TOY ISSUES!!!

[LindsayandLily]

Lily is ripping me of house andhome.............literally. No matter what I buy or give her or what Iput in her cage, she only cares about playing with two differentthings. Paper back books on the botton shelf and carpet. Everyone saysthat if you provide with enough cool toys that your bun will leave yourstuff alone, but i can't seem to find things that she likes.



We have everything from wooden blocks, wooden puzzles, boxes, rattles,dried corn cobs, acorns etc. Nothing seems to work. What do your bunsplay with and how can i get her interested in the toys that she alreadyhas?

 

[missyscove]

Two words, Phone Book! Put her somewhere where she dosn't have access to anything but her toys.

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

If she is a shredder try giving her a box ofnewspaper to play with, my buns will sit in their carrier and shrednewspaper for hours!

 

[pinksalamander]

To solve the book shredding porblem.. why don'tyou gather all the phonebooks and paperbacks you don't want anymore (orgo to a boot sale and see if you can find any old boring books for afew pence) and put them on the bottom shelf. That way she still feelslike she is having fun disruptingyour stuff but actually shesjust playing with her own toys!

 

[turbotina]

I just gave ours a wicker ball! OMG! you should see it! I'll have to stock up on these! Tina & Turbo loves/d it

 

[JimD]

All of my bunnies are different with toys. Mostof them play with a favorite of theirs. Mooshu just likes to keep hersin a tidy pile in a corner.

Some tried favs:
*baby keys & link rings
*small plastic cat ball w/bell
*Flip 'n Toss toys (string covered "corn" or "carrot" shapes)
*whiffle ball (the kind with holes)
*paper bags
*paper plates
*cardboard boxes/tubes
*Toilet paper tubes (can fill with hay or stuff with paper....stick a treat in the middle)
*grass or straw mats
*I tie pieces of jute twine from the tops of their cages/cubes, makesure it's tied to something very sturdy...(Binkie pulled the NIC gridsdown the other day:shock

Toostie use to bite at the NIC grids CONSTANTLY. I got a handful ofplastic baby links and every time I caught her biting the grids, Iwould hang a link there. Abouta dozen links and a few dayslater, she had gotten more interested in playing with thelinksthan biting on the wire.
Maybe you can put something in front of the books that she can playwith....some hanging toys or such. Or block off the books. Or move them.


A couple of mine are inclined to eat the carpet no matter what I do. Ieither have to keep a close eye on them and use a spray-bottle to deterthem....or keep them in an area that doesn't have carpet.
I'll use a "Neat Sheet" when I put the ex-pen up, but they'll even chew on that occasionally.
I use pegboard to cover the carpeting that is exposed in their livingarea, but it's hard to keep real clean. Self-stick tiles will be putdown on top of the pegboard in their new room.

 

[naturestee]

Sounds like she really likes to shred.My buns have their own pile of newspapers to shred and dig in a cornerof my living room, and sometimes they get a piece of newspaper in theircages. Cardboard boxes, especially if they're filled withhay, are also very popular. And sometimes I stuff a paperlunch bag with hay and treats, tie it up, poke some holes in it, andtoss it to the buns. Keeps them very busy.

Have you checked the Bunny 101 toy thread for more ideas?
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12433&forum_id=17

Here's one link from it, a list of popular and inexpensive rabbit toys:
http://www.adoptarabbit.org/articles/2003/Toys.pdf

Edit: I've found that nothing will stop a rabbit from chewingbooks except for taking the books away. You could also make aplexiglass cover for the bookshelf. As for chewing carpet,strict discipline is necessary. Swallowing pieces of carpetcan cause health problems. You'll need to watch her and tellher no along with making a noise like a clap or a foot stomp every timeshe starts to chew. If she doesn't get the idea, squirt herwith water. If she chews in one particular area, try coveringit with a big cardboard box to play in or blocking her off from thatspot.

 

[aeposten]

I definitely second the suggestion of thephonebook. Oswald loves them MUCH more than any of his store boughttoys. He shreds his for hours (sometimes at 4 in the morning:?)

Alfred, my bunny with malocclusion, can't chew, but I've found that heloves playing insise of brown paper grocery bags, and with tows thatroll and make noise (the bunny maze ball, and small cat toys with bellsinside).

Good luck!
-Amy

 

[maherwoman]

I really had probs with Maisie not playing,until I discovered that she LOVED for me to fill a box with a layer ofjust plain sections of newspaper, and wadded up balls ofnewspaper. I even hid a few raisins in some of thenewspaperballs, and she had SO MUCH FUN destroying every lastbit!! She's now created a nice shreddy haven for herself(which she LOVES to do). I just clean it out after a coupleweeks and refill the box with the above and let her do itagain. She just loves working away at it until it'sperfect. It's so cute!

Got the idea originally from Naturestee, btw. Gotta give credit where credit is due!!

 

[ec]

Nibbles loves to shred and dig, but doesn't likegoing into a box to do it. (She started off by trying to dig and eatcarpet...) I put newspaper into the back of her condo (quite a fewlayers), also inside paper grocery bags and let her work away at it.She also enjoys tossing it and seems to move pieces around when I'masleep. (Never when I'm with her.)

Another thought (probably already mentioned): grass mats/staw mats madefor small animals. Between chewing, digging and shredding, they keepNibbles happily occupied.

 

[maherwoman]

YES! Don't know why I failed to mention it! Both of my buns LOVE to shred their grass mats!!

ec wrote:

Another thought (probably already mentioned): grass mats/staw mats madefor small animals. Between chewing, digging and shredding, they keepNibbles happily occupied.