# Homemade Rabbit Toys



## naturestee (Jul 18, 2006)

I've been meaning to make this thread for a while and just haven't gotten to it. You see, my hubby and I love making toys for our rabbits to play with. Most of the stuff in petstores is so boring and a lot of the stuff we could buy online is so expensive. So I thought I'd post about what we've made and see what other people have made so we can share ideas.

Here's a couple of my favorites.

Cardboard toys are mandatory in my house! The bunny maze...






The Bunny Playground 2000 (my hubby's creation):  Hay tube columns, two bunny dig boxes, a vertical hay filled tube, a bunny abacus, rabbit cubicles, post it note wall papering, three seperate dangle toys, a mini-maze, wall mounted notebook (open of course), And three levels of rabbit enjoyment. 





And the cardboard curtain:





Hanging toys (with bells, of course!)





Their most favorite throw toy lately, somewhat copied from Bunny Bytes:





Braided and dried willow branches.





I've gotten some cool ideas from Bunny Bytes.
http://www.bunnybytes.com/cgi-bin/start.cgi

So now it's your turn. What have you made? What do your buns like, and where do you get your ideas from?


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## MyBabyBunnies (Jul 18, 2006)

Well I was looking for ways to encourage my bunnies to become more active andto encourage mental stimulationso at first I took a Gatorade bottle, cut small holes in it and put small enough pieces of treats in it. I put it in their runs when they were out and they soon figured out they could role the bottle and treats would come out. They spend hours playing with it.

Tonight I tried something new. I took an old cream cheese container, cut wholes in the bottom and sides and put a few pieces of treats in it. I hung it from the cage roof. They went NUTS for it. Mocha soon figured out that if he bumped it hard enough, a treat would fall out. They have been playing with it for hours. No pictures though, the camera died.


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## naturestee (Jul 18, 2006)

I'll have to try that! I've done similar stuff with small boxes and paper lunch bags. I think Mocha would really like something she can roll to get oats out of, though.


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## LessThanAnNa (Jul 18, 2006)

My ideas usually come from my experience making toys for my birds. Even storebought birdtoys can be good for bunnies. 

Here are some photos of Moo Shoo's toys. 






That's the first bunch of toys I made for Moo Shoo, since they like to throw things around. He definately did enjoy that. I always have alot twine for making toys for the birds, and it's perfect for the rabbit aswell. Wood beads, whiffle balls, carboard. The red ring is actually an acrylic napkin holder. I got a dozen of them for like a dollar. Moo Shoo really liked throwing them around, and they also made good components for other toys. 






That was a big spool of ribbon or whatnot, made of carboard, added some twine and wooden buttons, it was Moo SHoo's favourite for the longest time. 






Those ones are really easy and cheap to make. Pack of wooden clips for a dollar, the colourful sticks come in a bunch of bundles along with square wooden beads all for a dollar, and some twine. Good chew toy and good for throwing around. 






Essentially all of the components I've already mentioned, put together and hung up. I've recently found that Moo SHoo seems to prefer toys that are hung, so he can really go at them without them rolling away (especially since his cage has three levels and the toys can roll down away from him). He really likes things that jinle, so cat jingly balls work very well. A carboard tube cut upinto rings can make for a good component in a toy too, like you see there. 






Here you can see.. on the first floor theres a large jingly cat ball toy, that was a dollar and he really enjoys chasing it around. It's extremely noisey though. I also like to give him small stuffed animals because they're cute. THe hippo on the key ring he really liked to chew on, so much so that I eventually took it away. He gnawed her arms completely off! On the top floor you can see a storebought bird skewer toy, he really likes that, and makes a huge racket with the copper bell that hangs from it!






REcently I've been hanging all of his toys. I got a big willow ring and tied his two animal toys to it. I also put in a bird perch toy that my birds ignored in there, because it has a bell, and attached a bunch of other beads onto it. Whiffle balls are great because you can stuff things into them, like hay, or even raisins, aswell as wodden sticks. 

I also have photos of some really neat toys I made recently and sent to a friend in a 'secret santa' kind of game, but will wait to post those photos until she gets them, just in case.. I don't want to spoil the surprise. I'll post more photos after I move.. the rabbit and birds are getting their own entire room, and I will deck it all out with lots of fun activities and play stations for them.  

I like the carboard box hut you made, I may steal that idea somewhat, and will be sure to check out the recommended link.  Moo Shoo likes hidey holes too, I used to give him carboard boxes in his cage, but then switched to just leaving his travel cage in his big cage, so that he's more comfortable when I do have to travel with him. 

~*AnNa*~


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## MyBabyBunnies (Jul 19, 2006)

You mean those strings actually last with your rabbits?! Spice would have all of that eaten in 20 minutes and the other 2 would have it gone in about an hour. I've had to be creative and cover the strings.

This is a video of them trying to figure out their new toy. They have since figured out how to do it. Notice how I used a paper towel roll to cover the sisal string.


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## naturestee (Jul 19, 2006)

Anna, I can't wait to see more of your toys! Moo Shoo is definately spoiled.

MBB, that's such a cute video! I'll definately have to try something like that. Here's a video of Mocha and Loki with a tied-up paper bag stuffed with oat hay and alfalfa.


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## bunnydude (Jul 19, 2006)

What great toy ideas! I've been trying to find some more ways to entertain Devon and Amber, so I'll definitely have to make some of those. They'll love them!


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## MyBoyHarper (Jul 19, 2006)

This thread has some WONDERFUL idea's for bunny toys, way better than store bought!

naturstee, I love the hay in the bag idea, I'm trying that tonight with Harper and Haley!


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## MyBabyBunnies (Jul 19, 2006)

And here's the pop bottle one. This is the first time Spice has had it in a long time and this is the first time Zoey has ever had it. It's easier for them with a smaller bottle but this is all I had at the time.


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## Hollie (Jul 20, 2006)

What fun-looking toys! My girls are pretty inventive... they turn anything they find into a toy  I've left a few plastic drink bottles lying around, plus some cardboard boxes and two cloth sacks, and they just love to pick everything up and toss it!


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## MyBabyBunnies (Jul 20, 2006)

I've been in a toy making mood these last few days so here's a few more.

The first is the standard run of the mill toys with the just strung together.





The second is a little different. The stick on the bottom toilet paper roll is used to attach the string to it so they can't chew it.


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## brandy563 (Jul 21, 2006)

that's a good idea, but what are the best treats to use????

*MyBabyBunnies wrote: *


> Well I was looking for ways to encourage my bunnies to become more active andto encourage mental stimulationso at first I took a Gatorade bottle, cut small holes in it and put small enough pieces of treats in it. I put it in their runs when they were out and they soon figured out they could role the bottle and treats would come out. They spend hours playing with it.
> 
> Tonight I tried something new. I took an old cream cheese container, cut wholes in the bottom and sides and put a few pieces of treats in it. I hung it from the cage roof. They went NUTS for it. Mocha soon figured out that if he bumped it hard enough, a treat would fall out. They have been playing with it for hours. No pictures though, the camera died.


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## MyBabyBunnies (Jul 21, 2006)

I use anything my bunnies like and as long as it isn't something can goes bad like fresh fruit. I do put raspberry leaves, raisins (home made), dried apple slices, dried pineapple, oats, sunflower seeds.


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## HoneyPot (Jul 21, 2006)

MBB - I tried the idea with the pop bottle today- I used a water bottle, and put oats in it. Misty LOVED it - she rolled that thing around for hours until all the oats were gone.

Then she walked past me and gave me the bunny foot flick - so maybe she was just mad she had to work so hard for her treat... 

Edit: Bad speller

____________
Nadia


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## aeposten (Jul 21, 2006)

I just finished making a toy for Oswald out of an empty ziploc sandwich bag box stuffed with shreded paper, rabbit pellets, and timothy hay. Then I cut a new tab and slot for the box, closed it, and gave it to him. He seems to be enjoying it quite a bit.

-Amy


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## dreamgal042 (Jul 24, 2006)

well its not really a toy, but ivory loves it.






it's more just extra NIC cubes i made a tunnel with. great place for him to hide


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## MyLOVEABLES!! (Jul 31, 2008)

WOW some great ideas here, I recently got 2 wee lil bbunnies and for their toys what i do is when i have some spare paper towe rolls I put holes just to fit their treats in and hang it up on their hutch. Lou was going hardout for the treats but got quite scared by the roll because it kept on moving but then they figured out that they have to work as a team one hold it and the other eats haha. But yesterday They teared the toilet roll down so i mite have to make something new here haha.


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## LadyBug (Jul 31, 2008)

boy, you are digging into the archives:biggrin2:! i'll add my two cents while this thread is bumped up, thought

Jamie loves killing the card board boxes, he also likes running thru the leg of my old sweat pants. he doesn't seem to like paper bags as much as boxes, but he'll still play with them. one other thing i've done that he seems to enjoy is putting his hay in a little paper bag and folding it over. he needed a little help breaking into it at first, but afterward.................hehe! he had so much fun!


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## furryface (Aug 5, 2008)

did you know Bunnies can read? 

every toy that we've ever bought Lola that says "rabbit toy" (stuffed banana, sisal carrot, willow ball, big ball with jingly ball inside) she wants NOTHING to do with!

however...give her a baby rattle and she's happy...noisy bunny!

what a great thread! thanks for the ideas!


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