Building an NIC condo

[sarah bowden]

Hi all I am about to start building an NIC condo for a foster bunny and I have a question for all of you have one.

Do you put the cubes on the bottom of the condo as well and then just cover them with something or do you buid up from a seperate base. I have been looking at the pictures on here and it looks like there is a little bit of both going on so I wanted to hear some oppinions on what works best.

 

[MooBunnay]

I generally have just had no NIC bottom on my cages, and just built from their carpet up. I have found, however, that makes the cages incredibly difficult to move if you don’t have someone to help you. If you are handy enough, or can figure out a way to put the cage on wheels or some kind of base, I think that in the long run you will appreciate the extra effort.

[babybunsmum]

i built from the floor up as well.  i have my nic cages on clear sheet plastic (the thick kind you buy at fabric stores – i think it’s what some people use to cover furniture grandma-style )  so i can use it to help drag the whole thing away from the wall when cleaning.  then i use the corrugated plastic sign board stuff for the floor that the bun walks on because i find it easy to clean & bun can’t dig at it. 

i think another alternative would be a patch of vinyl flooring.  i love the plywood bases in wheels.  maybe some day…

[skunklionshow]

My shelves are all NIC cubes.  I cover them w/ cardboard and then a rag rug.  If the shelf gets nasty, I wash the rug and recycle the cardboard and just add new cardboard.

[Lisa_43]

I looked at a lot of NIC pictures, it really is trial and error until it seems to all fit together perfectly

[Scarlet_Rose]

I used NIC panels for everything. It really helps with stability and I have mine on a cart with locking castors. I covered the NIC panel floor with pressboard covered in linoleum peel & stick tile. Then use various things as a final floor for my buns, board covered with carpet stuck with carpet tape, granite tiles flipped bottom side-up, covered in berber fur or some plastic grating with small squares. : ) There really isn’t one way to make the NIC condos, that’s what makes them so great! Availability of materials, what you have, what you can find and what you can afford makes each one unique.

[BinkyBunny]

I also have to ditto Scarlet, because it really helps with stability if you make a floor with the cubes too (even though you will cover it with something later.

[KAMAOR]

I just built a new NIC Condo for my girls. I got a piece of 5/8 plywood cut to fit my cage with an extra 1 inch on each side. then I put casters on the bottom of it and drilled holes every 4 inches at the one inch mark all the way around when I stood my condo on top I used the wire ties through the holes all around to attach it to the wood floor. THis made it very stable and mobile to clean around. There is a you tube video of a gentleman building one very similar to mine but he spent a lot more money then I did.

My only problem is on the shelves I have taken used sticky back linoleum squares to make clean up easier but they stink. I thought it might have been from being boxed up but even after putting them on the shelves and cleaning them with cage cleaner the odor is still present. I haven’t moved the girls in yet because of the smell. Any suggestions?

[Scarlet_Rose]

The linoleum smell takes a bit to wear off. I had mine outside for several days. As a temporary thing you can cut some carboard to place on the wire until the smell on the linoleum squares goes away.

[BinkyBunny]

I ditto what Scarlet says. It took days for the smell to wear off. I used a fan for days, not sure if that helped it wear off any faster or not, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.

[lollilops]

Where can I buy the cheapest NIC panels?

[Meg]

Ooo!  One I can help with!  (I’m new, just about to adopt.)  I had trouble finding cheap ones, and had almost given up and bought the $30+ ones, BUT I did find the 14.99-for-16 deal at Bed, Bath & Beyond last weekend!!  It’s this product:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=13652600

which is currently out of stock on their website, but you can call the 800 number and they’ll tell you if a store near you has them.  My own town’s store was out, but the next store over had them.  Good luck!

[flippersmom]

I found a box of 23 panels for $16.99 at Target. They come in black, white, and blue!!!!!

[RabbitPam]

One caution:
Keep an eye on the size of the spaces between wires when you buy the cubes. I used to stock up with sets from Target, the latest set being white , and then a few months ago they changed their construction. If you look closely at the pictures on the box, you’ll see that some of them have wider openings in the sides, about 3″, than on the tops. Some folks here have found that with small bunnies they can get their heads through the holes – not good.

I did check out the ones in stock in the store at Bed Bath & Beyond recently, and though they are still only in metalic gray, they still have the smaller holes in all the pieces. I keep waiting for Target to reorder from a company that makes them the way they used to in pretty colors. (Probably the manufacturer saved bucks on using fewer wires per cube, not knowing that many of their customers were rabbits.)

[riibu]

My NIC cage is located in that ambiguous area of apartments between the kitchen and “dining room,” right on top of the floor, which is some sort of vinyl or something.  I just sweep it out and once in awhile slide it into the kitchen area and give the floor a full scrubbing with white vinegar.  But it’s not that big – 2x3x2 – Anything bigger would probably be better on its own platform (if you want to be able to move it).

Sica’s NIC cage is massive and AMAZING!!  It’s all on wheels and the floor of the cage is actually PVC-coated wire grid with a pull-out tub underneath it.  The wire is at least 80% covered with either litter boxes or blankets and it goes up three levels (all covered in blankets/carpet).  It’s a really awesome piece of work!

Oh, and if your BB&B store is out of grids, they should be able to order them for you to be shipped to your house (with free shipping!).
 

[TARM]

My first NIC cage didn’t have a grid floor but my new one does. The new one is much sturdier than the old one.

[ramsey]

Hi all,
I live in the UK (Birmingham) I wondered if anyone knows if we can get these NIC Condos in the UK as I’v never seen them, saw pictures of Nic condos on here and think their great, but not sure where to get the frames from.

[Meg]

Hi!  To answer your question, here are some links from elsewhere on this website:

http://www.displaysense.co.uk/Wire-cube-display-12-compartments-WCS37.html

About

I’m in the middle of building my first bunny condo right now, and wanted to add a few tips:
 

First, I wanted to reiterate a tip I’ve seen elsewhere: after you trim the long ends of the electrical ties, take a second to melt them (with a candle or lighter)!  The edges are very sharp after you cut them and could hurt you or your bunny (or anyone else who walks by).  After only one or two seconds over a candle flame, you’ll see them start to bubble, and then they quickly reform into a soft, rounded edge.  They dry/cool within seconds, too. 

Also, I’ve found that crisscrossing two ties over the connection (if the two edges of the grids your connecting make a +, you’d make an X right over that +) holds it more securely. 

[Author]

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