Enrichment Ideas for Rabbits: How To Make Enrichment At Home

February 20, 2025 Ginny Woolhouse

Rabbits are extremely curious animals that thrive on mental and physical stimulation.

In the wild, rabbits would naturally forage for food - and this should be replicated for our domesticated pets to prevent boredom. Even though toys are often available from local pet shops, introducing home-made enrichment toys can be a easy, fun and inexpensive way to entertain your pet rabbits.

This blog will be your expert, go-to on how to make safe enrichment for rabbits, and other small pets such as guinea pigs, chinchillas and degus. We'll explore why enrichment is so important, the different types of toys you can create and step-by-step guides of different enrichment toys by one of our HayDay ambassadors.

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What is Enrichment?

Enrichment provides small pets with fun tasks which replicate normal behaviours so they can stimulate their minds and bodies in an exciting and fun way. Different types of activities help to engage the mind, decrease stress and reduce boredom.

High-quality hay should make up approximately 80 to 90% of your rabbit's diet, which is what also makes enrichment so important: to encourage them to eat more food! Enrichment for rabbits is also a great way to hide any treats, or new foods, in order to make them search for them too.

Different Types of Toys and Feeding Methods

Dig Boxes: Rabbits love to dig! Dig boxes filled with litter and hay can provide hours of fun, allowing them to exhibit their natural behaviours.
Chew Toys: Small pet's have teeth that are ever-growing, and require suitable foods and toys to help wear them down and prevent dental issues. According to our nutritionist Briony,

The teeth of rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas and degus are what’s known as hypsodont - which means they erupt continuously throughout their life. This trait essentially relies on abrasion from chewing fibrous feeds in order to maintain dental health and comfort.
Hidey Houses: Empty cardboard boxes are a brilliant example of reuse and recycle! Tunnels and hiding spots are important as they encourage your pets to be active, and provide a safe spot for them to hide. Creating a hidey house can be as simple as cutting holes into a cardboard box!
Scatter Feeding: Scatter feeding involves placing hay, spaced out and in places where your small pet needs to search for it. It will encourage movement in your pets and the act of searching for food, as they would in the wild.

Best Types of Materials To Use

Cardboard: Such as cardboard boxes, egg boxes and empty toilet paper tubes. Always ensure any cardboard used is free of any glue or harmful materials.
Paper: You could scrunch paper up and add it to a dig box alongside their favourite hay. The use of paper, and different textures, will add an element of fun for your pets.

High Quality Hay: Hay should make up 80 to 90% of a rabbits, guinea pigs and other small pet's diet. Popular types of hay include timothy hay, meadow hay, ryegrass hay and oat hay. By feeding a variety of different hay types, you will enrich your pets diet!
Twigs, Branches and Wild Plants: As pet owners, you can forage in the great outdoors for a variety of different pet-safe foraging items, that your pets are guaranteed to love. Different varieties of safe plants include bramble, hawthorn, plantain and willow.

As with all enrichment for rabbits, they must be supervised at all times. Plus, if you're introducing new and different foods, we recommend that they are fed over a prolonged period of 7 to 14 days.

Why Are Enrichment Toys so Important?

Different types of enrichment toys include hiding areas, platforms or toys that your pets can interact with. You'll also find that enrichment is important for your pets because:

Physical Exercise: Small pets need constant movement in order to prevent obesity, meaning enrichment toys are a great way of promoting movement and exercise. Our nutritionist Briony states:

"Hay is typically lower in calories, so is great to feed in enriching ways to help occupy time, stimulate the brain and natural foraging behaviour while still moderating calorie intake."
Natural Behaviours and Mental Stimulation: Most enrichment allows small pets to exhibit natural behaviours, like they would in the wild, such as foraging for food and stimulating a chewing action. Rabbits, and other small pets teeth grow constantly, so the action of chewing is great for their dental health - as well as keeping their gut moving!
Bonding Time: Making your pets their home-made enrichment can allow you to better bond and engage with them.

Foraging Fun: Step by Step Enrichment Toy Guides

When it comes to creating your rabbits a DIY enrichment toy, at HayDay, we have plenty of enrichment activity ideas.

In collaboration with our ambassador Karolina, we've teamed up with her on fun ways to create toys and boredom breakers to enrich her bunnies - here are some suggestions we have for enrichment for beginners!

As a top tip, always remember to supervise your pets when presenting them with any home-made enrichment toys, treats and jute twine.

How To Make a DIY Hay Heart Wreath

What You'll Need:

An empty cardboard box
Jute twine
Scissors
Pet's hay of choice (Karolina recommends our Tasty Timothy or Outstanding Oat Hay)

Instructions:

Using cardboard (empty HayDay boxes are perfect for this!), draw a love heart outline and cut this out using scissors.
Using jute twine and your pet’s favourite hay, attach the hay to the cut out heart. Doing this in little sections will help secure the hay to the cardboard easily.
Extra idea: Accessorise! You can attach a few treats to the heart wreath or pet-safe decorations.

How To Make a DIY Love Heart Kraft Bag

What You'll Need:

Kraft bags
Jute twine
Scissors
Your pet's favourite hay

Instructions:

Begin by cutting a heart shape into an empty kraft bag
Stuff your pets favourite hay into the kraft bag
Slightly fold over the top of the craft bag, and cut two holes through this
Cut a piece of jute string, slide this through the holes and tie the bag shut
Attach any pet-safe & cute accessories or stickers to the bags

How To Make Love Letters Enrichment

What You'll Need:

Empty envelope(s)
Your rabbit's favourite hay

Instructions:

Simply stuff empty envelopes with your pets favourite hay
For extra enrichment fun, mix in any pet-safe treats!

How To Make an Enrichment Box

What You'll Need:

Litter
Empty toilet rolls
Scissors
HayDay’s Tasty Timothy and Outstanding Oat Hay

Instructions:

Begin by cutting a heart shape into empty toilet rolls (you can create as many as these as you like)
Stuff your pets favourite hay into the empty toilet rolls to create cute enrichment toys
Use an empty plastic tub and pour litter into it to cover the base. Then add a second layer of hay on top of this to create a dig box
Add the toilet rolls into the plastic tub for added enrichment!

How To Make A 'LOVE' Hay Sign

What You'll Need:

Empty cardboard boxes
Jute twine
Scissors
Hay of choice

Instructions:

Using cardboard (empty HayDay boxes are perfect for this!), draw the letters L, O, V and E and cut them out
Using jute twine and your pet’s favourite hay, attach the hay to the cut out letters. Doing this in little sections will help secure the hay to the cardboard easily.
Extra additions: you can also attach some treats to the letters or any pet-safe decorations.

Summary

DIY enrichment toys are a brilliant way to keep your rabbits, guinea pigs, or other small animals mentally and physically engaged. From chew toys to hidey houses, homemade toys can offer countless hours of entertainment for your furry friends. Not only is home made enrichment easy to make, but they also make a perfect solution to entertain your pets.

With just a little bit of creativity and using everyday household items, you can create your pets their very own engaging and fun enrichment toys.

Will you be giving these ideas a try at home?