Are you looking for the best hideout toy to give your rabbit somewhere to shelter and to stop them getting bored?
We have reviewed the most popular types of Grassy Wood or Plastic Hideouts, Pop up Tents and Tunnels as well as Cardboard Castles and tell you their good and bad points.
We tested them with our rabbits to share their reactions as well as rating them for Value for money, Mess and Noise nuisance.
We explain how these toys can help control unwanted behavior like hiding under your bed or couch and how the shelter they provide will help keep your rabbit healthy and happy.
Don't waste money on a toy that may end up being ignored, take a look at our shortlist of the hideouts we think your rabbit will love so you can choose the right one.
Fun:
Value for money:
Mess: No mess!
Noise:
Activity tunnel toys are great for exercise your rabbits instinctive burrowing behavior and they can also be neatly packed away when not needed.
Find out more
Fun: Irrisistable!
Value for money: A bit pricy
Mess: No mess!
Noise:
A brilliant toy that will add a new dimension to your rabbits living space and best of all it can be easily packed away when not needed.
Find out more
Fun: Enjoyable
Value for money: Affordable
Mess: Very tidy
Noise:
These toys are a great way to let your bunny explore places of shelter safely. A must have for bunnies that are always hiding under furniture.
Find out more
Cloth tunnels are a large toy that can be easily brought out to enrich areas your bunny plays in and can be folded away neatly when not needed.
They are made from tough fabric stretched over a wire spring which makes them a lot less messy than cardboard, wicker or grassy tubes that tend to spread mess about. The material is not absorbent and is easy to wipe clean in case your rabbit has any accidents
They often come with a hole in the middle which your rabbit can use to peep out off and are great to pop a few treats into.
Your rabbit will enjoy playing inside this toy as well as sitting alongside it and jumping over it. It is great for breaking up a large open space and offering your rabbits some shelter.
Always check to see if they are a Collapsible tunnel for rabbits. There are also cat tubes toys sold alongside these which may not be suitable for rabbits. These often come with a pompom in the entrance which would most likely be chewed off and eaten.
We were worried our bunnies would chew through the cloth and expose the metal wire inside be they didn't seem to be interested in this.
This toy does take up quite a lot of space which is one of the reasons our bunnies like it and it encouraged them to play in the center of the room more. That said it is easy to step over and the times we did step on it it seemed to spring back OK.
We did, however, replace this in the end with a three-way tunnel warren system. The three interconnecting tubes helped stop it rolling around when our bunny crashed through, and it still packed away the same.
Rabbits love exploring in narrow spaces like behind your couch and this can be a serious problem as damage can quickly build up there that goes unnoticed.
Unfortunately, these spaces can also be dangerous as couches can be pushed back crushing your rabbit or worse your rabbit can chew their way inside, which can turn into a nightmare trying to rescue them.
This is why providing your rabbits with safe places to play in as an alternative is important to help keep them out of harm's way.
Fun:
Value for money:
Mess: No mess!
Noise:
If you want to get your rabbit something really special, then a tent and tunnel system is an amazing toy that you can keep adding bits on to build your rabbit a complete warren to play in.
Tunnel and tent system are probably the most complex rabbit toy you can buy. They combine a collection tunnels, interconnecting section and tents that can be joined together.
They are made from tough fabric stretched over wire springs that is nonabsorbent so you can easily wipe it clean.
They do take up a lot of room however, the wire springs holding the structure ridged but can be folded up and packed away when not needed.
It's also worth checking that the toy you are looking for is a Tent and tunnel system design for rabbits as they are sold alongside cat toys that may be unsuitable. These cat toys typically come with a pompom in the entrance which your rabbit is likely to chew and eat.
This toy will really appeal to a curious bunny that likes to explore and will quickly turn a boring space somewhere they can have an adventure.
This toy was great for keeping our bunnies amused. Every time we set it out differently our bunny would find exploring it irresistible, that said there were treats involved which was part of the fun.
It did take up quite a bit of room but was easy to step over and the novelty made it a lot more fun they a regular activity tunnel and made a lot less mess than some of the construction we have made from cardboard boxes and chew tubes.
A bored bunny is a destructive bunny, and this toy is an amazing boredom buster that will keep your rabbits occupied and out of trouble.
It is also great for drawing out rabbits that like to hide under your couch or bed which can be unsafe places for your rabbit to play.
Fun: Irrisistable!
Value for money: A bit pricy
Mess: No mess!
Noise:
Bunnies need places of shelter to rest in and make them feel safe and wooden hideouts are a permanent feature they will come to adore.
If you are looking to add some shelter for your bunny, then a sturdy Wooden hideout house is a excellent choice as they are strong enough for your rabbits to jump on top and tough enough to be left out in an enclosure when they are unsupervised
They are typically made from birch plywood and can come pre-assembled or in a flat pack format.
They come in a variety of sizes so make sure you check the measurements as it can be disappointing when it arrives, and you discover it is more suitable for a Garble or Ginny pig.
They can be a bit more costly than the cardboard version of this toy, however they will be a lot more stable and can even be joined together with bridges to build your bunny a fortress they can play in.
If you are installing this in an enclosure, remember your rabbit will still need room to hop about and stretch out.
We have tried a few of these and the best for us was the more natural wooded kind as our bunny also enjoys nibbling on it.
We have a solid floor so we also prefer the kind without a base so we can mop underneath with the rest of the room, however if you have carpet, you may want the kind with a base to help prevent stains.
We tried the sort with a grassy covering however it did not prove any more exciting to our rabbits and caused quite a bit of mess and we ended up putting it in the trash in the end.
Bunnies need places of shelter and providing a suitable space is the best way of keeping them out from under your bed or couch where they can cause quite a lot of damage.
Giving them a permanent hideout can make them more relaxed and help keep them out from under furniture where damage can build up unnoticed.
Fun: Enjoyable
Value for money: Affordable
Mess: Very tidy
Noise:
This wooden adventure toy is very versatile and can be used as a hideout, a chew toy and can also be very handy for bunny proofing around the home.
They are made from a series of thick wooden sticks that are joined together and can be bent into a variety of shapes of your choosing.
You can create an arch with them which can make a great hideout toy for your rabbit to play in. You can also, as the name suggests, use them to make a bridge. However, it is quite flexible so a larger rabbit may bend it out of shape.
They have a soft wooden bark that can be chewed, and your bunny will enjoy picking this out between the logs. Underneath the bark there is some tough wood that makes this toy resilient enough to be left out as a permanent shelter.
They come in a variety of sizes, but you will need a larger one if you want to turn it into a hideout.
We recommend choosing a natural looking Willow bridge with a bark as opposed to the more colorful stained varieties.
We have a few of these as we have found many uses for them as a toy and to help bunny proof our home. We found a clever way of setting them out is to bend them into a semi-circle and leave them on their side as our bunny likes tucking his rear end inside it for a snooze.
We have also found we can use them as a foraging toy by scattering some treats over it as these would fall into the ridges. Our bunnies enjoyed fishing the treats out and it made them last a lot longer.
Sometimes bunny proofing parts of your home can simply mean protecting them from chewing damage and this toy is ideal for this. It's heavy enough to not get moved out of the way and flexible enough to fit it up against areas that need covering over.
You can wrap it around table and chair legs or lean it against baseboards to keep them out of reach. You can bend it around the corners of furniture to protect the soft wooden or material edges or lay it on carpet to stop it being tugged up.
It is tough enough to leave out all the time and can be packed away if you do not want the mess. Keeping a few of these handy can be ideal to make bunny proofing easy and avoid expletive repairs.
Fun: Enjoyable
Value for money: Affordable
Mess: No mess!
Noise: Silent
Most pet stores stock Cardboard chew tube as they are excellent value for money because they combine a tunnel toy, shelter, and chew toy all in one.
These colorful tubes are made from thick cellulose board, which is safe for your rabbit to chew, and they will soon discover they can strip the layers of papery material off which keeps them endlessly entertained.
They come in a variety of sizes so it's important to check you choose a tube that is big enough for your rabbit to hop through comfortably especially if they are a larger bread.
They can be left out as an activity toy for your bunny to jump through and make a great hideout toy for your rabbit to relax in when they want a bit of shelter.
They do roll about quite a bit so work better on carpet or you can simply push it up against a wall or wedge something next to them.
When they got older, they mostly discarded it as a tunnel toy and used it as a giant chew toy which they enjoyed.
We got one of these when we set up a room for some baby bunnies and it became an instant hit.It was a part of their routine to hop through it, which they loved.
It did leave quite a bit of shredded paper everywhere, but this was easy to tidy up.
We did try out alternatives such as Alfalfa coated tubes as we thought it would be more fun, but they don't seem to get any more attention than the basic cardboard ones and created an awful lot more mess that quickly spread about.
A frequent problem with bunnies is wallpaper chewing. They love getting their teeth under the paper and then tugging it off strip by strip.
Short of fencing off all the walls in your home there is not much you can do to prevent it other than try and provide your rabbit with more fun and acceptable alternatives.
Carboard chew toys are typically made of lots of layers of papery material and when your bunny gets the hang of stripping this off, they will hopefully leave your wallpaper alone.
Fun:
Value for money:
Mess:
Noise: Silent
As the name suggests Snuggle tunnel are a combination of a pet bed and a small tunnel and will give your rabbit a comfortable place to relax that will make them feel safe.
They have soft padded sides and base, which would be good for keeping your rabbit warm and insulated from the cold floor.
The base is more stable than a thinner cloth activity tunnel which can spring about a bit if your rabbit crashes into them.
These toys are often quite small so may be better for smaller breads. They are also machine washable which is great as areas where bunnies nest in can get a bit messy over time.
We have hard floors in our home, so we got one of these to provide a bit of comfort for our rabbits. Our bunny likes to sit in it from time to time but more half on and half off, which suited him.
It's natural for rabbits to seek out safe places of shelter to relax in or around.
Unfortunately, many of these narrow places such as under or behind your couch, under wooden furniture or your bed can have rough unfinished or exposed materials that may be dangerous.
Staples and nails that poke out can cause harm, plastic covers can contain long strands of synthetic material that would cause harm if eaten.
That is why it is important to give your rabbit lots of safe and acceptable places of shelter to keep them out of trouble and away from harm.
Fun: Enjoyable
Value for money: A bit pricy
Mess: Easy to clean
Noise:
These attractive hideouts are not only great fun for your bunny to play in, and the soft twigs are also good for chewing so this toy is guaranteed to be a favorite.
They come in various materials like wicker and willow, and you can get a full tube or a half tube shape. We recommend the half tube as it will be a lot more stable as rabbits tend to crash around these toys.
We also recommend getting the largest size you can as this will be more comfortable if your bunny wants to use it as a shelter.
Make sure you buy a Twig tunnel made specifically for bunnies or other small animals, not a home decoration which often comes treated with varnish or flame-resistant chemicals.
This toy was a bit of a special treat as it's quite expensive. Our bunnies really loved it, so much so we had to put it away and bring it out when we could supervise them around it as they would have tried to eat in in one go if they could.
It did make quite a bit of a mess when it finally fell apart so it was a bit of a waste in the end.
Chewing toys can help provide an alternative to the fiber your rabbit may be seeking out in your home by chewing your furniture, baseboards, and wallpaper.
This toy is ideal as it not only provides an acceptable alternative source of fiber that they will enjoy munching it will also give them a shelter to relax in or around which can help satisfy their instinctive need to tailor their environment by chewing.
Fun: Very exciting
Value for money:
Mess:
Noise:
Folding plastic tunnel toys are made from tough corrugated plastic that is easy to wide clean and are and ideal hideout toy to enrich your rabbits outside play areas.
These rigid colorful tunnel toys can be stretched out and bent into lots of interesting shapes that your rabbit can explore and when its not needed it can be collapsed down neatly and easily packed away.
You can leave this toy them out pertinently in your rabbit enclosure as the rigid plastic will be resistant to being chewed in comparison to other cloth or carboard tunnel toys.
That also make great outside rabbit toys as the plastic material will not absorb any moisture and if they do get dirty they can easily be washed down.
They come in a range of sizes as they are a common toy for smaller pets such as hamsters so check the sizes and make sure you are getting a Large foldable plastic tunnel that is suitable for rabbits.
We have found these toys very useful for providing some shelter in our rabbits pen before they are fully litter trained as they are easy to keep clean. We could literally scrub the mess from stray poops that seem to get stuck to everything at this stage.
We found they where a lot more stable then a regular cardboard chew tube as you can bend them into an L shape or S shape and this would stopped it rolling around when out bunnies crashed into it or ran through it.
The only negative side to this toy is that they can be a bit noisy. The rigid corrugated plastic tends to amplify the noise of scratch paws. This toy is particularly loud when you stretch them out and this use to scare our bunnies so we would do this in another room.
A great trick we discovered was that they were ideal for making cardboard box hideouts more fun. They can be neatly insert in a hole cut in the side and they would stay quite firmly in place.
Plastic tunnel toys like these are ideal for outdoor areas and can be left out to to provide some shelter which will help to distracting your rabbit from its natural instinct to burrow.
This toy is ideal for enriching your rabbit pen when they are being litter trained. This can be a messy process at first and these toys can be easily scrubbed clean.
Fun: Enjoyable
Value for money: Great value
Mess: No mess!
Noise: Annoying
Grass chew toys are a favorite for rabbit's and this one is big enough for your rabbit to sit inside.
Grass hideouts are made into a box shape so are a lot more stable than grassy tunnels a box.
They are made from natural edible grass such as Sea grass and come with an entrance up one end. These entrances are a bit small for a larger rabbit, but do not worry, part of the fun will be customizing the entrance, then the floor, then the walls till they are demolished.
They tend to be on the small side as they are also for gerbils and other small critter so make sure you check the measurements and get one that's suitable for your bunnies breed like a Large grassy hideout house
We found our bunny was not that interested in going inside this toy but loved it as a giant chew toy.
We prefer to use a large cardboard box as a hide which can have an entrance and an escape hole that is big enough for our rabbit to lay out and turn around in. That said it did become a go to toy and a feature our rabbit would lay next to.
Like most grassy toys it generated some mess that spread about and once it started to break down it fall apart pretty quickly.
This toy combines chewing and exploring sheltered spaces which make it ideal if you are struggling to keep your bunny out from under your couch or from under your bed.
In fact, it's often sensible to block off these spaces which can make your rabbit environment a little boring so by satisfying there natural need to explore and seek out new sources of food with a toy like this you can make sure they stay healthy, happy, and out of harm's way.
Fun: Very exciting
Value for money: A bit pricy
Mess: Compleat destuction
Noise:
We understand how important it is to provide your rabbit with lots of hideout toys they can explore and rest in. Rabbits are always on the lookout for places to shelter, and prefer spending time in places that feel protected and out of harm's sight. Providing your rabbit with a few hideout toys can help make them more relaxed and importantly can also act as a great alternative to less suitable places they may go such as under your bed or couch which can be unsafe.
We created this review because we know choosing the best hideaway toy for your rabbit can be difficult as there is a whole range of toys to choose from. They come in a variety of materials, shapes and sizes which all have their merits.
Wooden shelters are safe to jump on and act as a bit of a chew toy. Small tents can be popped up then packed away when not needed to save space. You even get systems of tunnels and tents you can join together to make a warren!
In this guide we review the most popular types of hideaway toys and discuss their good and bad points as well as the benefits they bring to help you choose the best toy for your rabbit.
Our reviews put the benefits to your bunnies wellbeing first. We understand how providing toys to satisfy your bunnies natural instincts to shelter is important to encourage them to relax and feel safe. In our reviews we take a close look at the pros and cons of each type of toy to help you choose the best one for your situation.
We consider the many benefits they have as well as any negative aspects you should be aware of. We advise on how safe these toys will be for instance when your rabbit crashes in and out of them or jumps on them or chooses to eat them. We would not review toys that are glued together or constructed from materials we consider harmful.
In this guide we also help you understand how each type of shelter can be used to help bunny proof your home, this is after all what we are about.
It's natural for rabbits to seek out shelter to explore and rest in however, many of these narrow places such as under or behind your couch, under wooden furniture or your bed can unfortunately have rough unfinished or exposed materials that may be dangerous to an unsuspecting bunny. Staples and nails that poke out can cause harm, plastic covers can contain long strands of synthetic material that can cause harm if eaten. Damage can also build up in these areas which can often go unnoticed till expensive repairs are needed.
In this guide we match the bunny proofing problem with the toy so you can make sure you are providing a safe and acceptable alternative that will satisfy your rabbits instinctive needs. Our hope is to help you avoid expensive repairs to your home and to keep your rabbit out of the vets.
We have tried out all of these toys with our own rabbits here at Bunnyproof HQ where we have kepy house rabbits for over 20 years. We share their reactions in our guides and tell you how these toys performed over their complete life.
We know every rabbit is different so to help give a complete review we have taken lots of advice from our bunny proofing facebook group which has over 50K members at the time of this article. This has helped us to find out what toys seem to be favourites and what toys have caused unexpected issues.
We created these tunnel toy reviews to help improve the lives of rabbits. We are an independent organization with no affiliations to other companies or organizations.
It is important for your rabbits wellbeing to have places of shelter to explore and rest in. Providing your rabbit with a hideout toy will also encourage them to spend less time in unsuitable places such as under your couch and bed.
Rabbits do not like being cornered or trapped so the best type of rabbit hideout toy will give them space to turn around in and have more than one exit. Remember your rabbit may also enjoy jumping on top of their hideout toy so make sure it is a sturdy construction.
Wooden hideout toys are sturdy and can be jumped on safely. Willow and grassy shelters will encourage your rabbit to eat more fiber. Cardboard box hideouts are free and will satisfy your rabbits need to customize their environment.
Rabbits need places of shelter to feel safe in and relax. Rabbit hideout toys are the best way of offering your rabbit some shelter in their pen. Always make sure there is enough room for the hideout toy and for your rabbit to hop about and stretch out.
You should not give cat toys to your rabbit. Cat hideout toys often contain synthetic materials such as crinkle cloths or string which could make your rabbit unwell if they eat it. Only give your rabbit hideout toys designed specifically for rabbits.
You should not give dog toys to your rabbit. Dog shelter toys often contain synthetic materials such as rubber, cloth or string which could make your rabbit unwell if they eat it. Only give your rabbit hideout toys designed specifically for rabbits.
Place your rabbit's hideout away from a busy corridor, in a room that does not get too hot or cold like a conservatory or where there is a draft. Rabbits have sensitive hearing so never place their hideout toy next to a TV, speaker, or domestic appliance.
A rabbit hideout should be big enough for your rabbit to comfortably turn around inside and have an entrance big enough for them to easily pass through, the bigger the better. Larger shelters are better as your rabbit can jump safely on and off them.
Bunnies like to have a place of shelter to rest in. If you have enough room in your bunnies enclosure for a shelter as well as plenty of space for them to hop about, a hideout will act as an inner sanctum where they can feel safe and relax.
Yes! bunnies love exploring and resting in hideouts. They make them feel safe and they will help keep your rabbit from playing under your furniture, couch, and bed, which can be unsuitable.
The thing to make a rabbit hideaway is a cardboard box. You can get this started by adding an entrance and exit. However, your rabbit will soon get the hang of customizing it themselves. Use a clean box without heavy ink markings and remove any tape or staples first.
Rabbits like to snooze in places with shelter where they can stay out of harm's way. They prefer a place where they can keep an eye on what is going on, away from busy corridors and noise. They prefer to relax in hideout toys with more than one escape route.
Tough plastic corrugated tunnel toys or igloos are great for providing your rabbit with some much-needed shelter to play and relay in and can be left outside. They are non-absorbent and can be washed clean. Always buy tunnel toys or hideouts designed for rabbits to ensure it is safe.
You should not let your rabbit eat too much of their hideout toy, Eating too much non digestive material can cause them to be unwell. If you do discover your rabbit is eating its hide out toy you need to remove it.