2nd floor or not

[kamdynandsunshinesmom]

I live in a tiny room and really don’t have much space. My rabbit currently lives in an xpen. So i saw everyones bunnies houses and saw that you’ll have 2nd stories. How do you create these second stories and my bunny will soon be 5 years old and entering her senior years is it worth creating a second level?

[Tate]

I got wooden dowls and 2 2×2’s of plywood. I don’t think 5 years old is considered senior yet and I don’t see how it would make a difference, unless you were noticing arthritis or stability issues. You can always put a mid level box in the pen for her to jump up on if you’re worried about her not being able to get up or down.

[gothicmist]

panda uses her second floor but not much, usually only if i put something she wants up there, or she wants me to pet her and im standing on the side of her cage doing something else, haha, other wise i rarely see her up there i was actually considering taking it off my c&c and making it one square longer.

[kamdynandsunshinesmom]

thanks everyone. Do you secure the dowl rods?

[Beka27]

If you get large enough dowel rods, they should fit securely thru the bars, and you want them extended at least a few inches so they don’t slip out.

Another option is to build a platform/hidey house like I have, but that takes some more materials, tools, and know-how.

https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tab…fault.aspx

[TriBun]

I secured my dowels with zip ties. My bunnies LOVE their 2nd and 3rd floors. My lop often hangs out on the 3rd floor hoping I’ll give him treats (it’s easier to beg when he’s higher up)

[Tate]

The dowels I used fit PERFECTLY (if not a bit too snuggly ) through the xpen bars. They are also square, not round. Take a measurement of the space between bars and then look for a dowel that fits.
Beak, I LOVE that!

[jerseygirl]

I think encouraging exercise is good whatever their age. It helps in so many things. You could definitely add a 2nd floor or just something to jump up on like Beka mentioned. I think others have used things like stand alone shoe racks also. A super easy option it to add a sturdy cardboard box so she can jump up on top or hide inside it.

I bought broom handles ($2) and ran them across width of the pen. I drilled a hole in each end and wired the rod to the pen sides. The rod sits on part of the pen wire but I secured them with wire to prevent them coming off the pen sides. Then I zip-tied NIC grids across to create a level and covered that in cardboard. Will be replacing that with coroplast soon. I usually use some fabric to cover the coroplast or cardboard to give some traction.

If you put in a level you may need to put a top on the pen or at least over the part where the raised level is.

[LoveChaCha]

Chacha’s condo has 3 levels and I used dowel rods and plywood. She only uses the condo to drink, poop, and she tends to favor the top floor to sleep haha

[avarismom1]

my buns has three levels – and they spend a lot of their time on the third level. They mainly eat, drink and have their litterbox on the first. They have a treat ball on the third maybe that is why they like it so much!

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