Upcycled Enrichment for Rabbits on a Budget

Upcycling for a Rhinelander — I love this. They're active, curious rabbits and genuinely benefit from foraging and digging challenges. Before I point you toward what works best, is yours free-roaming or in a hutch, and indoors or outside?

Good instincts saving those — cardboard and plain paper tubes are genuinely some of the best enrichment materials going. The key things to avoid are boxes with heavy printed ink, tape, staples, or any wax coating. Plain brown cardboard and unbleached toilet roll tubes are both fine. What does she currently spend most of her time doing — foraging, chewing, or does she seem more like a digger?

That tells me exactly what she needs more of. Stuff toilet roll tubes with hay and a few herb treats, then fold the ends shut — she'll shred the cardboard to get to the food inside. You can do the same with small brown paper bags. For a more structured version that holds up better and gives you a foraging base to build around, I'd add one bought item: the Rosewood Boredom Breaker Activity Centre. It's a wooden frame with slots, tunnels and hooks so you can weave in your upcycled materials, scatter hay, and tuck treats into different spots. It pulls everything together without replacing what you're already doing.

Yes — Rosewood use untreated natural wood specifically because rabbits chew on their products. It's designed for that. Chewing wood also helps wear her teeth down naturally, which is a bonus for a three-year-old. The only thing I'd say is fix it to a stable base or against a wall so it doesn't tip when she pulls at it.

That combination will keep her genuinely busy. Rotate what you hide in the tubes — dried herbs, small pieces of leafy greens, the odd pellet — so it stays unpredictable for her. Rhinelanders are sharp and they get bored of patterns quickly. Enjoy making them with her.