Keeping my bun entertained..

Oliver is a six year-old netherland dwarf, and such a sweeet, friendly guy. I know that rabbits must have toys and other things to keep them entertained or they will get too bored, but Oliver just is not interested in toys at all. I've given him a variety of toys, including wooden chew toys, twig balls, paper towel rolls stuffed with hay, etc, and he just does not seem to want to play with them. I was wondering if anyone has suggestions for other ways to keep my bun busy when I'm at work during the day?

Have you tried making him a cardboard house? He might like that. Or you can give him treat toys i.e puzzles toys with treats inside them and the bun has to figure out how to get the treat out. Something like this: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...D=690960665&catargetid=1570177967&cagpspn=pla or this: http://www.animalnature.net/shop/linnea-bunny-iq-toy-sa-toy-bs-linnea/dp/2105

Good Luck!

How long have you had him? I've had Elvis for a week and he just now started playing with his toys.
A couple of other options for toys are tunnels he can fit in and stuffed animals without parts that it can choke on like eyes.

Ours love cardboard constructs and brown paper bags.

Some rabbits just aren't as toy oriented as others. And sometimes you just have to try a bunch of things to find the one thing that they really like. Dig boxes filled with shredded paper, are a bunny favorite, but they sometimes end up being used as a litter box as well. Also, your rabbit is most likely sleeping during the day, while you are at work. Rabbits are most active in the morning and evening, so he probably isn't feeling too bored during that time. My rabbits will sleep, and only get up to eat, drink, and poop, then back to their nap.

My bunnies don't really play with things either, I have tried everything under the sun! Rocky likes to throw pegs around but i only have plastic ones so I dont give them to him when he isnt supervised.

The only 2 things he has played with is a willow ball and a cardboard ring with hay stuffed into it. He doesn't always play with them either. He is a very lazy bunny lol

An upturned cardboard box with one or two openings is always a hit with any bunny, because it's like a burrow. Otherwise, you could use a treat ball, I give Bandit some of his daily pellets in his treat ball, so then he has to push it around to get them. Also I find that sometimes you need to show them how to play with something by tossing it to them etc. I can usually entice Bandit into a game if I put something right in front of him, where I know he'll want to push it out of the way

Kizza said:

My bunnies don't really play with things either, I have tried everything under the sun! Rocky likes to throw pegs around but i only have plastic ones so I dont give them to him when he isnt supervised.

The only 2 things he has played with is a willow ball and a cardboard ring with hay stuffed into it. He doesn't always play with them either. He is a very lazy bunny lol

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Can I ask where you got your willow ball?

Thanks, I will try a box also. I got my willow ball from ebay, the seller is BunnyWorld or something. The lady gets the toys from the US so they are expensive, like $20 including postage. I might try to find a willow tree and cut some branches off and dry it myself.

Mr.OliverJames, have you tried the box with holes in it to play in? How much space does he have in his cage? If he has some space, maybe try putting things in there for him to climb on, my bun Rocky is pretty lazy and the only thing he likes to do is sit up high on things and observe lol

Thanks for all the info! I have tried the cardboard box thing. He will sit inside the box occasionally, but never gets too exited about it. He is free range in one room, and his toys are all in his room, along with a few cardboard boxes and tunnels. I haven't tried a treat ball, but I did put some treats in the middle of a toilet paper roll stuffed with hay. He will occasionally eat some of the hay out of it, but never really plays with it. All in all, I'd say he is a happy bun, even though he is not into his toys. He loves sitting in his litter box eating hay, and even spins in a circle on command to get a treat (such a smart rabbit!). Perhaps he just doesn't need the toys to entertain himself?

He might not need it, he might just be happy and content sitting around having a munch on some hay like Rocky

I have a 7yr old Holland Lop, Murphy, and he has NEVER played with toys *rolls eyes* the one thing he LOVES to do is shred a phone book to pieces, haha. So maybe try that? Murph spends forever ripping it up.