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When you get a pet rabbit, guinea pig, or hedgehog, you want to give it a good home -- a nice cage, the right food -- and lots of toys. A pet that has something fun to do is happier, gets more exercise, and probably will live longer.

But many pet stores don't have a section called "rabbit toys" or "hedgehog toys." So what do you do? You look in other areas -- cat toys, dog toys, even bird toys!

First, for pets that gnaw, such as rabbits, guinea pigs, and chinchillas, you can get wooden toys. There are some small wooden chew toys, usually sold for hamsters and gerbils. Other pets can use these. However, these small toys often get lost, or get damp and smelly in the bedding or litter. A better choice of wooden toys is bird toys. Made for cockatiels and parrots and parakeets, there are many bird toys which are blocks of colored wood hanging on a chain, with a bell at the bottom. These have rings or hooks to hang them from the wire sides of a cage. Hang them so that the bell is a little above the floor or the litter. For guinea pigs, get the kind that have pieces about an inch across; for chinchillas and rabbits, you can get bigger toys, such as the ones made for large parrots or cockatoos. Make sure, when you get them, that they do NOT have any "mineral cookies" on them, as those have too much calcium for rabbits or rodents. Plastic beads are OK; they are too big for the guinea pigs or rabbits to chew them off.

After bird toys, the next place to look is cat toys. A plastic cat ball with a bell in it can be a great toy for almost any pet. (Not for chinchillas, though; they can chew through the plastic and hurt themselves on the bell!) Make sure that the pet can't get the metal bell out and hurt herself on it! The smallest cat balls, about 1 inch across, aren't as much fun as larger ones. There's a two-inch size that guinea pigs and hedgehogs will like, and there are 5 or 6 inch Cat-a-Balls out there which rabbits will love. If you don't see them in your local pet store, try an on-line vendor.

Another fun toy for small pets is a simple piece of PVC pipe. This is the very hard white plastic sold in hardware and home stores for serious plumbing. The 4-inch diameter PVC is the right size for hedgehogs and guinea pigs to run through. You can buy a short piece with three openings called a Y-joint or a T-joint, or just a foot-long tube. For a rabbit, buy a piece that is about 6 inches long, such as the rings that connect two pieces of PVC. They can pick these up with their teeth and toss them around, as well as kick them and nudge them with their nose.

Of course, the most fun toy for your pet is YOU. Playing with you is the best exercise your pet can get. If you buy one or two of the toys mentioned, make sure you play with your pet sometimes too! Some people put out layouts of several pieces of PVC on the floor, for their guinea pigs or hedgehogs to explore, and lie down at the end so that the pet can find them when they go through the pipe. Other people will save a large cat ball for playtime with their rabbit, to roll to the rabbit and watch the rabbit scoot the ball around the floor. Sharing these toys with your pet is a great way to grow closer, and to increase the human-animal bond.