For several reasons, rabbits are the third most popular pet after cats and dogs globally.
They have a curious and playful nature, are easily trainable and have a long lifespan compared to other small pets. Because of this, they are also ideal for people allergic to larger pets and an excellent choice for a child’s first pet.
That said, rabbits are among those pets that require a more significant amount of care than many others. You need to ensure that they are safe, have proper nourishment and get adequate exercise. And one of the best ways of ensuring this is by providing your bunny with suitable toys.
Like cats and dogs, rabbits also love toys, which can offer several benefits like providing your bunny with entertainment and improving their overall health and wellbeing. Here, we’ve mentioned some reasons why toys can benefit pet rabbits.
So, read until the end to learn all about them.
Benefits For Your Bunny That Rabbit Toys Offer
1. Better Dental Health
Rabbits naturally gnaw at things, affecting their dental health depending on what they chew. Chewing on good-quality toys designed for the purpose can keep your rabbit’s teeth healthy and trimmed, preventing them from growing too large.
2. Lower Stress Levels
While some rabbits prefer chewing toys, some use them for entertainment by tossing them around. This can also be beneficial for reducing stress levels and keeping your bunny relaxed, which is very important as stress can directly affect its health.
3. Ensure Safety
Providing your rabbit with a chew toy can reduce the chances of your household things like furniture being chewed on. Such household items can even pose health risks. In such cases, toys can be an ideal way of bunny-proofing your home and ensuring maximum safety without investing a lot of time, effort and resources.
4. Mental Stimulation And Engagement
Rabbits require mental stimulation just like humans, and lack of it can lead to boredom. A bored rabbit will spend more time indulging in destructive activities, and toys are the best way to prevent that. For this purpose, foraging toys or those with hay are excellent options.
With the help of such toys, rabbits can spend time on their natural activities like sorting and foraging, which they would have performed in the wild. This keeps them mentally stimulated, provides nourishment and raises their happiness levels.
5. Better Physical Health
Like most pets, you should remember that rabbits require adequate physical exercise, another instance where toys can be beneficial. Toys can provide your bunny with surfaces to climb onto, hop on, crawl under and dig into. In the absence of such opportunities, they can become fat and depressed.
6. Improved Bonding
Toys can be a highly effective way to improve your bond with your bunny. Spending time with your bunny by playing with toys can lead to higher happiness levels for you and your pet.
Finding Good Quality Toys For Your Bunny
Toys can be highly beneficial for pet rabbits, but finding good-quality toys is difficult. This is because there are several options, and finding the best ones requires considering certain factors. We’ve decided to list some of these factors to help you.
1. Materials
The first thing that you should check when buying a rabbit toy is the materials it is made of since not all materials are good for your bunny. Toys made from hard plastics or wood are a good choice since they do not contain any toxic residues from the manufacturing process. But, avoid getting toys made from soft plastics at any cost, as they can cause choking and lead to death.
2. Dyes
Another thing that you should consider is the dyes, if any, that are used for manufacturing the toy. If they are, make sure the dyes are vegetable-based and not synthetic, as these can be highly toxic if consumed.
3. Adhesives And Paints
Rabbits find the smell of paint enticing and can chew on painted surfaces, which can be highly dangerous. That is why you should avoid getting toys that are painted, stained or use adhesives or glue. Instead, look for toys with pet-safe paints since these do not pose any health risks.
4. Small Accessories And Objects
Toys with small accessories such as buttons, artificial eyes and others are also hazardous for rabbits. These small accessories can easily be ingested by your bunny and can then get lodged inside, causing accidents like choking. That is why it is best to avoid toys with small parts.
Promote Your Pet Rabbit’s Natural Instincts and Gain Benefits With Good-Quality Toys
Besides the various benefits of rabbit toys, you now know what factors to consider when buying such items.
If you are having trouble finding good-quality rabbit toys, you can get them from certain brands that are reliable and offer only the highest quality items. For Australian buyers, PlanetPet is one such option that provides the safest and best quality toys for pets. Check out their collection by visiting our website. Our other article on The Best Rabbit Bedding Options is worth checking out!
With that, we shall now be wrapping things up. Until next time!
