Bigger cage or more toys: what actually matters for a rabbit's activity level, according to a study
Published by Planète Pets · managing editor: Clément Lacaille · how our guides are written
With a limited budget or limited space, should you first invest in a bigger cage or in good objects to explore? Kathleen Coda, Jeffrey Fortman and Kathryn Garcia compared several housing setups in New Zealand White rabbits, crossing enclosure size with the presence of different enrichment objects, in a study published in 2020 in the Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (see the study). Our toy and enrichment guides are gathered in the rabbit toys and enrichment section.
Contents · 4 sections
What the numbers show
Rabbits given a hanging toy, a destructible object or a dig bin spent noticeably more time in active, exploratory behaviour (64.9%, 77.1% and 70% of observed time respectively) than rabbits with no enrichment at all, who stayed active only 37.6% of the time. Time spent grooming, often a sign of repetitive behaviour when it becomes excessive in a confined animal, also dropped sharply with every type of object (between 2.6% and 6.7% of time versus 24.4% with no enrichment).
The object matters more than the extra square footage
This is the most useful takeaway for an owner: simply adding space, with nothing to explore in it, didn't produce the same effect on activity as adding an enrichment object. A rabbit in a modest space well stocked with things to chew, dig through or manipulate turned out more active than a rabbit in a large empty space. That obviously doesn't excuse skipping a minimum amount of space, but it does put priorities in the right order when budget or room is tight: the object before the extra square metre.
Which types of objects to prioritise
- A digging object (a bin filled with hay or shredded paper): this was the type that drove up activity the most in this study.
- A destructible object (cardboard, a chew stick): almost as effective, and cheap to keep replacing.
- A hanging toy: slightly less stimulating than the two above in this study, but still far ahead of no enrichment at all.
Our ideas for a rabbit left to its own devices are detailed in our guide to keeping a rabbit busy home alone all day, and minimum space guidelines are set out in our article on minimum hutch or enclosure size.
Frequently asked questions
Should you give up on a bigger space if the budget is tight?
No: minimum space remains a welfare baseline in its own right, independent of enrichment. This study simply says that if the choice is between enlarging an already decent space further or adding objects, the objects showed a clearer effect on activity.
Should all three types of objects be offered at once?
The study compares each type separately against no enrichment, not combinations of them; rotating objects over time remains good general practice, even though it isn't exactly what this study measures.
Does this apply to a pet rabbit kept indoors at home?
The study covers laboratory rabbits in individual cages; the mechanism (an object stimulates more than an empty space) still applies to a pet rabbit, even though the housing context differs. Find all our guides on the rabbit hub.
See it in the Planète Pets shop: Hanging chew garland for rabbits and rodents (€17.90) · the whole shop
This guide is part of Planète Pets’s Rabbits universe. Our advice is general in nature: for any health concern, your veterinarian remains the only reference.
