Hay, gnawing sticks or cardboard: which enrichment actually works for a caged rabbit?
Faced with a shelf of rabbit toys, it's hard to know what actually keeps an animal occupied rather than sleeping in a corner of the cage. A study by Lidfors, published in 1997 in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, compared five treatments across sixty individually housed rabbits: hay presented in a hanging bottle, compressed grass cubes, two gnawing sticks, a plain cardboard box, and a control group with no object at all (study on Google Scholar). Toy and enrichment comparisons are gathered in our rabbit toys and enrichment section.
Hay, by a wide margin
The figures recorded through instantaneous sampling are unambiguous: rabbits given access to hay interacted with their object an average of 143 times over the study period, versus 58 times for grass cubes, 19 times for the cardboard box, and just 13 times for the gnawing sticks. Hay, on top of occupying the rabbit for longer, also gets eaten and contributes to natural dental wear, a double benefit none of the other tested objects provided.
Why gnawing sticks disappoint
The study's most counterintuitive result: rabbits given gnawing sticks or a plain box showed no less abnormal behaviour (repetitive movements, stereotypic restlessness) than the control group with no object at all. In other words, a chew toy marketed as "boredom-busting" can take up space in the cage without genuinely enriching the animal's day-to-day life if it's never refreshed or varied.
What this means today
For a modern pet rabbit, often kept in better conditions than the laboratory subjects of this study, the lesson still holds: varied hay available in generous quantity is the foundation of enrichment, well ahead of any dedicated toy. Our guide to choosing a rabbit hay rack covers how to present hay in a way that encourages interaction rather than passive consumption alone. Puzzle toys and snuffle mats remain worthwhile as a complement, as long as they're refreshed regularly so they don't turn into ignored background clutter; our articles on rabbit puzzle toys and the snuffle mat for rabbits cover how to work them in effectively.
- 143 interactions on average for hay, versus just 13 for gnawing sticks.
- Sticks and a box didn't reduce abnormal behaviour compared with no object at all.
- Hay combines occupation and dental wear, a dual role no toy replaces.
- Varying presentation (hanging bottle, rack, loose pile) keeps interest going over time.
Effective enrichment, then, isn't necessarily the most elaborate or expensive option: what matters most is that it stays fresh and matched to the rabbit's natural behaviours.
Frequently asked questions
Should gnawing sticks be dropped entirely?
No, they still have value for wearing down the incisors, but they shouldn't be treated as the main tool for behavioural enrichment.
Is hay alone enough to occupy a rabbit all day?
Combined with regular refreshing and varied presentation, it was the most effective option observed in this study, without ruling out other additions.
Does this study apply to rabbits living in a group?
It covers singly-housed rabbits; in a group, social interaction adds to the material enrichment, but hay remains a recommended pillar in every case.
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.