Category Archives: DIY Toys

Just something I found at the dollar store the other day!  A wooden tissue box that I easily transformed in to a hay basket.  Keeps the hay pretty neat and tidy while the buns are enjoying their free roam time and it’s okay if they nibble here and there on it!

A very quick and easy toy that’s great for nomming and absolutely free!

Materials:

• toilet paper roll
• hay and some goodies

Cost: Free!

First fold one end of the toilet paper roll in by folding in one half of the roll and then the other half on top of it to create an overlap and prevent the goodies from falling out.

Next you’re going to fill the roll with hay and treats and finally create the same overlap on the other end.  Just like that, you’re done and you have a safe and fun treat box for delicious snacking!

I recently discovered these great toys that are intended for cats but are also fun for rabbits too!  They’re a ball that you put treats inside.  Your pet then has to figure out how to move the outer part of the ball so the squares line up and the treat comes out!  Your rabbit will enjoy pushing the ball around with his nose, gripping and tossing the toy by the cutout squares and will spend lots of time trying to get the yummy goodies that are waiting inside, out!  Ollie was having fun pushing the ball and pawing at it, then discovered how exciting it was when a treat popped out!  Imagine his surprise!  Now it’s become one of his favourite toys! (Anything that involves food can be considered his favourite).  I have seen these at pet stores for around $8 but picked mine up at the dollar store for $1.50!

These may seem really basic but sometimes the most obvious things can be overlooked.  So here are two toys that take only seconds (okay maybe minutes but the point is they’re really quick) and are so easy you’ll be saying to yourself, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?!’.

Materials:

• Kraft paper, packing paper, newspaper or regular undyed paper
• Sisal rope

Cost: Free!

For the first toy, cut a 6″x6″ square out of your paper.  It doesn’t have to be exact, so don’t worry if it’s not quite square or a little larger or smaller.  Then just crunch it up!  This will create a lightweight ball that’s fully nibble-able.  Easy to chew and toss!  Voila!

One of Rocky’s favourites, this second toy is going to follow the steps of the Mini Treat Bag but if you don’t have any goodies this is a great alternative.  Start by cutting a 6-8″ square out of the paper.  Now place one of those crunched up balls you just made in the centre.  Then just wrap this up and tie with the sisal rope.  Tie right above the ball to create the bubble shape, leaving about an inch or so of extra paper for your rabbit to nibble.  Rocky absolutely loves tossing these around and best of all there’s no mess!

Get creative when you’re looking for toys.  A great area of the department store to checkout is the baby section.

There are a variety of baby toys that are noisy and that your rabbit can grip and toss.  Since you’ll be looking for smaller toys, they will also be fairly inexpensive.  You’ll also feel comfort in knowing they’re safe since they’ve been approved for infant use.

These plastic keys for example are the perfect flip and toss toy.  Your rabbit will love grabbing the key ring, tossing it in the air and listening to the noise the keys make when they clink together.  Rattles are also great options and come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Make sure that any toy you bring home can’t get stuck around your rabbit’s head and that it doesn’t consist of material or soft plastic your rabbit could chew apart and ingest.

Materials:

• Small Rounded Canister (I find the Tetley Tea ones perfect!)
• Pebbles
• Kraft or Newspaper
• Sisal Rope, Twine or Raffia
• Jingle Bells (Optional) – Can you tell I have a ton of Jingle Bells hanging around?!

Cost: Absolutely free!

Rinse out your empty cannister to make sure it’s nice and clean.  I love the Tetley ones because they’re lightweight, not too large and aren’t breakable.  Dry with a towel or just leave upside down for a bit to dry out.  Next add a few pebbles!  These could be from the creek, down the side of your house or from your garden.  If you do get them from outside, wash them off first.  I had a bag of pebbles from the Dollar Store hanging around so I used about 6 of those.  Open the can and put the pebbles inside, then snap on the lid.  When you shake the can it’s going to make a great sound for your rabbit!  It might be a little loud now but the paper will help muffle it.

Next cut out a couple of large pieces of newspaper or kraft paper.  The size is really dependent on what size your can is and it doesn’t have to be exact.  You want your pieces of paper large enough to fit around the can multiple times.  I didn’t want to use any glue or tape products to hold the lid on the can so to prevent your rabbit from easily ripping the paper off, you’re going to wrap it up thoroughly.  I used one large piece of kraft paper to roll the can in and then folded the ends up over the can.  Next I used the second piece and just rolled it around the can.  Even if your rabbit did get the paper off the toy the lids snap in to place so it would be pretty tricky for them to open it.  If your rabbit loves to cause trouble and really wreck stuff however this might be best as a supervised toy.

After you’ve wrapped the can in paper, twist the ends and use your string to tie it up!  I wrapped the string around several times and did quite a few knots to keep it from easily being chewed off.  I also chose to add a jingle bell to each end for added noise making.  If you’re left with large pieces of paper on either side, cut them so they’re about 1″ long.  Now give to your rabbit and watch him try to grab and toss it and bonk it with his nose!

Lately I’ve been having trouble finding untreated Willow Balls at the Dollar Stores around here.  I also seem to have an abundance of toilet paper rolls sitting around.  My friends and family were all too eager to save their rolls for me!  So I got playing around with them, trying to come up with some new ideas that would interest bunnies everywhere but also serve the purpose that a willow ball would in some upcoming projects.

I came up with two new and cool toys that take just minutes to make and are guaranteed boredom busters for Mr. & Mrs. Buns!  Best of all they’re free!

Materials:

• Toilet Paper Rolls
• Scissors
• Twine or Sisal Rope (Optional)
• Hay (Optional)

Cost: Free!

The Whirligig!

Use a pair of scissors to cut 1/2″ sections diagonally around one end of the toilet paper roll.  Repeat on the other side.  Cut deeper sections if you want to play around and change the height of the roll.  Bend strips outwards and you’ve created a fun new toy that looks weird (adding intrigue) and gives your rabbit lots of edges to grip.

T.P. Balls

Begin by cutting the t.p. roll in 1/4″ sections, creating multiple mini rings.  Once you have your mini rings cut, start layering them on top of one another at different angles to create a ball.  After about 5 rings or so, it will start to stiffen up.  The ball is fun as it is or modify it by adding some hay inside when you’ve got about 4 rings put together, then continue adding the final rings to keep everything in place.  After making a few singles, with and without hay, I also chose to join two together with some twine for our rabbits to toss around! 

A quick toy to make, the Bunny Dumbbell will have your rabbit tossing and nibbling for hours!  Plus it’s just so fun to watch them trying to lift it like a bodybuilder!

Materials:

• 2 Willow Balls
• Wooden Skewers
• Twine, or Sisal Rope
• Small Jingle Bells (Optional)
• Strong scissors or pruning scissors

Cost: $2-$4 I found all of these supplies at the dollar store. As well you may already have some of these supplies around the house from previous projects.

Start by cutting 6 wooden skewers so they’re approximately 8″ long.  You’ll want to cut off excess from the side that has the pointy end. Bundle the skewers together and use your twine to tie them together about 3″ from one end.  So they don’t come apart easily make sure to triple knot and wrap around the skewers a few times.  Cut off most of the excess rope and repeat at the other end.

If you’re using small jingle bells to create added intrigue pop them in to the Willow balls now.  You can try to move some of the willow to cover the spot you put them in.  Please note if you use the jingle bells you should keep this as a supervised toy only.  The small jingle bells could be swallowed if your rabbit gets it out, although my rabbits have never seemed to care about the bell once it’s out of the ball.

The final step is to find a larger hole in your willow ball and pop the bundle of skewers in until they hit the far end.  Repeat on the other side….and you’re finished!  Now give to your rabbit during play time and watch him/her work those teeth!