I was a bit busy last week (one year I’ll do my tax return before the last minute). No exciting bunny news. Just an average week, three escapes (two involving fishing Scamp out from under a bed and one involving Gypsy and a torch), the new litter tray now has the same decorative holes as the old one (I’m thinking something in stainless steel next), a vaccination reminder from the vets (which means I must pick up a new carrier as the old one also has decorative holes) and the handle on the baby gate is disintegrating so I’m on the look out for a new one of those (must keep Scamp in but not make it too difficult for people to get through).

After ignoring the sticks, the vet kindly gave him & Gypsy as a Christmas gift, for a whole month, Scamp has decided he will chew it if, and only if, you hold if for him. If you don’t he’ll eat the skirting or his litter tray instead. Yumm, stick…

And a video of stick eating. It’s not particularly riveting, but just be thankful you weren’t the one holding it for the other 20 minutes or so not on camera!

Super Pet claim the Nut Knot Nibbler is:

a great big ball of fun…  Pets will nibble and gnaw this wooden chew toy to reach an all natural surprise inside – a real walnut! … a perfect chew toy for rabbits

I thought this was going to be a hit. It got quite a bit of initial interest and a few nibbles but it soon became another of those chew toys that get totally ignored. A walnut might be a great motivator for a pet rat but I’m not sure natural, walnut, and rabbit are really words that go together?

I think the problem with wooden chews is by the time the woods been dried, shaped, coloured blue, and wrapped in plastic it’s so far from an actual tree it’s lost all its tastiness. The bark also seems to be a rabbit’s favourite part and most toys don’t have any.

A nice fresh apple branch gets much more interest. This ones had all its bark stripped:

If you don’t have your own apple tree then ask around and see if you can find a friend/neighbour with one or ask on freeads/freecycle. Just make sure they don’t spray with pesticides.

The rabbit’s favourite thing about Christmas has to be the big pile of veg. Although even Scamp isn’t that keen on brussel sprouts!

That’s carrot, sprouts and parsnip, then there is broccoli today to add to that. The parsnips are home-grown, my first try at parsnips, so we saved them for Christmas. It dig take a bit of work to get them out of the frozen ground but they tasted great. Here’s a piccy, yummm….

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your having a good time

The endless task of entertaining Scamp involves a lot of toys. It can be a bit expensive to keep buying new toys though, particularly when 90% seem to be either be ignored or eaten in 10 minutes flat. So today’s post is a tribute to the random household object. Here is a collection of Scamp’s random objects:

Left to right: Cotton reel, puzzel ball, blocks.

I think the cotton reel is self explanatory. The ball is a puzzle toy, unfortunately Scamp doesn’t seem any better than me at lining up the colours, but it’s made of hard plastic so bite-proof and easy to nudge around. The blocks are some version of giant lego. Again, hard plastic so fairly chew resistant and they have nice edges to pick up and throw (see outtakes below).

What random household objects does your bunny have to play with?

Outtakes

Scamp has a little bit of a hang up about toys on his rug, namely the only toy allowed on it is his treatball (which is generally not allowed off it). There is possibily some very logical scientific/food related reason for this related to the extra friction making the treat ball move at optimum volocity for treat removal, or he could just be a fuss pot. Anyway, he was not impressed by my attempts to line up his toys for a photo.

Scamp takes a lot of entertaining and a rabbit food ball (sold by Rosewood Pets and various other companies) is one of his top toys. Unlike some other rabbit toys that get played with a bit and then ignored this has kept his attention. Though, that may have something to do with the food I keep filling it with.

It’s a very simple toy; a wire ball with a chain to hang it up and a bell on the bottom. One side has a section of wire missing so it’s easy to fill with goodies. It’s too small to hold enough hay to be useful, but it is perfect for stuffing with veggies.

The wire restricts access so that food has to be nibbled as the ball swings and you can adjust the height to make the activity more easy or difficult as required. If your rabbit is really clever, hang the ball up high so it’s only just in reach or only in reach when stood on a box.

Making rabbits work hard for food is great enrichment. It stops them getting bored and eating your wallpaper instead, and it also encourages them to be active, stretching and jumping to get what they want.

In this photo I’d wrapped Scamp’s veg up in paper before putting it in the food ball to make him work extra hard. As you can see, shredding the paper to get the treat is giving him a good work out.