Bunny Toys on a Budget

You know that old joke about giving a baby or toddler a really expensive gift and then having him play for hours with the box and wrapping paper?  Yeah, well, same with rabbits.  It's super tempting to get that adorable bunny igloo, or the natural wood hiding box you saw on Etsy - and your bunny might really like those things.  However, if you'd rather allocate your liquid cash to a dinner out or a coffee in the morning, don't feel guilty.  While your bunny will probably love a carefully selected chew toy, you can save money by supplementing cheaper options.

You get a new one of these every time you run out of paper towels, wrapping paper, etc.  The options are endless here:  

Some bunnies like the tube as is

Fill it with hay

Cut it into thin rings and then use them to form a ball with a treat inside

Use three or four of them and a piece of cardboard to create a  a bunny pergola

Stuff in a treat and some paper and hang it above your bunny like a pinata so when he pulls on the paper the treat falls out

This looks like a low, useless box.  It's not.

Bunnies love to put themselves on a pedestal.  Even if it's only 2 inches high

See all those circular impressions? Cut them out and put a treat in some of the holes

Turn it over and your bunny will act like it's a special chair.  Add a pillow and you have a luxury bed

Turn it over and fill it with paper bedding or newspaper shreds and throw in a few treats. Watch your bunny make a huge mess

Boxes of all sizes are extremely useful.  Tape them shut and cut openings in one or more sides.  When they get messy or ripped up, they can be thrown out or recycled and a new box put in it's place.  If you are a member at a bulk food place, you can usually fill up your cart with extra boxes.  Some discount grocery stores are thrilled when you offer to take their boxes, saving them the time and effort of tearing them down.  If you can get your hands on a lot at one time, you can even cobble together a play space with tunnels, ramps and several levels.  One winter we built a playground that completely filled a 4 x 4 playpen and had three levels

Packing material is annoying, isn't it?  I used to throw it right into the recycling can, but now I save some of it.  Some of my bunnies loved how noisy it was to play with.  They liked the crunching and ripping.  I had a buck that liked to rip off shreds and carry them, running back and forth in his pen, trying to give them to the bunny that lived in the next cage (especially if it was a doe).  One of my bunnies would spend half an hour furiously straightening all the wrinkles in her paper until it was nice and flat.  Some bunnies hide in it, others shake it like a dog shakes a toy.  So many hours of fun, with something that cost nothing.  

The point is, it's easy to make your bunny happy and give them something to do.  It takes just a little time and maybe some space to hoard your shipping boxes, paper towel tubes and packing material.