Homemade Toys for Pet Rabbits

Pet rabbits need stimulation. Bored pet rabbits will chew electrical cords and furniture. As the owner of two pet rabbits, I can tell you that the expensive rabbit toys you'll find at the pet store are not ones pet rabbits really appreciate. I've purchased a ton of rabbit toys online and at pet stores, and just like children, my pet rabbits play with them once (sometimes not at all), and that's the end of it. If you want to really please your pet rabbits, don't buy a bunch of rabbit toys from the pet store. Rabbit toys don't have to be expensive. In fact, the best rabbit toys don't cost anything at all. With a little creativity, you can keep your pet rabbits entertained and always happy with a constant supply of homemade rabbit toys. You probably have plenty of rabbit toys hanging around your house, and you don't even know it.

Telephone books make great rabbit toys. My pet rabbits love to shred paper, and what better use for these books I never use anyway? When they get delivered to my door, phone books become instant rabbit toys.

Paper towel rolls also make great rabbit toys. My pet rabbits love them and will stand and beg for paper towel rolls whenever they see it's almost empty. Tip: leave the last little bit of paper on the roll, because this will make added fun for your pet rabbits!

Cardboard boxes are great rabbit toys. Every time I order something from Amazon, my pet rabbits wag their tails for the box (yes, my rabbits wags their tails -- they think they're dogs). Everyone I know who has pet rabbits says that boxes make the best rabbit toys. If you cut holes in two of the sides so your pet rabbits can run in and out, a cardboard box will surely be one of your furry friend's favorite rabbit toys too. My pet rabbits spend hours jumping in and out of boxes and playing hide-and-seek with them.

Wrapping paper is one of the most fun rabbit toys. Our pet rabbits get their own Christmas and birthday gifts and enjoy unwrapping them themselves. However, their favorite rabbit toys are not the actual rabbit toys wrapped in the paper -- the paper itself is always their favorite gift. After unwrapping our own gifts, we give the paper to our pet rabbits, and they spend hours happily shredding it.

Junk mail isn't junk to pet rabbits. At mail time, my pet rabbits get excited, because they always get mail, too. What a way to recycle, and I don't have to buy a shredder.

Oatmeal boxes make great rabbit toys. A friend and fellow owner of pet rabbits introduced me to this idea. Cut the ends off oatmeal boxes, and they make instant rabbit toys. Pet rabbits spend hours rolling them around the kitchen.

Untreated wood blocks and straw baskets also make great rabbit toys. Make sure any wood you give to your pet rabbits is not dyed. Pet rabbits should also not have plywood, pressed or pressure treated wood. Popsicle sticks and such do not make safe rabbit toys, as your rabbits could get splinters or choke on them. Wood dyed with vegetable dye is safe, but be prepared for the color to run once it gets wet. Many commercial rabbit toys are dyed this way.

Rabbits love to chew, and they need to chew in order to grind down their constantly growing teeth. Giving your pet rabbits plenty of wood and cardboard as rabbit toys will help your furry friends be healthier. It will also help prevent them from chewing up your furniture legs. In addition to chewing, rabbits love toys they can pitch and flip and push around. They love to shred paper and toss around small objects. Whatever you give your pet rabbits to play with, just make sure it doesn't have small parts that can be easily swallowed. Anything that could splinter or otherwise harm your pet rabbits will not make good rabbit toys, including anything toxic or that can cause digestive troubles.