Questions about NIC condos

[LopLove]

Currently, I have a cage for my rabbit. While it’s big “enough” it’s not as big as I would like it to be. I am planning on purchasing “cubes” to build a bunny condo. I have some questions regarding this.

1. How do you make a door for the rabbit to hop in and out of? It would need to be a door that can be opened and closed.

2. Does anyone have opinions on how large the base of the structure should be, and how tall the structure should be? My main concern is building one that would end up unstable. I don’t want it toppling over, or collapsing in some other way.

3. Do levels/shelves made with the NIC cubes need to be supported by another material? How do you structure a safe shelf or upper level?

4. My rabbit likes to jump, so I’m thinking that just having the levels not too far apart would be good, rather than building ramps. Is this an ok thing to do?

5. What kind of material do you use as flooring? I won’t be using carpet, as I can’t trust her to not bite at it without supervision. The only other option I can think of is wood, but that doesn’t sound very comfy. Currently, in her cage, I use newspaper piled high with aspen shavings. She likes to dig at it, it smells nice, and has a nice texture to it. I don’t think this would be feasible for a NIC condo though, since aspen shavings would fall through the grids. :/ What do you guys think?

[MegaPixel]

1 – i have used zip ties not too tight for the door and it works like a garage door and i lock it with a climbing-like clip.
2 – i think a lot of people like the 3×2 size which is 3 NIC wide by 2 depth. i have 3 cube high. i know that your bun needs enough space to stand on its hind legs (periscope). for the structure mine is pretty stable. (3w x 2d x 3h)
3 – i used plywood, 3/8 inches, some wooden stick are holding it but my bunnies sometimes like to nip on it so if you could find something else i think it would be better, or just replace it every year. if the design of your floor would fit on a NIC i would support some floor with NIC.
4 – i really don’t know. my newly adopted rabbit is on a diet and like the ramps haha but the other one seems to jump or use the ramp at her convenience. (the only time i was really glad to have ramps is when she was recovering from her spaying)
5 – plywood looks allright for my buns, but i put some towels in there so they have the choice. also i plan to buy a 1 foot square ceramic tile for those hot summer time. the bottom floor my condo has walls to support the second floor as well as to make sure no litter is thrown away when they dig in it. i don’t know what Aspen is but i would make sure it is rabbit safe.

you can take a look at this thread if you want. i put some pictures of my condo and MoveDiagonally added some good advices.

https://binkybunny.com/tabid/54/aft/124774/Default.aspx

[LongEaredLions]

1. For my bunnies doors, I just ziptie only one side of the grid, and use a binder clip to close the door.

2. You can make the base of the cage a 2×3 but it would be
better to make a 2×4. The cage can be almost as tall as you want it (reasonably) as long as you use lots of zipties and other supports.

3.The levels probably wouldn’t be strong enough if made from only grids, what I would recommend would be to attach grids and then add a plywood “base” to the level.

4.this would be fine as long as he can jump from level to level VERY easily, and I would overlap the edge of each level, so that if he undershoots and falls off a level, he will land on the next level down and not fall to the floor.

5. For the base of the cage, I would use plywood covered in linoleum. Bunnies don’t really need bedding except for in the litter box, but if you want, you can lay down some fleece for them.

[LongEaredLions]

Also, if you look up BudgetBunny on YouTube she has some great nic rabbit condos.

[Eepster]

Posted By LopLove on 10/15/2013 09:32 AM

Currently, I have a cage for my rabbit. While it’s big “enough” it’s not as big as I would like it to be. I am planning on purchasing “cubes” to build a bunny condo. I have some questions regarding this.

1. How do you make a door for the rabbit to hop in and out of? It would need to be a door that can be opened and closed.

Just leave 3 of the four sides of one grid unfastened, then use a clip of some kind to secure it.

2. Does anyone have opinions on how large the base of the structure should be, and how tall the structure should be? My main concern is building one that would end up unstable. I don’t want it toppling over, or collapsing in some other way.

Generally, as big as possible,  2 grids by 3 grids wide and 3 stories tall is common.

3. Do levels/shelves made with the NIC cubes need to be supported by another material? How do you structure a safe shelf or upper level?

It depends on how wide the area is, and if you have inner walls supporting the grids.  

4. My rabbit likes to jump, so I’m thinking that just having the levels not too far apart would be good, rather than building ramps. Is this an ok thing to do?

My bunny isn’t much of a jumper so I have ramps.  He zooms up and down his ramp when he’s excited and thinks a carrot is coming.

5. What kind of material do you use as flooring? I won’t be using carpet, as I can’t trust her to not bite at it without supervision. The only other option I can think of is wood, but that doesn’t sound very comfy. Currently, in her cage, I use newspaper piled high with aspen shavings. She likes to dig at it, it smells nice, and has a nice texture to it. I don’t think this would be feasible for a NIC condo though, since aspen shavings would fall through the grids. :/ What do you guys think?

I covered grids in plastic carpet protectors and little carpet mats.

Here, I’ll quote one of my older posts where I went into some detail.

Posted By Eepster on 09/07/2013 01:22 AM

I posted a whole start to “finish” of building our condo around when we got Porky. I’ll put a link to it, but don’t post anything on it, since it’s an old thread.

https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/114611/afpg/2/Default.aspx

I put “finish” in quotes b/c It has gone through plenty of alterations since then. Most of them were minor, like changing out the cardboard on the ramps for carpet. The big change was when we added Porky’s “front porch” area.

These photos aren’t great since most were taken by my 7yo son, and none were meant to document the porch area.

As you can see in this photo, a small human can lay down in the porch area and hold his foot up in the air. I’m not really sure why he did this, but he can.

That’s me in the porch area with Porky

The porch has worked really well for Porky, b/c he can have exercise time on his schedule instead of ours. Before he often hung out in his condo when I had it open for him during the day, but then want out at night when I wanted to go to bed. He can now binky about in the middle of the night to his hearts content.

We needed to have him for awhile before we could do it though. There are some bunnies who are high enough hoppers that they would escape. It also works b/c Porky is completely litter trained (any occasional poops you see are from him scattering them as he hops in and out of his litter box.)

[LopLove]

Thanks for the help! I’ll definitely visit the links and other locations posted. It’s so nice to get help from experienced rabbit owners. I like the idea of overlapping the levels for increased safety in case she miscalculates the jump. I’ll make sure to keep the jumps nice and easy.

I like the idea of using linoleum and carpet protectors as flooring. I think I’m also going to get a fleece blanket to see if she bites at that kind of material excessively or not. If she doesn’t, I like the idea of her having that as an option as well.

I also feel like my questions regarding functioning doors and proper support have been answered. Thanks a bunch guys!

P.S. The porch idea is so cute! I don’t have enough room for something like that at the time being, but it looks like a great thing for a bunny to have. I appreciate you sharing your creative solutions. The pictures help too.

[Author]

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