabbits. But during the past few years, manufacturers of rabbit supplies and accessories have begun to develop pet rabbit toys specifically for bunnies.
Natural Behaviors and Rabbit Toys
Bunnies like to play, but their play is different from many other pets. Rabbits chew, jump and burrow- things that look like playing, but are really just an extension of things they would do in the wild. Rabbit toys encourage rabbit health and help pets focus their natural behaviors on something good instead of letting them lead to problems like chewing up the furniture or dumping over their food dish.
Flipping and Tossing Toys
In the wild, rabbits like to rearrange their environment. In a home environment, this shows up as a tendency to fling things around. Flip toys direct this flipping behavior and give them something fun to toss. SuperPet makes a popular carrot-shaped toy that rabbits can flip and toss and Timali & Co makes a variety of flip toys in a range of sizes.
Rolling toys like Super Pet's Bunny Roll 'n' Rattle are designed more to roll than toss, but are another way to let the rabbit satisfy its urge to rearrange things.
Rabbits Chewing and the Pet Rabbit Toy
Rabbit owners often list chewing as a pet rabbit problem behavior, but it's really a natural and necessary activity for bunnies. In the wild, rabbits chew constantly because their teeth are constantly growing. In a home environment, chew toys help them fulfill that need and help owners provide good rabbit care.
Products made of sisal, willow and natural wood are popular and keep pets from munching on the furniture. Rabbits eat bark-covered wood in the wild, so many companies make bark-covered treats that rabbits use like toys, flipping and chewing them incessantly.
Sisal is also popular and sissal toys for rabbits are a variety of fun shapes, such as carrot and red pepper shaped sisal toys from Penn Plax.
Willow balls, such as those made by Busy Bunny, provide a combination of chewing and rolling action for pets to enjoy.
Rabbit Accessories for Hiding and Burrowing Behavior
Since rabbits are prey animals in the wild, they also like toys that let them hide. Oxbow Hay Company makes a bungalow of timothy grass hay, providing both a place to hide and something to chew on. Tunnels, tents and baskets are also options and there are a large variety out there of these kind of toys. Owners should take care to choose something in a material safe for a rabbit to chew on when buying tunnels or burrows for their pet.
Exercising Brain and Body is Good Rabbit Care
In the wild, obtaining food is hard work for rabbits, much harder work than in captivity. Pet rabbits easily become bored and lazy if they aren't challenged. To cater to the natural curiosity of rabbits, there are plenty of toys that provide food or treats when a rabbit exerts some effort. These toys, such as the treat ball made by Busy Bunny, are designed so the rabbit really needs to work at it to get to the treat.
Timali & Co.'s hanging hay rack is another way to make rabbits work for their treats. Rabbits will stand up on their hind feet and maneuver themselves however needed to get the hay, giving them the opportunity to stretch and pull.
Since rabbit play often involves chewing no matter what kind of toy they are using, rabbit toys wear out quickly. It's a good idea for owners to provide a variety of toys so that they have replacements and prevent boredom.
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