Bored bunny with no teeth!

Question
Hello,
Just wanted to ask what things you would suggest giving to a rabbit as a boredom buster. He has no teeth and as most rabbits nibble whilst in their hutch i just wondered if you could tell me what things could be offered to prevent him becoming bored.
Thankyou so much

Answer
Hi Jayne,

I just happened to see your question in the question pool and since I have several rabbits (and a squirrel) with major dental issues, I thought I would offer some suggestions we use here.  I would really like to know exactly which teeth are missing and why.  We have had incisors removed and the only real modification to husbandry we did was having to cut up their greens or veggies.  The incisors are used to tear food.  The lips are prehensile like a horse.  These guys still have all or most of their molars.  Offer a buffet of different types of hay.  The primary diet of a house rabbit should be unlimited hay anyway.  Any hay for a horse is safe for a rabbit and horse people always have good hay.  We offer all sorts of grass hays....timothy, bermuda grass, orchard grass, meadow mix, brome and oat just to name a few.  Not only does the hay help keep a healthy digestive system, it is the primary way to keep the molars worn down.  Each type of hay, and each cut of hay, has a different texture and requires different chewing mechanisms.  Offering the hays in a mix will encourage more of a natural type foraging behavior and that takes time.  It is also quite interesting to watch them work so hard to get one particular strand of hay.

We also have some rabbits with molar issues....and these are some ideas you can use on any rabbit.  We stuff empty toilet paper rolls with hay and put a special treat in the middle.  They will work for hours trying to get inside that roll.  We use hard plastic baby toys....keys on ring are always a favorite.  Just make sure none of the human baby toys have that fluid stuff inside.  We use small plastic cat toys usually with bells inside.  We take small piggy banks and put coins or marbles inside.  Any type of hard ball at least the size of a tennis ball usually works.  They usually like anything that makes noise.  Most domestic rabbits are burrowers and love to dig.  They don't get a chance to do that very often in captivity.  We offer them plain old brown paper bags (stuffed with hay and twisted closed at the top), newpaper to rip or for a really huge mess and a lot of fun....remove the hard shiny pages from an old phone book and let them have at it.  Give him as large a hutch as poosible....and give him "perches" at different levels as most love to take a view of things from higher up.  And if he is an outside rabbit....consider moving him inside.  Much more activity inside for him to watch and interact.  We leave the TV on for our rabbits plus they love to beg for attention when we walk by.  Hope this gives yoy some ideas.