i would not go shorter than a 36 inch tall. and… dwarf bunnies can usually jump higher, so you might even want to do the 42 inch, just in case. i have two of the 36 inch Midwest pens and they were 75 dollars apiece before tax. i love them. make sure to get the walk-thru kind, so you can go in and out of the door for feeding and cleaning.

another option are condos. you will spend the same amount but you have to build them yourself. they are good for fitting in different locations because you can build up.  i am not creative enough to build a condo, but some people love them.  the xpen is much easier for me b/c it comes fully assembled…

store rabbit cages are too small and they are very expensive… it is better to spend a few bucks more and have something that will work for the bunny’s entire life.

can you tell us what exactly you looking for?  sizes, levels, etc?  do you have ideas of what you want?

this is what i have.  these are two pens joined together to make one large 8×4 foot pen for two bonded bunnies. once a week i can just drag it off the rug and vacuum thoroughly to pick up any fur.  daily i take a little hand vac and suck up stray poos, hay and fur.

store cages are far too small and they are still expensive. this is one of the things about rabbits. they are really not cheap to care for and house. the xpen would be a one time purchase tho.

the smallest size cage i would recommend is 4×2 feet, but that does not leave much room once you have a litterbox, house, hay, food and toys in there.  the only cage i have ever found with those dimension is the Marchioro Tommy XL, which retail for over 100 dollars.  i bought one (two actually) and they are not nearly as versatile (or big) as the xpen.

some people use XL dog crates, also over 100 dollars.

have you checked ebay or craigslist for used xpens?

this is the BB cool habitats page.  it has photo galleries of what other members have done as far as condos and pens.

https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=71

can she hop in and out of the hutch by herself? that will be important for playtime and littertraining.

also, wood is very hard to clean and disinfect, so if she does have accidents, be aware that the wood might hold the urine smell, making the cage stink more than it should.

I bought two puppy excercise pens and joined them together (in Australia) but it only cost me 30 bucks from a reject store for both of them. It makes an enclosure of about the same size as Beka’s photos, and we went to a hardware store and picked up a few feet of lino off a role (very cheap) to make sure Charlies little accidents didn’t harm the floor at all with some bathmats on the floor for a soft place to sleep.
A word of warning – bedding for pets is likely to be peed on initially, I bought plently of plush dog bads that Charlie loved then destroyed by excessive pee!
I have heaps of cheap ideas cause I’m a student and very poor so everything Charlie has gotten has been a cheaper version of something else

you can get x-pens much cheaper at petedge.com.

http://homeandkennel.petedge.com/Midwest-Gold-Exercise-Pens-with-Door-W540.proparentCategoryId=194&categoryId=310&subCategoryId=381

Also, look on Craigslist. X-pens and sometimes baby play yards can be found cheap there.

I really like that set up Beka. Siimple yet cozy. I’d like to try something like that.

Oh, you could also create a pen out of the NIC’s. That wouldn’t cost as much as the x-pen but should have the same effect.

this is also a possibility, altho i have tried doing that (this was my initial attempt before i got the two xpens) and it was not steady enough without anything to connect to.

Meadow had her Marchioro cage and a NIC grid pen attached with zipties before we got Max.  the whole thing was set up on a 5×7 foot rug, and the pen was a permanent addition.  we’d leave the cage open for her 24/7 so she could come out whenever she wanted.  during the day we would fold the NIC grids in so she could come and go as she pleased for her exercise time.

again, be aware that 2 NIC grids are only 28 inches high, so some bunnies can and will jump over this.

as you can see from this pic, the 2×4 foot cage (the largest one level cage that’s commercially available) does not leave much space by itself, once there is a house and litter and food in there.  that was a big reason why i made the extra enclosure, so she could have her toys outside of it and have a little more room to run around and play.

if you keep her in a room that is bunny-proofing like a kitchen, you also have the option of allowing her free run in that room 24/7.  you can close it off with baby gates.

I know that xpens are on the expensive side but they are worth their weight in gold!  I have the same set up as Beka’s old set up. I keep wanting to get rid of the cage and just do the xpen but the cage has some positives such as it really contains the hay well and very often Edson will retreat to his cage for a nap. I actually have a 24″ high one as Edson is not a jumper but if you do have a jumper then you do need a higher one.  I would definitely consider the expense because honestly it’s so worth it. You may end up spending more money than you thought trying to make something not as sturdy work.

as usual, knowltons says it perfectly in ten sentences or less…

the hay was much easier to clean up in the cage than on carpet.  i’ve clogged my vacuum 100 times already…

and that’s the thing about the NIC condos too… they are much more inexpensive than a manufactured mutli-level cage (like the Leith Petwerks) but… once you start with the levels and flooring materials and bases, etc… the price can go up easily…

what i did with the two xpens and rug was a total of 210 dollars, not counting tax.  absolutely worth it, and the xpens can be used for many rabbits to come…

we;re jsut trying to give ideas… you can always do something now and in a year or so when you can save some money, get a more permanent solution.  the important thing is getting her inside.

Beka I can’t get over how clean your bunny pens are! Do you have neat freak bunnies or did you just clean them before the pictures? lol

Also I notice that there is no bedding in your cage. I have Aspen bedding in mine. Should I not put bedding in there?

lol! i tend to only take pics after i clean them. trust me… by the next day, it looks nothing like that!

as far as litter, i assume you mean for the second pic where i had the actual plastic bottom cage…? if you are littertraining, DO NOT put litter in the bottom of the cage. this is too confusing. only put the litter where you want them to potty, so litterbox only.

in your case, they are so young, they can be on the bedding for another month or so, but pay close attention to where they choose to pee.

then, get a litterbox, remove all bedding and give the plastic cage bottom a good disinfect with a vinegar mixture to eliminate any pee smell, and put the box on the side they go potty in most.

They have a litter box with Yesterday’s News in it and they hang out in it.  I have them in a standard Marchiorio cage since they’re so small but my girls want us to build a NIC cage.  I’m thinking more along the lines of an xpen cage because my building skillz leave a lot to be desired.  But I may  find myself going the large dog crate route just because I’d feel they were safer if the dogs ever managed to somehow sneak by me and see the bunnies.

that’s something you’ll have to think about and figure out for yourself. i love the xpens, but we don’t have any other pets either… you can make a totally enclosed NIC condo, but depending on what kind of dogs you have, i don’t know if they could break into it.

does anyone else have thoughts on that?

The dogs have lived with other small animals for the past four years. Jezebel shows a lot of interest at first but is now to the point where she completely ignores the ferrets. Their cage is in the living room. The rat cage is on top of the ferret cage and she doesn’t ignore that one. She will stare up at that cage for hours if I let her. But it’s six feet tall so she can’t reach them. She has not yet seen the bunnies, I’m letting her get used to the smell of them in the house before I show them to her, which won’t probably be for another month or so.

My boy dog is not at all prey driven. He sits at the gate to the living room and watches the ferrets run around. One time a ferret even escaped (imagine that) and he picked it up and brought it back to me. Scared the literal poop out of the ferret, who was squeeling and I’m suprised she didn’t have a stroke, but she didn’t have a scratch on her. She was full of slober though.

Poor Chuck…lol He knew the ferret shouldn’t have been loose, and he didn’t know what to do with the ferret squeeling like it was. His eyes were wide as saucers and he looked at me like “get it!” It never occurred to him to drop it…lol

Another time a ferret escaped from the playpen (did the flying squirrel routine off of his condo) and found his way from the downstairs playroom to my bedroom upstairs! Jezebel stood at the top of the stairs barking her fool head off until I went up there. Then she just stared at the closet door. I had no idea what she wanted and when I didn’t go straight to the closet she did her alert bark at me. Finally I got the message and retrieved the sleeping ferret out of my shoe.

So…my point is that I don’t THINK either dog would hurt the bunnies but I’m not interested in being proven wrong.

that is interesting. i wonder if something about the ferrets being carnivorous makes the dogs view them differently… like they’re just small dogs…

Have any of you seen this cage? 

http://www.rabbitstop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=FC270&Category_Code=3MarshallHabitats&Product_Count=0

I LOVE my ferret nation and this is made of the same materials.

thats a nice cage but it looks too small plus its pretty pricey     an x_pen would be a better choice for the same $

That cage is way too small plus it looks difficult to get in there and clean.  Go for the xpen.  It’s a lot bigger.

Oh wow, you can get “lids” for x-pens!

http://www.dogkennels.com/dog-kennels/dog-kennel-accessories/wiremeshexercisepentop.cfm

actually, an xpen is less money… by about 20-25 bucks on average…

Most everyone I know, including the rescue, that feels a need for a “lid” uses a sheet and clips it around the edges…

i like how it is made from the same xpen metal.  i’m weary of cloth covers because a determined dog or cat can still get in.  but that could definitely work!  it would be worth the extra money if that was a concern for you, and an xpen gives more room than a dog crate and is easier to get inside to clean.

make sure any xpen you get is a “walk-thru” model.  the whole door swings open so you can walk-in to feed or clean up.  other models just have a small door in the middle (like a doggy-door).

I got my x-pen off E-bay and it was less than $40.00 including shipping. I love it and it had a door that opens. There is a pic of it in the cool habitats section. I attached to their Leith Petwerks bunny condo.

Also try the website http://www.kijiji.com. It’s like craigs list where you pick your city and you can view all the ads for the area. They have a really large pet section too and I see many xpens for very cheap there and sometimes even pre-made condos and other suitable pens. Good luck!

Get a X pen at Dr Smith and Foster (or “Dr Foster and Smith” I forgot which) They are really good value I got two X pens and put them together. I got this one 

Large Exercise Pen for Small Animals As low as $33.99

Nice size for my bun since I cannot let her roam becuase of my mom… here is a picture of two put together with my bun lounging in it. (As you can see I also do my Homework with my bunny…

Ooooh that hutch looks way too small. I do hope that you bring your bun inside soon and make a much larger area for her.

What do you guys think about modifying this? I really am concerned about the sturdiness of my cage and I just don’t have a whole lot of faith in zip ties.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=663

^^^personally, i don’t like that. the levels leave no room for hopping around. if you look at NIC condos, many of them have very large levels… you can’t count vertical space as a viable area for the bunny, so all you can really count is the bottom (which is the only spot for a litterbox) and the two itty bitty levels.

what were you going to “modify”?

have you checked out the cool habitats pages yet… https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=71

most of the member condos have at least one or two very large levels that take up most of the condo. if your condo is 3 x 2 grids, one or two of the levels can be 2 x 2 grids. and the ramps are not necessary as the bunnies will just jump form floor to floor.

as far as zip ties… i have never really heard any concerns about them, esp. keep in mind some folks have 2 or 3 bonded bunnies, large size and they are jumping up and down and it holds. the floors are held up by wood, only the sides are contained by zipties.

My two cents…To save money, look on sites like kijiji.com for people selling things lik x-pens-> Once I saw six going for thirty dollars (of course gone by the time I contacted them, but still!). You can buy used considerably cheaper, and just hose them down with some bleach and water.

Also, check out your local shelter, I don’t know if they all do, but my local Humane Society sells used animals supplies DIRT CHEAP I got four of those ‘living things’ ceramic bowls (the cute ones with the bunny on the bottom) for 1.85 total…and they are always selling things like carriers and xpens.

Check your newspaper too, for used stuff!!

In terms of zip ties-totally fine-They are super sturdy! I can’t buy enough of those things!

That seems to be a really huge litter box in there for those cats. My bunny boxes aren’t quite that big. I thought I would make floors instead of using those little ledges, which would look exactly like some of those cool habitats (and yes, my daughters and I have looked at that many times…we just all like different ones!). And stairs too, no ladders. I saw another one that looks like the one I posted but it’s a little over 40″ in. long. I’ll see if I can find that one again.

My thought was that it could look and function exactly like the NIC cages but would just require less construction on my part.

I’m visiting the rabbit rescue tomorrow and they will actually build a cage for you…I might look at those.

I also had an idea to make a big pen out of wood and plexi-glass that could be stained to match my furniture and would just look like part of the room. But I’m not handy enough to do the NIC cage without having to tear it down and start over a bunch of times so I don’t know how well I’ll do with wood and plexiglass.

Tank – I totally agree with Beka.  Absolutely no room for running never mind a litter box and hay! That cage is meant for much smaller animals.  It makes me sick to think kittens would be in there. I really strongly recommend xpens.  It’s worth every cent and as others have said they can be found on craigslist and other places.

Wood would be munched to death and I think plexiglass would get nose smuges all over it and eventually always look dirty creating more work for you.. . Not sure that is the best idea.  Sorry not to burst your bubble but get an xpen!!!!!

I swear I have nothing against xpens and nic cages…but I have a pit bull and a rottie and while I don’t think they’d hurt the bunnies I’d still like to have a cage that I know my bunnies will be safe in should the dogs freak out and go on a rampage.

My Rottie is crated when I’m not home and the pit bull is confined to my bedroom so they can’t get anywhere near the small animals when there’s no one there to supervise…I’m just super paranoid about covering all of my bases so I don’t set up a situation that has the potential to fail.

i think it could work with modications… you do not need ramps.  smaller breed bunnies will jump higher than larger breeds, so don’t worry about that at all.  all you have to do is stagger the levels…  the levels need to be supported by wood to make them sturdy.

dimensions are 48 high, 36 wide, 24 deep.  levels 2 and 3 are 2 x 2 feet, level 1 is 1 by 2 feet and used as a platform to get to the higher levels.  a rough sketch of how it could work…

*********************************************************   <— roof

____________3_________________………….^…………

…………..^……………._____________2______________

______1__________………………open space……………..                

******litter************************************************   <—floor

That’s pretty much exactly what I had in mind! When I said stairs I meant the platform #1 and then the “stair step” from level 2 to level 3. Youreally don’t think that’s enough space for two bunnies?

Lookit this thing!  It’s for cats but I’d put that in my living room!

it could work with the modifications. the NIC grids would make a slightli larger cage… 2 x 3 NIC grids are 28 x 42 inches as opposed to that cage, 24 x 36 inches.

i still think you should try and tally the costs of that cage, 140 bucks (plus building materials for ramps, level covers, etc.) with building it yourself out of NIC grids and zipties. the zipties *are* sturdy. but if you don’t want to spend time making the shell of it, then that is an easier way to go about it. you know that they still need horizontal running space outside of the cage, and you are prepared to provide that… so i think it would work.

the nice thing about the NIC condos is that you could make it 2 x 3 grids now… and in a year or two, take it down and expand it to 3 x 4 grids, or even larger. that cage is not able to be expanded.

About making Zipties more secure, I’m not sure if anyone else did this but when I built my NIC condo i would create an X (two zipties going diagonally across from the bottom right to top left and vice versa when four panels are put together) over each four panel “piece” I made. Then attach each grid to the one beside it and above/below it as well. As for the corners I would take a ziptie and weave it around the corner into a pretzel shape and then attach it and add zipties on all the grids touching each other there too. I used alost 150 zipties (a little paranoid ya think? lol) but the cage is so sturdy because of it!

Edited: My ideal setup would be one like yours Beka! I can not wait to have the space to do that.

I do the same thing with one zip-tie and it work great and I get a very tight and secure connection. Moobunnay posted it…I’ll see if I can find it.  Darn it, no luck, I’ll see if she can post it again.  You make a figure-8 with it.

We make our x-pens out of NIC’s, but we over lap two grids by one row. Then ziptie 3-4’x at an angle, alternating angles. This way it only folds vertically not horizontally. Does that make any sense? If your bunnies a high jumper just add another layer. (Make sure you get the 1 1/2 in. grids)

can you post a pic of what you did grammyb? i am considering reinforcing my NIC fence (16 panels of grids) that i use to block off various areas. i need to be able to “accordian” it up for storage tho…