Bunny Exercise Ball?

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Lbolar

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I have a young dwarf rabbit who is full ofenergy. All he's interested in is eating and trying to escape from thesmall room I've assigned to be his. When he does get out, he runs allover the apartment like crazy. However, my husband is a musician andour tiny apartment is power cable central. There are literally so manycords that there's really no way I could bunny proof everything. Thenthe other day at the pet store, I saw for the first time a giantexercise ball, (the type used for hamsters), but it was a jumboversion, definetly large enough for a rabbit but the holes aren't bigenough for him to chew on chords. Has anyone tried one of these to letbunnies get more exercise?
thanks
 
I haven't tried it, but I gave it some thought.It seems like if it wasn't too traumatic or stressful for your bunny Ican't think of a problem.

I would introduce it to him slowly before shoving him in it. Mytheodore won't go anywhere near any holes boxes or tunnels I tried to'show' him before he was ready.

LOL I wonder about poops though. I can imagine the sound of little marbles rattling around as he explores... :)
 
LOL good point...had thought about the poop issue. I think I'll try it and I'll definitely let you know how it goes. Thanks
 
AmberNBuns wrote:
LOL I wonder about poops though. I can imagine the sound oflittle marbles rattling around as he explores... :)
Click to expand...
:laugh:

It's the "Cuban Pete Rumba" by Desi Arnaz.....

"When I start
to hop everything goes chick
chick chickie boom!"


~Jim
 
Honestly, I would just block off dangerousareas. I cover my cords with spiral wrap that I found at HomeDepot. You could also use PVC piping. I have babygates and I also have extra NIC shelving grids that I use to block offsome spots.

I'm pretty sure that my rabbits would get really frustrated andstressed in a ball. And how would they binky? Yourrabbit may not be like mine, though. You could try it, butwatch how he acts. If he gets stressed out, then stop usingthe ball.

My brother is a musician too, so I know how that goes.:D
 
I've seen those bunny exercise balls in the store. I think it's cruel.
 
yeah the guy at the store said that one of hisbunnies loved it and the other one hated it. I definitely want it to besomething he would enjoy-not a torture device. But I think I'llultimately just have to seriously shop around for bunny proofingmaterials because I do want him to be as free as possible. He's just sosmall and curious-he can squeeze through just about anything, and I'mso paranoid of him biting electric cords. Thank you so much for theideas!
 
You can get some plastic cord covering at justabout any automotive store. That's what I use. Iforgot what the stuff is called though. Don't do the ballthing. I can't imagine any bunny liking thatsort ofthing.
 
You're welcome. Do you have any pictures of your bunnies to share? ;)
 
I kind of agree with Lissa. I don'tthink that's the best idea. I've seen those balls too, and Ithink they're mainly for things that walk, like rats or evenferrets. Rabbits HOP, and I think it would be uncomfortablefor them in that ball. JMO.
 
I have to agree with Lissa. I don't think they are a good idea for rabbits, I do think that are cruel.

Also I saw a good point about rabbits hopping. How can they move in theball if they are hopping? They can't walk. I would definatelywork on the bunnyproofing.
 
nose_twitch wrote:
I kind of agree with Lissa. I don't think that'sthe best idea. I've seen those balls too, and I think they'remainly for things that walk, like rats or even ferrets.Rabbits HOP, and I think it would be uncomfortable for them in thatball. JMO.
Click to expand...
Exactly right "nose_twitch"!

I have talked to many breeders and rabbit vets and both agree that"excerise balls"are NOT good forrabbits. The motion of movement is different in rabbits vsrats/hamsters/mice. The hopping motion makes theirbodies extend and retract so that the defined space of a excersize ballis limiting in their movement.

I would recommend covering the wires with protective covering (you canbuy it at ikea, any home improvement store (lowes, home depot),electrical/light stores etc etc) AND blocking off the area toyour rabbit. Double protection will ensure that your rabbitwill not destroy valuable cables AND get an"electricalshock" from any exposed wires they are able to chew into.

All my rabbits have their own areas that are bunnyproofed (wires areblocked behind furniture and covered with protectivecoverings). They have LOTS of toys to keep them busy,occupied and out of mischief along with good exercise. Toysdon't have to be store bought either. My bunnies loveshredding old phone books, jumping into their box of shreddednewspapers and flinging them everywhere, empty paper towel rolls, etcetc...

hope that helps!
 
yeah that makes complete sense about the hoppingthing. It's so hard because pet stores sell so many "rabbit" items thatare NOT actually good for rabbits! I'm so glad I have this site:)
And Lissa: I'm attempting to upload a picture of my rabbit, Ralphie asmy icon photo and it keeps telling me the file is too large, so I'm notsure what I'm doing wrong.
Thanks all! I so enjoy reading all your knowledgable posts
 
If you reduce the size of your picture to under 100 x 100 pixels, it should work.
 
Okay I keep trying to reduce the size in the image view program I have but it still tells me it's the same file size :(
 
What program are you using? If you are using paint shop pro, PM me and I can tell you how to do it.
 
sorry no paintshop :( but thanks for offering to help. I'm just trying to put it in different programs to se if it'll work.
 
hampster3.gif


Hehehe!


 
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