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DIY: Easy Enrichment with Cardboard Tubes
Keeping your bunny entertained is important for both their physical and mental wellbeing. Luckily, enrichment doesn’t have to be complicated (or expensive!). When life gets busy, it’s always handy to have a few simple DIY rabbit enrichment ideas ready to go - especially when your bun starts eyeing up the skirting boards like a personal challenge.
These easy cardboard tube enrichment toys are a great way to encourage natural foraging behaviours, support healthy chewing habits and help prevent boredom. Best of all, you probably already have everything you need at home!
What You’ll Need
- Empty, clean cardboard tubes - toilet roll or kitchen roll tubes work perfectly
- Their favourite Bunny Bistro Hay
- A delicious rabbit-safe treat
- Tasty forage, such as dandelion leaf or flower mix
- A hole punch (or sheer determination!)
- String
The Quick Win
Time: 5 minutes
This is the perfect rabbit enrichment activity for those busier days. Simply grab a cardboard tube (or two), pop your bunny’s favourite treats inside and fold both ends tightly closed. Then let the fun begin as they toss, chew and investigate their way to the prize inside.
We love using Flower Burst Bites for this one. If you’d like to make the challenge last a little longer, try placing a Flower & Herb Nibble Cube inside instead. Not only will this keep your bunny occupied for longer, but chewing also helps support healthy teeth - a win-win for buns and humans alike.
Filled Forage Tubes
Time: 5–10 minutes
If you’ve got a few extra minutes to spare, this DIY rabbit toy is brilliant for encouraging hay consumption whilst adding a little extra excitement to mealtime.
Gather a few cardboard tubes, plenty of fresh hay and some dried forage, then carefully stuff everything into the tubes. The fuller the tube, the trickier the challenge! Your bunny will have great fun pulling, sniffing and foraging their way through the contents.
This type of enrichment is fantastic for promoting natural behaviours and helping keep indoor rabbits mentally stimulated throughout the day.
Cardboard Tube Garland
Time: 15 minutes
We had far too much fun making this one - it turns out creating bunny enrichment is surprisingly enriching for humans too.
For this activity, we used 3 cardboard tubes, although you could easily use up to 5 if you have them handy. You’ll also need string, a hole punch and some tasty forage or treats.
Start by gently folding each tube in half and using the hole punch to create a hole through both sides near one end. This is how you’ll attach the tubes together later on.
At the opposite end, fold the bottom of the tube around 1cm upwards, then unfold the other end slightly so it creates a small pocket shape, similar to the image shown.
Now for the important part - choosing the fillings. Our bunny taste-testers highly recommended apple slices and dandelion root for the perfect combination of sweetness and crunch.
Finally, thread the string through each tube, hang your garland somewhere safe and bunny-accessible, then sit back and watch them figure out how to get to the goodies hidden inside.
