By Laurie Stroupe
Christmas is coming and I like to do something special for my rabbits. Usually, I give them a baby carrot, a treat they don’t often get. But this year, I’m thinking about a toy. I’ve been concentrating so hard on the basics this year that I’ve fallen down on the fun factor.
Rabbits have a curious personality.
If they never have anything interesting to do, they can turn into a lump that just sits, sleeps, and eats.
To keep your rabbit’s personality intact, give him or her interesting toys and rotate them. I know that, but I’ve really fallen down on the job here.
So, what am I considering getting my bunnies this year? Here’s a list:
1. Ping pong balls
2. Fruit tree branches
3. Round oatmeal boxes for the young ones
4. Hard cat toys
5. Hard infant toys
6. Pinecones
7. Toilet paper rolls
8. Practice golf balls
9. Hard rubber balls
10. Hard plastic party favors
I think I might get some of each so I can rotate the toys.
Walnuts, toilet paper rolls, pinecones, and boxes are one-shot deals. But the others can be sanitized and moved around. I usually just toss them into the dishwasher. But they could be soaked in a Vanodine or bleach solutions and rinsed well. With the bleach method, you’ll want to give the toys several days to lose their bleach smell before giving them to your rabbits. They don’t tend to like bleach much.
One of the best bargains I ever found was a hard plastic set of alphabet letters. I got 26 toys for one price. My favorite cat toy has a bell inside, plastic disks on the ends, and little bars around the sides. The rabbits can get their mouths around those bars and love to toss the toy.
There’s an argument that rabbits that have interesting things to do live longer. I’m sure that’s true with people and it makes sense with rabbits, too. I have no facts to support this idea, but at least I know that rabbit toys never fail to please.
