Those who want to keep a rabbit busy can do so with toys, training, intelligence games, and other forms of animation. Mental and physical tasks and interaction ensure both happy and healthy long ears. Read more about rabbit toys and activities here.
Rabbits, hares, and other lagomorphs can learn tricks, but don’t overdo them – Shutterstock / anetapics
Rabbits don’t need a particularly extensive entertainment program as they can usually keep themselves busy with their fellow dogs, grooming, hopping around, eating and observing their surroundings. Nevertheless, the Puschel are happy about species-appropriate employment opportunities.
Food as an intelligence toy for rabbits: you should play with food!
Food is one of the best rabbit toys out there. Simply hide carrots and co. in the indoor or outdoor enclosure. Whether it’s in an egg carton, in a haystack, under mugs, or in a pet store food toy (like a snack ball), rabbits usually like to “work” a little for their food. You can also hang the rabbit food at a height that the furry monsters have to stretch for. By the way: New food is always exciting for the Hopplers; Rabbits make sure in several stages whether the unknown food is edible or not – real brain jogging.
Species-appropriate rabbit toys: tunnels and digging boxes
Rabbits love digging and roaming around in tunnels. In the outdoor enclosure, the animals can pursue their natural behaviors by simply digging around in the grass or dirt – indoors this is more difficult, but not impossible. For example, provide your long ears with digging boxes. The boxes filled with earth or sand offer the possibility of digging.
Rabbits don’t just like to dig, they also love to occupy themselves with all kinds of tunnels. So put a few cardboard tubes, boxes, drainpipes or rustling tunnels in the rabbit enclosure. Hay tunnels or cork tubes are also gladly accepted. Rabbits simply feel at home in tunnels – in the wild, tunnels are hiding places from predators and are therefore essential. Basically, the placement of obstacles such as smaller boxes is recommended.
Clicker training with rabbits: Learn tricks in a playful way
Clicker training for rabbits is a good way to challenge the animals in a meaningful and playful way. In this way, the clumsy noses learn little tricks such as retrieving or acting like a man. For clicker training you need a clicker, also known as a clicker, and a few treats such as pieces of carrots or apples.
First distribute the treats in the outdoor enclosure and then click with the clicker whenever your rabbit gets a treat between its paws. At some point, the rabbit associates the clicking sound with a reward. After each click, the treat reward must always follow immediately. Now, when you want to practice certain exercises, such as jumping over obstacles, you can use the clicker as a compliment when your rabbit has done something right (like overcoming an obstacle). Timing is important in clicker training. You must click while your rabbit is showing the positive behavior, not before and not after. The following applies to any training with the long ears: never overtax the animal. You can find more about clicker training (using the dog as an example) in the guide: “Dog training with a clicker: How it works!”
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