Buying Linoleum

[Otti]

Okay, so what i thought might never happened ended up happening this weekend (don’t say I told you so if you can please lol).

I overslept on Saturday and so instead of giving Sammy his veggies at 10:00AM, like I usually do on the weekends, I didn’t get up to feed him till past 1PM. 

He was a little more than disgruntled and ended up taking out his frustration on his foam mats, which he has never so much as nibbled before in his life. There’s a corner of his cage in which he always nibbles at and pushes his pen out, sometimes pushing it so far that he gets it off the foam mats and onto the carpet. In doing this, he had never shown any interest in biting the foam mats, but I think this time in his frustration he decided they were his way to freedom.

He bit along an 8 inch  or so portion of the edge, not very deeply, but he definitely ate what he bit, because there were no pieces lying anywhere. Cue a whole day of feeding wet greens, hay, pellets (he was eating and acting totally normally) and waiting for him to poop. Poop he did like usual around evening and normally, and he has been pooping just fine since then. 

I made a hasty trip to Target to cover his mats with a large enough towel that it would wrap securely around the edges. I’d like a more permanent solution though. Problem is, he treats linoleum like it’s lava. I’ve decided to ignore his fear and give him enough towels in the area that he can work it out with the linoleum and get over it LOL

So this is my question, I’ve never bought linoleum in my life but i’m going to go to home depot and get some this weekend I think. I saw that online it’s listed as being sold in rolls that are 12ft wide. I need obviously a much narrower piece than that (just over 4 feet by 4 feet). Will they cut it for me in the store or do I have to get the 12ft wide type and cut it myself at home?

Any other tips I need to know, like which type works and which doesn’t or anything like that?

[AbbyGirl]

Hi Otti. Linoleum is really easy to work with. So even if they won’t cut it for you it’s really easy to do with a utility knife. It never hurt to ask if they can cut it. Some will, some won’t. Also, linoleum comes in so many different styles. Some more shiny than others. Some really hard and some more soft and flexible. I think your best bet will be to feel them and choose the one you think will be best for him to walk on. You may even be lucky enough to find a smaller remnant on clearance. Hope that helps! =)

[cadburybunz]

Hi Otti,
Linoleum can also be bought in squares as well, not just rolls, you might want to check on those as well! Good Luck!

[Otti]

hmmm how large are the squares Sarah? I’m looking to lay the linoleum directly on my carpet, not attach it to a base, so if the squares were small and I’d have to attach multiple ones together, that wouldn’t work I don’t think.

I can put the linoleum straight on the carpet right? with the weight of his stuff and the pen keeping it down?

[cadburybunz]

Oh, yeah, the squares probably wouldn’t work for you if your just going to lay them on the carpet. I would think you could just lay int, and then put your pen in his things on top and it would hold it down ok, it may not lay totally flat and be hard, but it would definitely work.

[lashkay]

The thing I’ve found out about sheet linoleum is, it can buckle quite easily and it’s a challenge weighing it down evenly so that it stays lying absolutely flat. The linoleum in Dustor and Petie’s pens has buckled so that there is a big roll or fold sticking up and this, alas, has been nibbled on as well. I know because the roll of linoleum is chewed where it raises up and folds and the edges of the linoleum that skirt the outer pen wall, are nibbled as well. So far, Dustor hasn’t had any issues with the linoleum he’s ingested but of course I don’t want to push my luck and I did cover a place where he was chewing it, with a coconut fibers mat that he’s not interested in chewing at all. So if you do go with a sheet or roll of linoleum, you’ll want to safeguard yourself that it’s weighed down evenly heavily so that it can’t buckle and that you have some large chewable mats – coconut fibers mats are ideal, but doormats made of conconut fibers are usually treated chemically and are toxic to bunnies. Non-toxic coconut fibers mats however are long lasting and usually the buns aren’t interested in chewing them. Aside from the buckling issue, linoleum is a dream to keep clean and are great if they stay flat. My sheets of linoleum rest on a low-pile tight-weave carpet and have a tile floor pattern so the bunnies have some traction as well and don’t slip and slide.

[Otti]

Okay so I actually decided spur of the moment tonight to go in a completely different direction. Went to staples and got one of those huge plastic chair mats, put that under his pen with a towel over most of it. It actually looks really tidy and wasn’t too too expensive ($50). The edges almost sink completely on the carpet so even if he did decide out of the blue to chew plastic, the towel and his pen should prevent it while he’s in it, and the carpet and my supervision should while he’s out. Thanks everyone as always for all the advice!

[Monkeybun]

If you do decide to get linoleum (or for others that visit this thread down the road for ideas), to flatten it, and keep it from rolling back into a roll, lay it out upside down somewhere, where it can settle. Then, after it has flattened out on its own, you can turn it over to the right way up

[Author]

Messages