Friday bunnyblogging: special gift guide edition

Time for a short gift-giving guide for the rabbit in your life! Don’t worry- some of these these are last-minute do it yourself ideas for the person who finds him/herself needing a bunny present on short notice.

1. Paper towel or toilet paper tubes (make sure you take any leftover paper bits off). These have several uses:

• Great for chewing (they make a cool hollow noise). Plus you can wrap them around the legs of your chairs to keep bunny from gnawing on the furniture…
• Put hay inside for bunny to pull out. Hiding a treat in the middle, like a piece of carrot, will make bun very enthusiastic about this one.
• A fun game you can play with your rabbit is “ring stack”: cut the tubes up into 1″ rings, then stack several into a pyramid shape. Bunny will have fun knocking them down, and picking them up to toss. Then you can stack them up again. Repeat until one of you gets tired.

2. Empty clean cardboard boxes. Also a number of uses:

• Small ones (too small for your rabbit to fit into) can be closed and given as chew toys. Now loves chewing on box corners. I imagine there’s a satisfying “crunch” as she gets through the corrugated paper.
• For boxes that bun can fit into comfortably, and has enough room to take a few steps and turn around, cut two or three holes in the box  on either side, big enough for him to get through easily. Close up the box. Long boxes make fun spaces to run through. You can put newspaper inside to encourage digging (be sure to check to make sure he’s not using this as a litterbox).
• You can be creative with putting boxes together. For Noe, we’ve taken a bike box, cut it in two,  stacked the halves on top of one another, added a smaller box on top, and cut holes between the levels and on several of the sides. Instant 3-level “bunny palace”! This is a fun place for her to explore, nap in, and snack on hay.

3. Paper bags. Fun to crawl into, and gnaw their way out of. Give your bunny a head start by making a small hole in the bottom of the bag, and then leaving in on its side on the floor.

4. Hard plastic toys- pet toys (balls with bells inside), baby toys (fake keychains are fun to toss), etc. Just make sure she’s not eating the plastic.

5. Untreated straw balls and mats, and wicker balls. These are often available at specialist pet retailers and can be great fun to shred, roll, rip up, etc.

6. Bunny-specific toys- these include things like dried cholla cactus and yucca rounds, wooden chew toys, and toys with bells that are fun to toss. There’s a huge variety out there- see the retailer links in #5 for ideas.

Be sure NOT to let your bunny gnaw on treated wood, or any wooden toys that are dyed without food-grade dyes. If it’s apparent that she’s eating any plastic, replace the toy! For more toy ideas-as well as general bunny care tips- see the House Rabbit Society.