Adding Shelves – Yea or nay?

[bunnnnnnie!]

I’m considering adding a shelf to Zeus’s cage to give him a place to hop up on, but I’m not really sure if it’s a good idea or not.

Right now he lives in an X-Large dog crate, so it’s not VERY tall.  He’s also a relatively good-sized bun, to those who don’t know him he’s a Mini Lop the same of a small cat.

The pros of a shelf is another place to lay and hang out, something fun to jump on, and also kinda makes a little shelter area under it (he likes to hide under things).

The cons is he wouldn’t be able to periscope in that part of his cage, or on the shelf.  If I put the shelf up real high he may have a hard time getting up to it, and there won’t be much head room once he’s on it.  If I put the shelf low, he’ll be able to reach it easy but won’t have much head room beneath the shelf.

So, should I add a shelf?

[mocha200]

it really depends on the bunny… I know when i added a shelf in my bunnys dog kennel she LOVED it and she spent almost all her time up there. but that might not be the case with your bun. i would just say, try it out and if he likes it keep it but if he doesn’t go on to the shelf by a week then he probably doesn’t like it.

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By mocha200 on 06/23/2010 12:36 PM
it really depends on the bunny… I know when i added a shelf in my bunnys dog kennel she LOVED it and she spent almost all her time up there. but that might not be the case with your bun. i would just say, try it out and if he likes it keep it but if he doesn’t go on to the shelf by a week then he probably doesn’t like it.

Yeah he does like to jump on things to get a different vantage point, but typically he’s not the hyper, playful, running around nutty bun like a lot of the stories I read on here.  He’d rather flop out and get pets then play.

 

[Beka27]

You could get the same effect of a shelf by having a cardboard box that is sturdy enough to hold his weight. My buns currently have one of those Staples paper boxes that hold ten reams of paper. It’s thick cardboard, and I have the lid on there for added support. I’ve seen people do shelves in dog crates before, but I honestly don’t feel dog crates offer enough space… unless you have the largest available (the “Great Dane” size.)

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By Beka27 on 06/24/2010 08:17 AM
You could get the same effect of a shelf by having a cardboard box that is sturdy enough to hold his weight. My buns currently have one of those Staples paper boxes that hold ten reams of paper. It’s thick cardboard, and I have the lid on there for added support. I’ve seen people do shelves in dog crates before, but I honestly don’t feel dog crates offer enough space… unless you have the largest available (the “Great Dane” size.)

Yeah right now he has the “X-Large” size, but not the “Giant” size.  I do agree it’s a bit small for him, but I was kind of put on the spot when I adopted him because I was told he was a Holland Lop… and he’s not.. so I recieved a bunny much larger than I was expecting.   So I was a bit put on the spot to find him a good sized cage with the funds I had readily available when I got him.  The x-large crate was the best I could do, but I’m working on improving.

I am currently figuring to attach an x-pen to his cage though, which will about double the size of his “enclosure”.  The x-large dog crate in combination with the x-pen I plan on setting up will be actually larger than the “Giant” sized dog crate.

[Beka27]

I love xpens. They’re my favorite. Even the giant dog crate is not my thing, just because you have to physically crawl inside to clean. I’m not knocking dog crates tho… they certainly do the job, and they are much better than “small animal” cages.

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By Beka27 on 06/24/2010 10:51 AM
I love xpens. They’re my favorite. Even the giant dog crate is not my thing, just because you have to physically crawl inside to clean. I’m not knocking dog crates tho… they certainly do the job, and they are much better than “small animal” cages.

 

Yeah I do like the dog crate, it was about half the price of a big enough “small animal” cage, and the VAST majority of those are too short anyways.  When Zeus periscopes (which he does often &#160, he actually gets FAIRLY close to the top of the dog crate, which is waaaay taller than any small animal cage.

Luckily he’s not much of a jumper or climber, so I don’t think I’ll have to put a top on his x-pen.  I’m going to make one out of grids.

[Beka27]

I had a NIC grid pen attached to Meadow’s cage when she was a single bun. It worked well!

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