Opinions on this cage?

[Tay]

I’ve gone ahead and purchased a 4 ft. tall small animal cage that comes with small wire ramps and pads. I think that taking the small ramps and platforms out and adding some new wooden levels would make this a great little home for the bun I’m picking up soon. He’s just a little Holland Lop, so what do you guys think? He’ll obviously be allowed out for exercise daily, so it’s not like he’ll be confined to this space 24/7. I’ll be upgrading to a larger home eventually. 

 

Cage: (image was removed) 

   

 

 

Ollie:

[JackRabbit]

I think I’ve seen this in a store. Is it usually sold as a ferret cage? Do you have dimensions? If it’s what I’m thinking, there will not be enough floor space for your bunny. I believe the minimum floor space is 2 ft by 4 ft.

[Tay]

I’m not sure, it looks like it would be sold as a ferret cage, but it was on Ebay. I honestly wanted to build my own cage, but I’m not able to drive myself anywhere, so my parents had the most say in this. It says the length is 22 inches and the width is 31.5 inches. My dad is pretty handy, so I’ll see if there’s anything we can do to make this bigger.

[JackRabbit]

Yes, that’s a bit too small. Do you have space to attach an xpen to it?

[Sarita]

No, this is not appropriate for a rabbit. Ollie is small now but he is going to grow up. You would be better off with an exercise pen and just do away with this all together.

[Eepster]

It’s not just a question of size, It really isn’t well designed for a rabbit. The ramps are too steep and narrow for a bunny to hop up and down, and the space in the middle is too far for him too jump across, The levels are really narrow and falling off is a real possibility.

[Deleted User]

Hi Tay! Your Ollie will be as big (if not bigger already) as the size of the kitten shown in the pic with the cage, and I give it days and weeks, not months before Ollie will be twice his size (I swear my Henry grew overnight???) lol. I know how daunting it is trying to get the right house for your new bunny – so don’t feel bad, I STILL cringe when I think about what I had when I bought my Henry home. Because Henry is free roam 24/7, I am no expert, but am happy to offer the suggestion of getting a one (or two) level house with a hidey/private area big enough for him to lay fully stretched out in and add an xpen to it, for Ollie to stand up (periscope), move (run) around freely, even binky. And remember it has to accommodate Ollie along with his food (hay and pellets), water and litter tray. Even with Henry being free roam, his house, litter tray and hay etc. still takes up almost 1/3 of our dining area, ha ha ha…..
I still wonder how something so little can take up so much space/room and make such a HUGE mess!
Just thought I’d throw this out here now to save you double purchasing (like I had too!), it was such a waste of money. If you get it right now, you should be set for the whole of Ollie’s life.
Good luck and congratulations!

[MissGabbster]

I also had to double purchase because I bought a store cage that was too small. If you can’t drive anywhere then look on Amazon or even Ebay for a couple of X-Pens (get the dog ones, you get a bigger pen for the same price as the ones labeled for small animals) or get a few packs of NIC grids and make a completely custom home for Ollie. Though if you do go the NIC grid route make sure you get the grids with the 1 in squares/grids? Someone help me out with wording that. lol

 Ollie is a cuuutttiieeeeeee.  

[LizziAnn]

Even though you bought it on ebay, you have the right to send it back for a refund.

Just like the other people posting on this feed, I bought a pet store cage which they told me would be fine for my holland lop which was not adequite at all!! He could not stretch in it, it was ridiculous.

I recommend a dog pen for an indoor rabbit home. Thats what my two have and it is fantastic.

[ohbonobogirl]

If you already have the cage, would it be possible to turn it on the side? You’d lose the rolling base and probably the litter tray, but if you were to turn it on the side, put down a floor of carpet squares or linoleum or something like that, you may have a workable space, provided you take out the shelves and ramps. You may even be able to add in another level to part of it still. I’m thinking it’d be pretty similar to a dog crate if you were able to do that.

[Tay]

Sorry for being out for so long, we had a busy week! Anywho, Ollie is being housed (temporarily, of course) in a large dog crate. He’s usually out of it, and he really only gets locked in it overnight and while I’m away. I’ll talk to my mom about returning it. I had actually been talking to my parents about building a NIC condo for him in the very beginning, before we even bought the tall cage, and they argued with me that it would be very flimsy. Is this true? I suggested that we could support it better with some wooden beams attached to the sides, but they weren’t buying it. I’m going to ask if we can return it, and I’ll either save up for an x-pen or try and talk them into the NIC condo again. ;~:

EDIT: I honestly just received the cage today, and I can already tell I made a mistake after assembling it. I’m going to talk to my parents about it as soon as I can. c:

[Eepster]

Not at all flimsy. Porky has been in his 3+ years. I have never had to really rebuild it, though I could if I wanted to. I’ve just added on. I did take a part and rebuild his out door pen, and turned it in to his temporary pen for the bunny sitter when we went on vacation.

Dog crates can be turned into condos too.

[MoveDiagonally]

NIC Condos aren’t flimsy. I believe one member here even house a Flemish in a very large NIC Condo (20+ lb rabbit).

Since it is held together with cable ties you can always get stronger ones (measured by lbs they can support) to ease any worries about it’s strength.

[Deleted User]

Hey Tay, not that I use a x-pen or NIC condo (like I said, Henry is free roam), so I’m personally not experienced BUT, the majority of BBer’s use them and have always complimented how wonderful they are. I am a purchaser that likes to use recommended products that friends have actually tried and experienced – and I wouldn’t hesitate to use either! Maybe show this forum to your parents – I would listen to this advice/suggestions before spending a cent on anything NOT tried and recommended especially housing for your precious Ollie.

I have adult kiddies (making me super old! good grief, ha ha ha!), and be assured that Eepster is a parent too (though WAY younger than me), along other parents and experienced bunny owner’s who have contributed to your forum – maybe after reading this your parents will think reconsider your request and take on board we just want to keep it easy and cost effective for you ALL and for Ollie to have a home that will last him for his life.
Good luck Tay, and let us know…..

[Tay]

I’m definitely going to show them the forum now. I think I’ll go ahead and buy an x-pen for him, and put a base under it to protect both Ollie and my carpet (he just loves to dig it up, I’ve had to shoo him so many times to prevent him from eating it). Could someone point me to a specific pen/brand I should go for? I know he needs 36″ tall panels at least so he won’t escape, but I’m not too sure what pen would be best. This is what I was thinking of. link
If there is a door in the one I purchase, and it’s too high for him to safely exit, I’ll just build him a little ramp and secure it to the pen.

[manic_muncher]

That Precision Pet xpen is the exact one I got for Bumpy. He is a holland lop and doesn’t try jumping over it at all, though he does get excited and will halfway climb the bars when you are standing there handing out raisins. LOL

He has no problem at all hopping in and out of the open doorway. I’m very pleased with this pen. I placed a shower curtain underneath a piece of indoor/outdoor carpeting I picked up at Lowe’s for $18. It was a bit tricky at first with him having peeing accidents, but since it is indoor/outdoor carpeting, the pile is very very short and easy to sponge up with vinegar/water mix. Now that he’s a year old, he doesn’t pee on it at all now, so it’s a breeze keeping his area clean now!

[Tay]

Bumpy’s reaction to the raisins is absolutely adorable! I’ll go ahead and buy that x-pen then. Thanks! c:

[JackRabbit]

So glad you’re getting the xpen! Ollie is going to be so happy!

[Tay]

I really hope so! Petco is having a great sale online, and I ended up getting a $140 x-pen for $63. It should be here within a week. Click here!

[JackRabbit]

Sounds like you did good!!

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