What do your rabbits do for fun?

What do your rabbits do to occupy themselves around the house when you are not playing with them?

One of my rabbits just use to sit around all day, even though he had a huge room to himself. Then I moved him into the kitchen, which he sometimes shares with the cats (though they tend to keep to the counter tops). I shut off the kitchen with a baby gate, as it doesn't have a door, and he moves around a lot more. Every time I walk past he is hopping around the room, and sometimes chilling under the kitchen table, laid out in that way only rabbits do. He has never played with toys, though occasionally he nibbles a little on boxes I leave out for him.

My other bunny used to spend half at least half the day, or most of the day, in a cage only a foot wide and two foot long. When I adopted him from his previous owners two months ago (who obviously didn't have the time or understanding for a rabbit), I gave him a double story outdoor hutch, a really big one, but kept in indoors. After a while, I gave him our whole living room as a home. He never plays with toys though, and seems to just like to sit around. He doesn't even nibble the furniture, or cardboard. I'd purposely made sure I had second hand rabbit friendly furniture in that room, because my other bunny is a terror, but this one doesn't do ANYTHING. I almost want him to misbehave if only to reassure myself he is okay!

Do your rabbits play with toys? Mine only will do so if they have food in the toys, so its more that they want treats than they want to play.

Neither of my pair are all that playful. Luckily, they are both huge hay eaters and keep themselves occupied for the wide majority of the day munching away. They also snooze a fair bit and like to cuddle up together. I worry so much less about Willow being bored or unhappy when I can't be with her since she's had a buddy, too. They also have a mooch around the hallway each evening whilst the chinchillas come out for exercise

My rescue bun, Mojo, was a cruelty seizure. Like your bun, I don't think his accommodation was all that brilliant size wise. When I first had him inside, he was definitely daunted by the prospect of a huge room. He grew used to it, but when I moved them outside into a shed and run he was visibly much more confident. He obviously likes the feeling of being "enclosed". They've had to come back indoors now, and I've been having a few problems with him being scared about it again, but with a "base" (a 6ft run with their hay, water, bed open at all times) and some tunnels and hideys he is slowly coming around. It might well be a similar thing with your boy...

They do quite a lot of sleeping and hay eating. Patch and Daisy, who are outdoors, definitely prefer each other to me being around and will jump over each other, they have lots of tunnels too.
Myrtle, who is indoors, is quieter. She played much more when she was younger but has her active times of day. Usually we can here her doing laps and jumping on and off the sofa in the morning. She loves seagrass balls and will shred them over a couple of days.

All three of them do a thing which we call "guarding". This is when they sit and will mostly be alert but only one of them will do it at a time. Myrtle used to do this a lot when she was the only rabbit but now they seem to take turns or assume the others will do it when no one is!

Lady Jane, my bedroom bunny, likes to throw things around - she has a collection of small toys, I line them up neatly along her ledge at the back of her boudoir, she takes great pleasure in throwing them off the ledge  

She also has a den under my bed, where she destroys her cardboard box collection  

The Boys are outdoor bunnies.

Clover's hobby is eating. He moves around the 3 levels and his garden finding things to eat. Dandelion is not quite so focussed on eating, and likes digging in hay.

Buttercup likes digging in his garden for fun.

They all get things like seagrass balls. LJ trashes hers straight away.. The Boys ignore them for literally months, before they start on theirs  

Our dougal like to run about a lot and nudge me every time he is near me with his nose, he nudges all the time, even boxes etc    it is os cute and makes like a hm hm noise which is super cute. He likes to strip wallpaper on certian days , like today, I was in bed, having a nice lie in for once and he decided to strip his bedroom wall a bit more, when I got up he ran over to me and was circling my feet and that then showd me his gate, hudad had shut him out of it st stop him and he wads telling me and doing the hm hm noise. i opened it back up for him and he did not go back to he wall.

He never plays wit toys, he prefers fd, cardboard boxes and stuff and his tube, he likes to thow that around, he also rolley polyes in his tent which is so funny to watch. He loves ot play peek a boo and chasey, especially before I go bed, no matter how late it is, he has recently got into enjoying borwn paper bags. He idd not seem keen when I tried him a few months back, now he likes ripping them and getitng herbs and treats out of them. He loves his half castle and proper castle. his bridnge on the landing that goes accross the step he runs accross that and lies on that a lot. He is so energetic and just keeps himself entertained and I have to too, as I do not, the wallaper gets it   . he has the whle upstairs apart from the bathrook which he does try to dive in fast someitmes so we have to watch out, he knows better but is always fun trying. he loves nomming his hay too o0h and a few days ago when he was bieng a super pest he had a thing about getitng under the wardrobe and being norty, but he is mostly good, since neuter he has turned into a norty loon but has statred to behave again now.

I think my rabbits are quieter because they are neutered. I forgot to add that one of my kitchen bunny's fave things to do is to try and cuddle my cat, who just gets a bit freaked out and tries to edge away! It's so funny! Usually they sit together, but when Pumpkin starts trying to get to close my cat just moves away.

When Binks is not eating or sleeping, he uses our living room furniture as an adventure playground. He also has his own cushion on a sofa and he sits there like lord of the manor LOL!!

Hugs

JO xx

jolovesbunnies wrote:When Binks is not eating or sleeping, he uses our living room furniture as an adventure playground.  He also has his own cushion on a sofa and he sits there like lord of the manor LOL!!

Hugs

JO xx

I can just see him doing that! Sitting all regal enjoying being waited on.  

Rory plays with toys in cycles. He'll fling things around for a week or two. Then he will climb anywhere and everywhere he possibly can leaving poos and marking the carpet. He loves pushing his food bowl around in the tile as it makes a very loud ringing sound. He really loves to do that about 0300. On rare occasions he will play with some of the tubes we fill with hay or place food in. He does Bunny 500's frequently around the house several times a day. I think his fav thing is pulling the paper off the wall and eating the drywall. He has all the hay he can eat and lots of chew type toys but he prefers the wall and the remote buttons! Oh, and lest not forget the fun they get from chewing power cords!

Marley and Dolly used to chill out during the day when I was at home, obviously I don't know what they get up to when im not around. However they are being looked after by good friends while Im at uni, and they have a "bunny cam". When us humans aren't around, they are often seen actually playing with the vast array of toys I sent them with!

I think the best way to encourage a bun to be active is provide lots of space, not only for exercise but to encourage natural behaviours. Plenty of toys, particularly wooden ones and commercial toys of different textures, although you can make toys that are equally as entertaining. Hide their food around their living area; hang it up, stuff it in loo rolls, make a bunny kebab for them, stuff it in toys etc. I also found that giving them lots of levels was good as they like somewhere to sit and survey their bunny kingdom, so a step stool, box, or tree stump for them to sit on it a good idea. Also a digging box, you can hide food in here too, or turn it into a forage box, but you just need a carrier, litter tray or even a cardboard box (unless bun decides its fun to pee in!), and you fill it with some litter, some shredded paper, old towels/blankets, straw, hay, soil etc. You can try pretty much anything as long as its not going to hurt bunny. Ive used a box full of old toiletroll tubes before, that went down really well. I put treats in the bottom, and Marley would bury his head in loo rolls trying to find them!

Apologies if I have repeated anything someone else has already said.

...Oh, just nice cosy fleeces also make for good fun, my buns will dig at them, and when they've had enough they will snuggle up and have a snooze on them