Are you looking for a new toss toy, rattle or ball to stop your rabbit getting bored?
We have reviewed the most popular types of Wooden and Willow toss toys, Balls with bell in and Rattles 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 even help control unwanted destructive behavior as well as provide entertainment to keep your rabbit healthy and happy.
Don't waste money on a toy that may end up being discarded, take a look at our round up below so you can choose the best rattle, toss toy or ball for your rabbit.
Toys you can hide food inside always provide a success with bunnies, at least as long as the treats last.
Treat balls are a simple but effective way of making giving your rabbit some treats an activity. They will soon get the idea that by nudging the toy around they get a steady supply of treats to reward their efforts.
These tough plastic balls typically have a slot you can load the treats into then adjust to help control how many treats drop out depending on their size.
They are made from hard plastic so are durable and also double up as a rattle which your rabbits will enjoy making noise rolling it around and smash it into things.
Make sure you buy a Treat ball designed for rabbits as a product designed for a dog or can may not be as suitable.
This toy is great for when our bunnies are a bit bored and start being naughty by chewing our furniture or pulling things off our coffee table.
All we have to do is give it a bit of a rattle and our bunnies become completely distracted from what they were doing and come running out.
They will then let off all their energy chasing the ball around and eventually settle down to digest their treats.
We tend to only bring this toy out when we are supervising our bunnies and it works well to help make giving out the treats last a bit longer.
Once your rabbit picks up a bad habit of chewing your carpet, baseboards or wallpaper this unwanted behavior can be very hard to stop no matter how many times you say No!
Rabbits do not really understand discipline so a better technique could be to try and distract them away from what they are doing with something more interesting.
Treat balls can switch around your bunnies unwanted destructive behavior and are an effective way to stop the destruction driven by boredom.
Bunnies love chewing on things especially they can toss them about and twiggy or woven balls are perfect for this.
They come in a variety of materials including Willow, Wicker, Rattan and Grassy woven types, all of which will not only make a tasty fibrous treat which is good for your rabbit tummy but will also help wear down your rabbit teeth which grow constantly throughout their lives.
You will often find Chew balls in packs which include a variety of shapes and materials which are good value for money and can be swapped out to stop your rabbit getting bored and overlooking them.
They also come in a variety of different shapes and sizes, often the more detailed they are the more expensive they are however, intricate shapes don't really seem to matter to bunnies that much so you may as well go for good value and get a multi pack of simple toys.
Make sure you choose ones that are made from all-natural material and avoid home decoration products as they may look the same but can be treated with varnishes or fire-retardant chemicals that can be bad for your bunnies tummy.
Our bunny loves the chunky willow ball, we have a hard floor, so he likes the noise it makes as he bats it about.
We also discovered we prefer the twiggy variety as opposed to the grassy types as they make less mess as they eventually fall apart.
They do have a habit of being wedged under furniture so we tend use them while we are playing with our bunny, then we hide them away after a bit, this also make them last a bit longer as it turns out our bunny can eat most of one in a single go is left unattended.
Chewing toys work as a great alternative to help distract your rabbit from destroying other things in your home.
Rabbits need a constant diet of fibrous material to help their digestion and tough materials also help wear down their teeth
By leaving these toys out where you find damage occurring, typically around furniture legs, wallpaper, baseboards, and carpet, you can provide them with the roughage they need and help avoid costly repairs.
Tough plastic balls, especially those with a bell in, are a great toy if your rabbit likes to cause a bit of chaos.
Rabbits like to make a bit of noise occasionally and they will love batting or tossing these toys across a room when it lays in their path.
Be careful to check the ball you select it's for rabbits like the Plasic ball with bell as they can also be designed for cats. Cat toys are often made of soft material that may not stand up to a rabbit's chewing which if they then get eaten can be bad for your rabbit tummy.
If you have a smaller bread of rabbit, make sure it's not too big so your bunny can easily pick it up in their mouth and toss it about.
Our bunnies have a habit of rolling these toys to the edge of the room or under furniture and unless we brought them out again, they tended to get ignored.
These toys are good to have when you want to play a game with your bunny and the bell helps keep their interest.
One game was to place a toilet roll tube on its end and balance the ball on top, then see how long it would last before our bunnies feel compelled to knock it over.
We did discover we had to keep this toy out of our bunnies enclose at night as our bunnies did tend to wake us up playing with it.
They also make a good filler for our bunnies digging box.
Although rabbits do not make much noise themselves, more than the odd grunt, this does not mean they do not dislike generating noise, especially when they think they are missing out on attention or are needy for something interesting to eat.
If for instance you keep your rabbit behind a door in a room or in an enclosure, it is common for them to try and create enough noise to get your attention.
This will mostly involve repeated chewing on the fencing of an enclosure or the frames of a door.
Unfortunately, this attention seeking can do quite a lot of damage over time and when it starts it can be extremely hard to stop.
Rabbits do not respond very well to training or discipline, and you are likely to correct this problem by telling them No!
This is why providing you rabbits with some alternative and acceptable ways to make some noise is essential.
Wooden toss toys are cheap and long-lasting toys that can be left out and enjoyed when you rabbits want to fling things about or nibble on something. They can also help wear down teeth which grow constantly throughout their lives.
They are made in a variety of shapes and sizes and often come bundled in a pack with a variety of different toys inside however the better sort to look out for are Wooden chew toys that are a more interesting shape rather than simple wooden blocks.so they can be easily held in the mouth and tossed about.
They are typically made of Apple wood or other untreated wooden material but can also be made of a variety of materials that are joined together such as Willow or String.
We would advise avoiding wooden chewing toys that have been stained with intense colors or that are glued together as this would not add any interest to your bunnies and may not be something you want your bunny to digest.
We have had some rabbits that have been fanatical chewers, and these toys are helpful to leave out in areas where they have made it a mission to chew at the soft wood.
Although our bunnies did not find these toys interesting, they are very hard-wearing, so we found they were good to leave out in areas where our bunnies spend lengthy periods of time to keep unsupervised to keep them occupied.
We found it worked best to get a few different sorts, put some aside and swap them over occasionally to stop them being overlooked.
They also worked well as an addition filler in our bunnies digging box which is one of our bunnies favorite toys.
Wooden chewing toys work as a great alternative to help distract your rabbit from chewing on other things in your home.
Rabbits are always on the look-out for new sources of fiber to eat and tough materials to chew to ware down their teeth and by leaving these tough wooden toys out you can help prevent much of the destruction to your furniture legs, wallpaper, baseboards, and carpet.
Log rolls are wooden chew toy made a bit more interesting by letting you hide some treats in them.
Log roll chew toys are typically made from natural wood, apple wood or dried yucca or wood
They have several cavities cut in it that come filled with treats your bunny will enjoy excavating. Once these are gone you can refill them again keeping the toy interesting.
Your rabbit will enjoy rolling it about, munching the treats and chewing the soft woody material.
It's a solid toy that you can leave out and will still be fun when the treats have all gone as the soft wood can be chewed as well.
This toy proved to be a lot more fun than some of the simple wooden chew toys we have had before, however the novelty soon wearied off when the tasty treats had been excavated.
We did not try refilling it as that would have been a lot of messing about however if you did have the time or patience then this would be ideal
Keeping a constant supply of chew toys to act as a distraction from chewing your baseboards and wooden furniture can help reduce the constant destruction in your home.
Wooden chew toys that have the addition of high value food and treats embedded in them will encourage your rabbit to prefer this toy over your furniture and wallpaper.
Toilet roll tubes make great toss and chew toys and the best thing about them is they are free!
Instead of putting their toilet roll tubes in the trash many rabbit parents have discovered that they can be repurposed as a rabbit toy.
Rabbits are curious creatures who will always be intrigued by something new to nibble or toss about so they can be simply left out for a time when you have a fresh one.
If you build up a collection of them that can also be stacked up or used as skittles which bunnies enjoy.
You can also make them even more fun by filling them with hay which is an easy way of getting your bunny some essential fiber or hanging them with some string which will appeal to your bunnies foraging instincts
Your rabbits will enjoy chewing at the course cardboard which is an easy way for them to wear down their teeth and they are ideal for tossing about.
It's also important to make sure they are clean and have not been stored next to any bathroom cleaners or chemicals that may have contaminated them.
We recommend you watch how much of them they eat. Eating a lot of paper material is not ideal so if you do notice this happening, it's best to only bring it out when you can supervise this.
If you want to buy a load in one go you can always Buy cheap toilet roll tubes online
We never throw an old toilet roll away instead we just chuck them in our bunnies path when the roll is used up. Our bunnies do get a bit bored of them when they start looking tired, however it is no loss to bin them as we have an unlimited supply.
We also like to play a game with our bunny where I sit with him and stack a bunch of them up on top of each other which he then knocks over and tosses about. He never gets bored of this game, so it is a fun way of keeping his attention when playing with him.
They also make a great filler for our bunnies digging box and our bunnies love digging around in them and making a rustling noise with them
When you keep rabbits in your home many of the things, they would naturally do often become an annoyance.
Rabbits are naturally curious animals and spend much of their time foraging for new things to eat.
Although a tidy and orderly environment is more suited to us it leaves little opportunity for them to explore new things without it causing unwanted damage.
This is why toilet toll tubes are so good as they are free and in unlimited supply. There are lots of things you can do with them and it's no problem to put them in the trash the moment the novelty wears off.
It's important to your rabbit's health and wellbeing to have lots of soft fibrous material to chew on. This can also help distract them from chewing your base boards, carpet, and wallpaper.
There are many different types of willow or apple wood sticks available that you can buy from pet stores that your rabbit will enjoy munching or tossing about.
Starting by chewing the soft bark and eventually eating the soft wood inside.
They come in packs with multiple sticks inside or bundled in packs with a variety of other chew toys.
We recommend trying to find ones that are fresh looking, typically produced by a company that sells products with organic credentials as old sticks that have been stored for a long time will have dried out and lost some of their flavor.
Our bunny did slowly work their way through these sticks, mostly chewing the soft material on the outside. They prefer the thinner sort however they mostly discarded them after a time, and they ended up lying about.
We found we could make them a bit more appealing by pushing them through the sides of a toilet roll tube. This made them a fun toy and helped keep them together off the floor where they tended to pick up dust.
If your rabbit has a habit of chewing the soft wooden materials in your home such as your base boards or wooden furniture, then providing them with interesting alternatives can be an effective way to distract them from this destructive behavior.
Although these toys are not the most interesting chew toys, they do come in packs so you can pull a few fresh sticks out each time which will draw your bunnies interest.
Rabbit's love to forage for food and reach up to try to find new things to eat, that is why chew toys that dangle down which you can hang treats and veggies on are a source of endless fun.
A hanging treat toys is an easy way of feeding your rabbit some of the additional food that supplements their diet such as fruit and treats. They help keep the food in one place and off the floor.
They are typically made from a metal skewer that you can push a range of yummy things onto and a clip to attach it with. If your rabbit likes making noise, then you can also get them with a bell on the end to make them even more fun.
You can also find a single use option that is threaded on a piece of string and often comes with bits of apple wood and treats.
Be careful to check if the toy is a Hanging treat toy for rabbits and not for parrots which look similar but are not suitable.
One of our rabbits likes making noise to get attention so we purchased one with a bell on and hung it next to his food bowl, he soon got the hang of ringing it persistently when he ran out of food which was very cute and became a bit of a game in the end.
Placing food above your rabbit's litter tray can be an easy way of encouraging them to maintain good litter traying habits.
If you do find the mess spreading outside the litter tray or worse your rabbit starts peeing and pooping on your carpet, couch, or bed then this toy will help bring their litter training back in line.
Wooden puzzle toys are a great, hard-wearing toy for rabbits that love to forage for food and toss toys about.
They are made from natural materials such as apple wood or other untreated woods which are comfortable for your bunnies to play with and if they do chew on them will also help wear down your rabbit's teeth.
They come in a variety of shapes and sizes but are mostly made from a series of compartments that can be accessed with sliding panels, flaps, and pegs.
Each compartment can have treats hidden in them and your bunny will soon learn how to access.
This can also be a clever way of making the treats last a bit longer and keeping your bunny occupied.
Some rabbits are smarter than others and many foraging or puzzle toys have different levels of complexity so you may need to try a few till you find one that is right for your rabbits.
Tough plastic versions of these toys are also available that are easy to keep clean and will be resistant to chewing damage over a long time. However, if you prefer to give your rabbit something more natural to play with then these toys are ideal.
We much prefer these wooden toys to the plastic versions as they are a bit heavier, which stops them moving about as much and they also make a lot less irritating noise.
We have a bunny that is into everything, and this toy was a success with him. He would recognize there where treats to be had and persist in trying to get them. His companion, however, would simply try smashing it on the floor a few times then wonder off uninterested.
We also used to load this up when we went to bed or went out to try and make our absence a little less abrupt for them.
A bored bunny is a destructive bunny so if you can keep them occupied this can be a simple way of limiting the destruction.
Forging for food is a natural part of a rabbit's behavior and you should always make a toy like this available to satisfy this urge and distract them from foraging in places such as behind your couch or under your bed.
If your bunny has a habit of chewing, tugging and dig up your carpet, or is constantly trying to burrow into your couch or bed then this is the ultimate toy for them.
Digging boxes are a great way to let your rabbit exercise their foraging behavior and the best thing about this popular toy is they are free!
To make a digging box all you need is a cardboard box or a basket filled with shredded or scrunched up paper, hay and other chew toys.
This will keep your rabbit endlessly entertained foraging inside and is also a great way of keeping the mess rabbits generate contained inside the box.
If you are repurposing a cardboard box as a rabbit toy, always make sure you check for staples and tape, and we recommend avoid boxes with glossy paper with heavy print on it as this will be bad for your rabbit's tummy if they eat too much of it.
Our bunnies loved their digging box, its always something they would go to and jump straight in. We often hide some treats in the bottom which may have made this more fun.
It's also great for keeping all our bunnies chew toys together and stops a lot of the mess from grassy toys that are falling apart being spread around the house.
However, we did learn an important lesson when we left this toy out for too long only to discover one of our bunnies had got it confused and used it as a litter tray!
We only bring this toy out when we can supervise our bunnies playing with it and for shout sessions.
Digging and foraging for food is instinctive behavior for rabbits and in their natural environment they are adept at tugging up tough roots and digging through hard soil.
If you find your rabbit has started a habit of trying to dig or tug up the corner of your carpet it's important to do something about this unwanted behavior as soon as possible before significate damage can be done.
Unfortunately, it can be very hard to persuade you rabbit to stop this behavior. No matter how many times you say No! it's likely to continue the moment your back it turned.
This is where a digging box can help by using it to simply cover the area of carpet to protect it.
Place the box directly over the spot and you rabbits will soon get the hang of dig and forage inside the box instead of elsewhere.
We know how important it is to give your rabbit lots of toys they can toss about and make noise with to keep them happy and healthy. Although rabbits do not make much noise themselves, they love smashing things about to get attention. They also love arranging things around them to suit their needs as they would in the wild. Toss toys and rattles help rabbits exercise this natural behavior and can not only keep them occupied when you are away but can make spending time playing with them more fun. It is also a terrific way to distract them from unwanted behavior such as tugging up carpet or chewing on cage doors and other things to get attention.
We created this review because we understand how hard it can be to get this choice right. Every rabbit is different and there is a wide range of Balls, Rattles and Toss toys available in a wide range of materials.
From simple wooden blocks your rabbit may lose interest pretty quickly but can be left out all the time to balls with bells in it that can rapidly become a nuisance when bashed about at night to get your attention.
In this guide we review the most popular types of toss toys, Rattle and Balls and try to give you an idea of what to expect from the toy and your bunnies reaction. We discuss their good and bad to help you choose the best toy for your rabbit.
Toss toys, rattles and balls have many benefits to your rabbits health and wellbeing and this is at the heart of our reviews. We consider how good they will be at keeping your rabbit occupied and consider how good they will be as a source of fiber if they can be eaten. We also consider if they are helpful in wearing down your rabbit teeth which grow constantly throughout their lives. We also discuss the positive and negative behavior they could cause when you introduce them.
We examine what each toy is made from and guide you on how good the materials are in case your rabbit overindulges in it and eats more than expected. We would not review toys that are glued together or constructed from materials we consider harmful.
Many of these toys can be lots of fun for you and your rabbit and we give you some examples of how you can spend quality time with your furry friend playing with them using these toys.
In this guide we also show you the many ways each toy can be used to help you rabbit proof your home, this is after all our specialist subject.
Rabbits are natural foragers and are always on the lookout for new sources of food which many of these toys provide. This can unfortunately lead them to unwanted chewing of soft wooden materials in your home such as baseboards, wallpaper, and wooden furniture. Many of these toys can also satisfy your rabbits instinctive need to tailor their environment and can be good at stopping your rabbit tugging up your carpet or rattling on their cane door to get attention.
In this guide we match the rabbit proofing problem with the toy so you can make sure you are providing a safe distraction that will satisfy your rabbits instinctive needs and avoid expensive repairs to your home.
We have been house rabbit parents for over 20 years and have tested out all of these toys with our bunnies at home. We share their reactions and tell you how these toys performed in the long term, not just on the day we introduce them.
We know every rabbit has its own personality, so we have also gathered lots of evidence from our rabbit proofing community on Facebook which at the time of this guide has over 50K members. This has helped us to learn what toys were popular and what toys caused unexpected issues.
To help you compare each toy we have given them a rating on three criteria, Value for money, fun and mess.
Value for money - How expensive they are compared to how long they will last
Mess - How much mess may spread about and how hard it is to clean up
Noise - How much of a nuisance this toy may become especially if left out during the night
We created these reviews to provide other rabbit owners with help and advice. We are not associated with any other companies or organizations. We would not review a product for any reason other than we feel it is a suitable choice based on our own experience and the experience of the members of our bunny proofing Facebook group.
You should always provide your rabbits with lots of toss toys to satisfy their need to make noise and arrange their environment. Woven willow balls and balls with bells in will keep your rabbit occupied and can help stop them chewing your baseboards, carpet, and wallpaper.
Rabbits are constantly looking for roughage to eat. Woven willow balls and grassy mats are great for providing digestive fiber and can help stop your rabbit eating your carpet, baseboards, and wallpaper. Cardboard castles and twig tunnels will satisfy their need to customize their surroundings.
Rabbits like to arrange their environment and it is important to provide them with lots of new and interesting toss toys such as woven willow balls and balls with bells in to keep them occupied when you are away.
You should not give cat toys to your rabbit. They can often contain glue or catnip. and synthetic materials such as cloth or string which could make your rabbit unwell if they eat it. Only give your rabbit toys designed specifically for rabbits.
You should not give dog toys to your rabbit. They can often contain synthetic materials such as rubber, cloth or string which could make your rabbit unwell if they eat it. Only give your rabbit toys designed specifically for rabbits.
You should not give baby teether to your rabbit. They can often contain synthetic materials such as rubber, cloth or string which could make your rabbit unwell if they eat it. Only give your rabbit toys designed specifically for rabbits.
Toss toys made from woven willow balls are fun because they are tasty and can be rolled about, balls with bells in are tough and will satisfy your rabbit need to make noise. Treat tumblers will always get your rabbits attention and will help make the treat last a bit longer.
Rabbits are always on the lookout for something new to play with. If you don't provide your rabbits with lots of new safe and acceptable toss toys, rattles, and balls to play with your baseboards, carpet and wallpaper could end up on the menu.