Enrichment
We as rabbit owners need to provide suitable mental and physical stimulation for our pet rabbits and allow them to express their natural behaviours.
Rabbits are intelligent and active creatures so we need to prevent them from becoming bored.
Whether your rabbits are house rabbits or live outside, any item placed into the rabbit’s environment needs to serve a purpose.
Often enrichment items are used to encourage the rabbits to eat hay, using hanging baskets or magazine or wine racks for instance, filled with hay will encourage your rabbit to stretch up to reach it as if they were foraging in hedgerows in the wild.
Rabbit’s natural behaviour is to graze, dig, run, forage, hide and sit up high to keep watch.
Here are some enrichment ideas:
Carriers with the door removed can provide a safe place to hide, they also provide shelter from inclement weather outside. Cardboard boxes are great for hiding in and are great fun to rip to shreds!
Hutches with the door removed also offers shelter and somewhere to jump up on. Provide hay inside and on top for the rabbits to graze on.
Plenty of litter trays are a must for every rabbit home, fill them with hay and your rabbits will use them for grazing and toileting.
Tunnels and tubes are good for replicating underground tunnels and can be sourced quite easily, long cardboard boxes are just as useful.
Rabbits love to sit on different levels so children’s plastic or wooden tables and chairs are great, always put a towel or blanket on top to prevent injury to the rabbits when they jump off.
You can also use logs, bricks, blocks, the list is endless.
If your rabbits have a run outside make good use of the height by hanging baskets from the top and filling with hay for them to graze on. Always keep the basket filled with hay to prevent injury if they choose to jump into it.
Rabbits really enjoy chewing apple, pear & willow twigs, these can also be bundled and hung from the roof. Long lengths of bramble or willow can be entwined into the run mesh for foraging.
Rabbits have a strong instinct to dig so dig trays provide a safe and secure place for your rabbits to dig, digging also helps to wear their nails down naturally. Dig boxes can be tyres, children’s paddling pools (not the inflatable ones!), deep plastic storage boxes or litter trays. Fill with child safe sand or soil outside or for indoors try shredded paper.
Flower pots are very useful to have around. Fill the pots with hay and add their favourite treats such as dried herbs or leaves for them to investigate and munch on. A great way of having herbs and plants growing in pots in the rabbits runs is to place and secure an upturned hanging basket over the top.
The rabbits can nibble the tops without destroying the plant itself.
Toys don’t have to be expensive, there are homemade toys that can provide hours of fun!
Toilet roll tubes can be filled with hay and forage or some of their daily pellets will provide much interest and stimulation. Place willow or apple sticks into these tubes so it looks like a kebab and stick them into a cardboard box to look like a tree. Egg boxes with something tasty inside can get the rabbits minds active as they work out how to get the treat out. Paper bags filled with hay & their favourite treats are fun too. Willow balls are fun to roll around and chew.
Try not to make toys too complicated though as the rabbit may just lose interest.
Make food times rewarding too. Scatter feeding allows the rabbits to get exercisewhile they eat as does the use of feed balls. The small opening in the feed ball needs the rabbit to push or throw around in order for the food to come out.
Puzzles games are also available and involve the rabbits moving pieces around by lifting or sliding to get the food out.
If your rabbits do not have access to grass, you can sow grass seed into seed trays and replace with a fresh one when the rabbits have nibbled it down.
Whether the rabbits live indoors or outside it is very important they have space to run and hop and jump.
Provide logs and tables for instance in the run and your rabbit will be able to run and jump which is great for them and great for us to watch. If possible and safe to do so allow them supervised free range time in the garden where they can run around, graze and explore their surroundings which will change with the seasons.
If you see your rabbit jumping and twisting in the air then this is a ‘binky’ and you have a happy bunny!
Occasionally move the enrichment items about and change some of them to provide extra stimulation.
Always check for breakages and damage to ensure against injury to your rabbits.
& remember that the most important enrichment for any rabbit is the companionship of another rabbit.
For some great ideas on enrichment check out
http://www.therabbithouse.com/blog/category/rabbit-toys-enrichment/ For home made enrichment ideas.
http://www.rabbitresidence.org.uk/food--toy-suppliers.html if you want to ensure you’re buying rabbit safe enrichment items for your rabbits.
Also check out our Pinterest page https://pin.it/3bfn734kemt72q
We as rabbit owners need to provide suitable mental and physical stimulation for our pet rabbits and allow them to express their natural behaviours.
Rabbits are intelligent and active creatures so we need to prevent them from becoming bored.
Often enrichment items are used to encourage the rabbits to eat hay, using hanging baskets or magazine or wine racks for instance, filled with hay will encourage your rabbit to stretch up to reach it as if they were foraging in hedgerows in the wild.
Rabbit’s natural behaviour is to graze, dig, run, forage, hide and sit up high to keep watch.
Here are some enrichment ideas:
Carriers with the door removed can provide a safe place to hide, they also provide shelter from inclement weather outside. Cardboard boxes are great for hiding in and are great fun to rip to shreds!
Hutches with the door removed also offers shelter and somewhere to jump up on. Provide hay inside and on top for the rabbits to graze on.
Plenty of litter trays are a must for every rabbit home, fill them with hay and your rabbits will use them for grazing and toileting.
Tunnels and tubes are good for replicating underground tunnels and can be sourced quite easily, long cardboard boxes are just as useful.
Rabbits love to sit on different levels so children’s plastic or wooden tables and chairs are great, always put a towel or blanket on top to prevent injury to the rabbits when they jump off.
You can also use logs, bricks, blocks, the list is endless.
If your rabbits have a run outside make good use of the height by hanging baskets from the top and filling with hay for them to graze on. Always keep the basket filled with hay to prevent injury if they choose to jump into it.
Rabbits really enjoy chewing apple, pear & willow twigs, these can also be bundled and hung from the roof. Long lengths of bramble or willow can be entwined into the run mesh for foraging.
Rabbits have a strong instinct to dig so dig trays provide a safe and secure place for your rabbits to dig, digging also helps to wear their nails down naturally. Dig boxes can be tyres, children’s paddling pools (not the inflatable ones!), deep plastic storage boxes or litter trays. Fill with child safe sand or soil outside or for indoors try shredded paper.
The rabbits can nibble the tops without destroying the plant itself.
Toys don’t have to be expensive, there are homemade toys that can provide hours of fun!
Toilet roll tubes can be filled with hay and forage or some of their daily pellets will provide much interest and stimulation. Place willow or apple sticks into these tubes so it looks like a kebab and stick them into a cardboard box to look like a tree. Egg boxes with something tasty inside can get the rabbits minds active as they work out how to get the treat out. Paper bags filled with hay & their favourite treats are fun too. Willow balls are fun to roll around and chew.
Try not to make toys too complicated though as the rabbit may just lose interest.
Make food times rewarding too. Scatter feeding allows the rabbits to get exercisewhile they eat as does the use of feed balls. The small opening in the feed ball needs the rabbit to push or throw around in order for the food to come out.
Puzzles games are also available and involve the rabbits moving pieces around by lifting or sliding to get the food out.
If your rabbits do not have access to grass, you can sow grass seed into seed trays and replace with a fresh one when the rabbits have nibbled it down.
Whether the rabbits live indoors or outside it is very important they have space to run and hop and jump.
Provide logs and tables for instance in the run and your rabbit will be able to run and jump which is great for them and great for us to watch. If possible and safe to do so allow them supervised free range time in the garden where they can run around, graze and explore their surroundings which will change with the seasons.
If you see your rabbit jumping and twisting in the air then this is a ‘binky’ and you have a happy bunny!
Occasionally move the enrichment items about and change some of them to provide extra stimulation.
Always check for breakages and damage to ensure against injury to your rabbits.
& remember that the most important enrichment for any rabbit is the companionship of another rabbit.
For some great ideas on enrichment check out
http://www.therabbithouse.com/blog/category/rabbit-toys-enrichment/ For home made enrichment ideas.
http://www.rabbitresidence.org.uk/food--toy-suppliers.html if you want to ensure you’re buying rabbit safe enrichment items for your rabbits.
Also check out our Pinterest page https://pin.it/3bfn734kemt72q
Some lovely of the RRR bunnies enjoying various types of enrichment in their forever homes
