Bored Bunny!

[bunny77]

I have a 4 month old netherland dwarf bunny (male). Who has mutliple toys in his home, and a pop-up cat cube, a wooden hidey house. He has a 6ft X 4ft area that is his cage. He has little tear it up fits where he tries to pull apart his walls (NIC cubes). I was wondering if anyone had any ideas to keep him busy? He gets all his pellets from a treat ball, I work on clicker training with him once a day for 5-10 min depending on how long he wants to do it. Any thoughts or ideas on creative ways to keep him busy?

 

[Flirtycuddle]

Some rabbits love old phone books to dig in and destroy. I haven't given mine one since we don't really get phone books in this area but he loves to just destroy cardboard. Mine shakes his cage when ever he thinks I should let him out no matter what I put in the cage with him.

 

[bunny77]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have given him a phonebook, he chews the corners, but that is about it. I don't take him out of his area, because he is so small I don't think I would ever catch him. I have tried putting a harness on him, but he doesn't like it. If I could get him used to that he could come out in the house!

 

[Flirtycuddle]

The place we live now is set up so I cannot really lose Ziggy luckly... the old place I would be hunting forever if we had him then. I've never used a harness on mine so no tips there either. Is he nutered? I got my male at about a year old and he was already fixed but I have read about many buns hitting the "teenage" phase about 4-6 months which could also be adding to the behavior. Basically his hormones have kicked in and they are driving him crazy lol.

 

[bunny77]

He is neutered, but I thought about the teenage phase as well! Most of the time he is good and relaxed, but occasionally gets restless!

 

[bunny77]

He is neutered, but I thought about the teenage phase as well! Most of the time he is good and relaxed, but occasionally gets restless!

 

[tamsin]

What do you do with his other food? I use a treatball too - they are great but I feed so few pellets they don't take up as much time as idea for feeding. You could try hanging up veg or hiding pellets in scrunched up paper or in boxes he has to chew into... anything that makes him really work to find food.

Bathrooms (close the toilet lid) and hallways are good for additional exercise as they are usually quite contained and need less bunny proofing. You can also use baby gates to block off access to specific areas.

 

[HerbyBear]

I do the technique of switching toys in and out of my bunnies cage. It makes it seem like he has a new toy like every week so they just don't get bored with their toys. I also put oats in a bottle with some small holes. My bunny pushes it around trying to get the oats. This keeps him occupied for a long time!!