Rabbits are just like beavers, they enjoy chewing and nibbling on things. In fact, Spartan often chews on the metal of his cage. And if they aren't given something to chew on, sometimes their teeth can get too long. If you would like to know what this looks like, you can search "malocclusion in rabbits." Some of the bad cases are pretty horrific, so if you are delicate you probably shouldn't look it up. Basically, their teeth get very long and can overlap or stick out of their mouth at odd angles, etc. This can make it difficult to eat and pretty much participate in daily life. So sticks help to prevent this, and it prevents boredom as well! Some good choices are mulberry branches and maple branches. Some branches are poisonous to rabbits! So be very careful when doing this! Our rabbits LOVE sticks and usually the bark is gone from the entire branch in a matter of minutes! Their favorite parts are the red buds at the ends, so springtime is a really nice time to do this, when all of these buds are on. However, it's nice to do it all year round for your bunnies :)
Presley and his stick
Presley sitting pretty for mommy :)
Spartan and Elvy :)
And Presley :)
The bunnies love their stick time!
Next up, I am going to explain how to make rabbit toys for the ingenious. Some people don't want to or don't have the money to buy rabbit toys. But they need toys too! This is an VERY simple way to make rabbit toys that our rabbits love!
If you ever dry your hands or go to the bathroom you probably use paper towels or toilet paper. If you don't, well then I can't help you... Anyways, after you finish with the toilet paper or the paper towels you end up with one of these...
And what do you usually do with these? Throw them away right? Well not anymore! You can cut these babies up into smaller pieces (if they're paper towel ones) and leave them whole if they are toilet paper ones.
When you are finished cutting them up (paper towel rolls) you should have a bunch of smaller tubes, like so...
Put one in each of your rabbit's cages, and stuff hay or other treats in them, or just leave them for your rabbit to throw around and play with! Presley loves to pull hay out of the roll, and Spartan loves to pick it up and throw it across his cage. Another good thing about these toys is that they are decomposable, so when they get wet and soggy from their water bottle or if they use the bathroom on them, you can take them right out of their cage and put them on the floor to be raked up later with the hay and manure and taken to the compost pile!
Thank you for reading, and very soon I will post the weights of Eden's litter at two weeks, which was Wednesday. Until the next Rabbit Report! :)
Simple and easy stuff to keep your rabbits happy... sweet
ReplyDeleteVery simple, and they only take a few seconds to make!
DeleteGreat post! I LOL'ed about the "If you don't, well then I can't help you." I am in total agreement with you about toys, sticks, etc. for entertainment. Mine love cardboard tubes and willow or rose branches. I also keep kitty toys that are the waffle-looking balls with bells inside. They aren't compost-able, but they can be disinfected and used again and again. I get a pack of 3-6 at the dollar store and they will bat them around the cage and drive everyone nuts with the bells ringing. I've kept nontoxic parrot toys in before too with the big wood blocks, but only when I can find them on clearance because they can be pricey. Your rabbits look so healthy and happy! :)
ReplyDeleteHA! And yes, I agree that it is important for them to have things to play with. Kitty toys are a great choice too, and if our kitty played with toys and had any I probably would have already stole them and disinfected them for my rabbits to play with LOL. The wood block parrot toys are a great idea! I actually have one that came with my aunt's parakeet she gave me. Thank you! I try my best to keep them happy and doing well! :)
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