Toys - rant!

[undergunfire]

Well...we have tried them all. I think most of us that have had bunnies for a while have "tried them all". I've had Morgan for over 2 years now.

Toys from the Busy Bunny are expensive and are usually destroyed in a few days...leading to boredom yet again. "Activity centers" featured, here, are super expensive and I know that my rabbits will soon be bored of them because it is basically the same toy over and over again. Plus, I could make that out of a cardboard box and hang things from it.

We have a willow tunnel, cardboard boxes, slinkies, all sorts of baby toys, towels, bottle caps, willow wreaths, plastic bird toys, cat balls with bells inside, tennis balls, paper bags with hay inside, toilet paper tubes, phone books, "stuffies", etc.....all boring :expressionless.


Now what :?? What do we do about our bored bunnies, especially those inside their cages while they can't have free-time? When I go into the rabbit room...the rabbits beg to come out of their cages and it frustrates me & makes me sad. What to do?!?!

 

[Runestonez]

My hubby and I have 9 rabbits right now...So I have loads fo experience trying to keep bored bunnies happy!

I found the one thing our kids adore are the teething rings you can get at Dollaramma for a dollar...we make a big long strand with them and they spend their time trying to toss and throw them and if you attach a little bell or something even better because now it makes noise! And that drives mom and dad nuts! Hooray!

Or we weave apple sticks in and out through the bars of their NIC cages for them to chew on...or if they are clean freaks like our boy Daphne...he gets a kick out of trying to pull them down and throw them out of the cage!

Or a paper bag with holes punched in it stuffed with hay, dried apples and oats...makes an unholy mess...but it is also the most fun to tear apart and spread around while snuffling for those little hidden treats! lol

Basically I gave up trying to buy toys for our kids years ago...it is a total waste of money...especially when they are completely happy redecorating a box you got for free when you spent a gazillion dollars buying that new toy! :?

Danielle

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Runestonez, I love the idea of the paper bag stuffed with hay and oats and dried fruit! Makes plain old hay a bit more interesting. I wonder if it would make it more fun if you used multiple bags? Amy, I don't know if you've tried this or your bunnies would care for it, but my guys love bird toys. The ones with wooden beads and bells and other things that you can hang from the side of the cage. They can jingle it, chew it, try to throw it (but of course it stays in place)... My bunnies have lots of toys and they don't seem to be bored. Phoebe Mae can reduce a willow basket that's as big as she is to splinters in a couple hours, this is why I buy in bulk from Busy Bunny!

 

[tonyshuman]

Wow I didn't realize how expensive those activity centers are! We have one at the shelter and it used to be out in the common play space, but now the meanest of the bunnies has it in her cage in an attempt to keep her entertained and not destroying everything. Why not make something like that? I did that once with a box and some sticks and it was a hit. My guys don't really like toys, but I did get one of those treat-dispensing balls and put half of their daily ration of pellets into it--that was a hit. At the shelter we also stick paper towel tubes in the bars of the cages.

Just because they don't like toys doesn't necessarily mean they're bored--maybe they're just chill bunnies. They may be running at the bars because they're happy to see you. Just wanted to plant the idea that not all bunnies love toys, and a non-playful bunny isn't necessarily an unhappy one.

 

[undergunfire]

See, they DO like toys...but they are so bored with all the same toys over and over again.

I have tried hay inside of bags with treats, apple sticks, toilet paper tubes inside of the bars and danging off the cage, bird toys, cat toys, "tricked out" cardboard boxes....they are bored! If I give them something that they have had a few months ago...they look at me like I am nuts...like "Mom, why would I want to play with THAT...again?!"

Ordering toys offline from the Busy Bunny, etc is definitely not an option because of how much those toys cost and they will be destroyed in a day or two...leaving me with bored bunnies again.

I am always at the Dollar Store and thrift stores trying to find new toys, but I always end up with slinkies/baby toys/cat toys/etc that they do not want to play with anymore.

 

[irishbunny]

I really need to get creative with my bunnies and save up and buy them some new toys, I never have the money to buy them some good stuff and never take the time to get creative about it either.

One thing I made up that my bunnies do like is I put hay into toilet roll tubes but I also hide little treats like bits of apple, banana, raisins, oranges etc. among the hay and they spend ages trying to knock all the food out.

 

[BethM]

None of my bunnies are too big on toys. Nick does love to throw his Rabbit Maze Ball around. Amelia loves to eat Busy Bunny toys.

When Tobi came to stay with us, I started getting the value packs from Busy Bunny, but as it turns out, she doesn't care much for their stuff. She doesn't much care for bowls or baskets, and doesn't like the expensive willow house we got her for Christmas. She hated having the grass mat in her pen, and destroyed it and threw all the pieces out of her pen. She has a phone book in a box, which she loved to chew on for about a week, and now she hardly notices it. Many things she will play with for a day, then put it away. (She seriously stashes all her toys under the lowest step in her condo.) I think toilet paper tubes are her fave, because she can eat them in a day or two, then I will wait a week or two before she gets another. She did eat most of an empty Cheddar Bunnies box, but I recently discovered the remainder of it under her step with the other unused toys.

Tobi mainly likes to just hang out. Or, when she has run time, she will happy hop for a long time, then lie down again. Not sure what would be fun for her.

I still get Busy Bunny stuff for Nick and Amelia, partly because my rescue sells them. They won't accept donations from me, so I try to buy a toy or two each meeting. Amelia will eat them, as long as they're the unpeeled willow.

 

[hartleybun]

have tried tunnels and balls for mine but they arent interested. much prefer chewing cardboard, running, chilling and nibbling the apple trees

 

[Wabbitdad12]

This was suggested to me by another RO member and bunny's love it and it puts a nice aroma in your house. Take toilet paper tubes and paint the inside with flavoring found in the bakery aisle at the grocery store. Banana, berry etc, then stuff it with hay. I suppose you could put the flavoring on or in anything really.

Some times I rotate toys from one bun to another.

 

[NZminilops]

The only thing I've ever found to be 100% reliable in entertaining bunnies, is giving them time out of their cage. No help, I realise that, as it's not always possible, but I've never had a bunny have fun with toys .

Toys in cage, sniffed once, chinned once, then totally ignored/

 

[mouse_chalk]

Ceara wrote:

The only thing I've ever found to be 100% reliable in entertaining bunnies, is giving them time out of their cage. No help, I realise that, as it's not always possible, but I've never had a bunny have fun with toys .

Yeah, mine are the same. They don't tend to play with toys that much in their cage- they just eat hay. When they're outside they play with toys a lot...

Have you tried tunnels? Tunnels are SO popular in my house! I don't know about where you are but we can get small ones for about £5 in our local pet shops. You could probably buy the dog ones cheap on Ebay too.... We have before connected a couple together before and voila! Excellent bunny playground!

It's tough trying to find original toys though.... I struggle too sometimes- the good ones are all so expensive!

 

[undergunfire]

I just ordered 2lbs of apple wood branches from the lady giving them away on the rat forum, so hopefully those entertain the bunnies for at least a few days....before they get sick of them .

I have a large willow tunnel, a large kitty tunnel, and a "cave-like" cardboard box in the bunny room for free range time. They really don't even pay much attention to those. When they are out of their cages, they run around and binky for like a half an hour...then go sniff the other bunnies...then go lay down somewhere. I just always think they are so bored.

 

[BethM]

I had a $10 gift certificate for Busy Bunny, so I got them one of those Ton o' Fun Bun Run triangular tunnel things, and the corrugated floor to go in it. They spent one evening in there tearing up the floor, and haven't gone into it since. Hmph.

 

[DeniseJP]

Juno did not play with her grass ball - she ate a hole in it. She has hauled her sisal ear of corn that rattles.

Axel enjoys playing with his sisal carrot that rattles and the big grass ball. He will toss it in his cage repeatedly and then look for Craisins in his feed hopper. He has me well trained!

I have the big cage almost finished - four foot by two foot so lots of room for him to explore and play. Juno's big cage is in pieces but not assembled.

Denise

 

[mouse_chalk]

BethM wrote:

I had a $10 gift certificate for Busy Bunny, so I got them one of those Ton o' Fun Bun Run triangular tunnel things, and the corrugated floor to go in it. They spent one evening in there tearing up the floor, and haven't gone into it since. Hmph.

Wow, ours LOVE the Ton o'Fun Bun Run! They do spend ages in there tearing up the floor, but when its in the garden they also love to do their Bunny 500's through it. Snowy loves to sleep in them as well. In fact, you've just reminded me we should order a new one since they're fairly cheap and we're in need of new bunny toys!

 

[BethM]

My bunnies have also had their Cottontail Cottage for more than 2 years! I put a flat cardboard box under it, they will go in and tear up the floor but don't care much about the Cottage. Sometimes Nick will sit on the very top, until he notices that we see him up there, and he goes back inside.
Maze Haven is also still going strong. They like to sit inside it, so they are "hidden."

 

[undergunfire]

BethM wrote:

Maze Haven

I might get one of those, but the price of the thing is what scares me....it's just cardboard, lol!

Maybe I will buy one after I get my 2nd Critter Nation cage for the neutered boy rats to join in with the girl rats.

 

[BethM]

undergunfire wrote:

BethM wrote:

Maze Haven

I might get one of those, but the price of the thing is what scares me....it's just cardboard, lol!

I was just browsing the Busy Bunny website this morning, and noticed they now have a "mini" Maze Haven. It's 2 holes x 2 holes instead of 2 x 3, so it's shorter. It can still be made into 2 levels, or one. I think the price was $20 instead of $30, too.
I wish they'd had the smaller one when I got mine, it would fit better in my living room. Maybe some day I will get the smaller one for Tobi. Or not, dunno.

 

[JadeIcing]

BethM wrote:

undergunfire wrote:

BethM wrote:

Maze Haven

I might get one of those, but the price of the thing is what scares me....it's just cardboard, lol!

I was just browsing the Busy Bunny website this morning, and noticed they now have a "mini" Maze Haven. It's 2 holes x 2 holes instead of 2 x 3, so it's shorter. It can still be made into 2 levels, or one. I think the price was $20 instead of $30, too.
I wish they'd had the smaller one when I got mine, it would fit better in my living room. Maybe some day I will get the smaller one for Tobi. Or not, dunno.