Within the play area give him cardboard boxes to hop in and out of, chewing toys like apple tree branches or pine cones, toss toys like old cardboard rolls from toilet paper, or throw away things like tissue or cereal boxes, phone directories. Make a digging box full of hay or straw. Buy a children's sandpit and fill it with earth or peat or straw.
Make your rabbits work for their food. If they eat pellets hide them so they have to hunt for them. Hang up a carrot so that the rabbits have to nose them about. Push hay through a lavatory roll and hang it up. Put hay and wild plants into a paper (never plastic) bag and let the rabbit get them out. Avoid sticky toys with too much sugar or brightly colours wooden toys. Small branches of willow, apple and hazel are nice for them to chew.
Rabbits like different levels - blocks of plain wood, small low stools, mounds of earth.
Special toys include straw plaits, chew rings, and twig balls. There are toys from the shop at www.rabbitwelfarefund.co.uk and toys and a play castle from www.bunnymail.co.uk . Willow balls and other chew toys available from West Wales Willows www.westwaleswillows.co.uk
Toys made with whole sweet corn kernels are sometimes sold in pet shops but they are dangerous to rabbits. Plastic toys are also a danger – if bits are swallowed or get stuck in teeth. Bunnywarren tunnels from www.snugglesafe.co.uk
Try training your rabbit. Use tiny pieces of herbs, groundsel, parsley, apple, swede, carrot as treats. Rabbits can be clicker trained (www.clickertraining.com ) or even agility trained. Train very slowly, never punish, and never force behaviour. Do not let children do this without adult supervision.


"Thumper" - copyright Denise Rowe