After looking at this site’s information about ways to entertain your pet (and keep then out of trouble) by giving them opportunities to “forage,” we decided to try the idea with Noe. Basically, housepets can be entertained by being given the opportunity to search for food in unexpected places- forage. This lets them exercise their minds (and bodies) while they get yummy treats.
Since Noe’s a rabbit, we weren’t sure how she would take to the “now hunt for your food” idea. But she actually likes it a lot! All we’ve been doing has been shoving some fresh hay (orchard grass rather than her usual timothy) into a toilet paper tube, and making her work to get at it.
As you can see, she quickly figured out that she can get to the hay from the ends of the tube. She’ll usually flip it back and forth a few times, pulling the hay out. This next photo even shows some green drool from her messy eating:
It takes her a while to pull all the hay out of the tube, and she’s usually tired afterward. It’s probably hard work to hold that tube up for so long.
Of course, a lot of hay gets scattered around the floor, but it’s much better than a bored bunny gnawing on the bookshelves- both for her and for us.
