Buttercups Techno BunnGalo

[Vater Araignee]

Hello, I am Vater Araignee. I’ll give an introduction for Buttercup and I when I figure out the appropriate section, but here is my ‘lil love.

 

Currently she spends her nights in a 2′ x 3′ cage and the part of her day when I’m not making a fool of myself fawning over her in a 20 square foot pen.

I am working on a BunnGalo for her and here is its foot print.

Currently it is going to be three 16″ tall levels for a total of 4′.
On every level the 29″ & 30″ faces will open to allow for cleaning and egress.
I am also considering making a door in the roof with a ramp to it.
To protect the wood Each piece will be cut and pre drilled then coated in fiberglass resin.
All sides that she could potential get her teeth on will be covered in a layer of chrome plated 0.25″ hardware cloth.
The “caging” will be 1″ x 4″ welded wire fencing.

I know, not techno yet but I think that each special mod and mod idea will deserve its own thread unless it deals with the enclosure itself. I’ll add links to them in this thread as I make them.

I’d like to hear recommendations and other peoples mods and additions.

 

cooling

[BinkyBunny]

Welcome! Your bunny is so cute!!!  

To be honest,  I don’t know much about any of the materials you were talking about.   So I had to ask my husband and he said it’s not necessarily how he would go about it, but if you are having a professional do this, or you know what you are doing then it may be okay.   Fiberglass resin you’d have to let air for a long time before allowing it anywhere near your bunnies.  The chrome hardware cloth, he didn’t know for sure if a bunny could chew on that or not.

I’m sure there will be others that may helpful with this.

To see what other people have done, here is the link to the cool habitats section https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO…fault.aspx

[jerseygirl]

Welcome! Wow, Buttercups getting a Techno BunnGalo huh? Sounds like she’s thoroughly adored! lol
Lounge is always a good place for intros and posting more pics of your lil Buttercup.

[Beka27]

She’s very cute! That’s amazing you are going thru all that. I just took the easy way out and got a double xpen. They have free run of the house all day anyways so their house doesn’t really need to be high tech.

Something to take into consideration: make sure you can move the entire structure for cleaning behind it. There will be a layer of hay and fur behind it that you’ll have to get to pretty regularly, I’d say at least twice a month. You may want to make it collapsible if possible for easy moving/ storage. When you get into heavy duty building materials, you add a lot of weight to it. It is possible that parts of it may need to be replaced as time goes on. Do your plans allow for individual pieces to be removed and replaced without taking the entire thing apart?

Like BinkyBunny, I am not really familiar with some of those building materials. I kind of know what hardware cloth is, but I’m not sure how much that would deter a bunny. Will that fiberglass resin make the wood water-proof. Even littertrained buns can miss the box sometimes, or you get a spilled water bowl or leaky water bottle. Typically, wood and moisture do not mix.

[Vater Araignee]

BinkyBunny,
Thank you for the compliment, I’m half tempted to be greedy and not share her with my audiences.
The resin is going to be air cured for a week and then spend 2 weeks in a kiln dryer, that should according to Elmer’s it will be “vapor safe”.
The chrome hardware cloth is non galvanized 20guage steel that a butty will plate for me free so it should theoretically stop rust and because the fencing is going on the inside of the framing that should further deter chewing. Buttercup wont even chew her chew sticks but better safe than sorry.

Beka27,
I forgot to mention it was going to be on casters. It isn’t exactly going to be collapsible but ever wall will detach by removing 6 screws and after pulling the staples used to hold the fencing in place individual boards will be able to be removed for replacement. I am anti nail concerning enclosure construction, learned my lesson a long time ago when I had to replace a board and broke 2 more trying to remove it. Fiberglass resin is nearly identical to Gel Coat used in water proofing boats, it just doesn’t have pigment and depending on the brand UV inhibitors.

Because she is going to be a magic bunny I’m also considering making the narrower part detachable so that she will still have part of her territory with her.
I shouldn’t say she is going to be, I should say she is a magic bunny and almost got named Houdena.

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

Hmm… just out of curiosity, what happens in the life of a magic bunny?

[Vater Araignee]

digxmexnow,
For starters they get the normal showering of affection.
As for performance, I don’t force a trick on them, I try to play to my animal partners instincts and or quirks. If I can train them to do something then bonus.
The Morticians top hat in the picture is now Buttercups and if it is laying on its side she will run into it and tip it up then jump out and knock it over. What I am trying to do is get her to go in slow when it is on a table, let me turn it up then jump out. She likes to jump in and out of things (duh) so I let her play with my warlocks box, it is just a modified version of a vanishing box, the kind where you put something in from the top but cant see it from the front so if it comes down to it I can put a pen on for stage right or left with one and a few other props to play with and she can put on her own show.
I pay close attention to my animals wile setting up and if they are not acting normal then an alternate script is used that excludes them.
My clients also know that if I am going to do a show with my animals it can be canceled because of them, my wife has just mentioned that she would prefer I didn’t use Buttercup because she thinks I’ll cancel if she wont come out of her enclosure.

I’m going to make the next statement part of my signature.
If you ever see a magician pick up a rabbit by the ears, call the local animal cruelty authorities immediately. It has been stated in our periodicals, books, forums, dvds etc etc that doing so hurts them so there is no excuse.

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

I was just curious, it really does sound like you are willing to really commit to Buttercup and give her a nice (high tech) home

[RabbitPam]

Hi,
She’s just adorable.
Very glad to read your statement. I’d heard that about magician’s bunnies, and was hoping you had that point of view. Probably you’lll find out early on whether Buttercup is more of an extrovert, ie. comfortable with many people, or skittish. Their personalities differ so much that it probably is helpful to be compatible with their nature. Is she going to be big? I think the larger the bunny, the more relaxed.

Your BunnGalo sounds very thoughtful.

[Beka27]

Definitely post pics when you’re done with the pen! I’m interested to see how it all comes together.

Thanks for sharing what you do with the bunny. Generally, I get bad images when I think “Magician’s Bunny” but it sounds like they are very well cared for. You mentioned in another post that you have two other bunnies as well. Are they still part of your act?

[Vater Araignee]

Unfortunately that would be had two, Yin and Yang is what they where know as I don’t know which was which, both would answer to to what ever name I said. They where gifted to me when I was 14 because my uncle thought I should be pulling rabbits out of hats, though they never did. I did a trick where I would put a black cube into a white box and a white one into a black one and tell every one that I was going to make them switch places but instead of switching places the cubes turned into rabbits. After I had them for 9 years the white one died and two months later after multiple vet visits where he was proclaimed healthy the black one died. They also lived with a guinea pig who died a week later. My vet thinks it was a string of broken hearts and I haven’t owned a bunny in the last 12 years until I was surprised with Buttercup.

[skunklionshow]

I’m so brain-dead…I said BunnGalo like 20 times b/f I realized it was a play on Bungalow!!!  Geez

After watching that Hugh Jackman magician movie (I can’t remember the name)…I couldn’t watch any animals in magic acts b/c of what happened to the bird in the birdcage trick.  Those that haven’t seen it, it doesn’t end well for the bird.  I wondered how the animals were treated in the world of magic.

When you said “Houdena” for Buttercups name….I couldn’t believe that you hadn’t thought of the name “Rosabelle.”  Rosabelle is the code name Houdini had for his wife Bess, in case he came back via seance. 

Can’t wait to hear & see more about the cup & the bungalo!

[BinkyBunny]

It sounds like you really care for you animals and it actually may help calm some of the concerns people have about it.   I think adding that information in your signature is a great idea!  

I am sorry for your loss of you other sweet animals. I know that when I loss Rucy recently, we really have had to work hard to bring Jack out of funk and keep him out.  Rabbits can get very depressed and stop eating when they lose their companion.  

I look forward to seeing more photos of your bunny.

[Vater Araignee]

skunklionshow,
I thought about Rosabelle, it would have been a good name because something about her just screamed flower, but my son was calling her peanut butter because of her color and he would cover her rear with his hands and call it a butt cup. Flower, peanut butter, butt cup, soft, silky and sweet, Buttercup it is.

BinkyBunny,
I wish some of the higher exposure magicians would become ambassadors concerning the treatment of our nonhuman partners.

[skunklionshow]

Too cute…yeah kids often win out w/ the name selection.  Our neighbors eventually named their newborn Dashelle, b/c their daughter was obsessed w/ the movie The Incrediables and she referred to her mom’s belly as “Dash.”  They said that after going through months leading up to the big day, it just stuck, so they kept it. 

[Vater Araignee]

Well I feel like beating my skull in.
I didn’t check the weather when I decided I was going to make a water cooled concrete floor for Buttercup.
All three sections cracked because of the sudden drop in temperature.
Glad I didn’t use copper tubing or there would be a lot of work for me.
Now I have to convince Tanya to let me cure it inside or come up with something else.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

LMAO

but my son was calling her peanut butter because of her color and he would cover her rear with his hands and call it a butt cup. Flower, peanut butter, butt cup, soft, silky and sweet, Buttercup it is.

That is tooooooo cute!!!

I’m so brain-dead…I said BunnGalo like 20 times b/f I realized it was a play on Bungalow!!! Geez

Don’t feel bad-I didn’t get it at all until you posted that…I’m like bunn Geaaaloo-I’m bad though for pronouncing written word in my head (And a huge reader to boot so no excuse!! )

Welcome Vater_Araignee!!! Your bunny is very cute! I know magicians can’t share their tricks, but if you have any training ideas that work well-please do share! I love training animals and currently have one bunny trained to ‘touch’ and go through a hoop, and beg (although we are slowing training due to his weight gain-I’d like to get him down a little then return) and two others who can beg-one who I think is very bright and could learn to do ‘rabbit hopping’ or some other neat tricks. I clicker train but I always love new ideas!!!

[BinkyBunny]

Oh bummer! Well, I do have to say…I can’t wait until it’s done because I am hoping you will take photos of this masterpiece when its done.

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