Flooring? Rubber flooring?

[DayJRuggir]

I have read through all the topics and I find myself still confused!! I have a three story cube condo for my two buns. They are active diggers, jumpers, and hard core chewers! We have now gone through a ridiculous amount of flooring ideas.

1. Foam puzzle mats (the kind in kids rooms/classrooms) — they ATE a lot of it… had to toss that, too worried they would get hurt

2. Carpet tiles… which they have taken to picking up, moving around, shredding, and now eating…. I started with 6, and I am down to 2…

3. Fleece blankets – which I secured down so that way they would not slip through the cube holes… the are ripping holes, digging til the fabric balls up. AND to top it off, fleece is a magnet for fur – which is not easily vaccumed, instead I have to machine wash them. Due to trying to keep things clean, I find myself washing and changing almost three times a week…

Due to my girls digging and chewing habits (and their tendancy to “miss” the litter box every now and then) I don’t think plywood would be the best choice. Lineoleum seems to slippery for these active two… Im interested in rubber… but worried about chewing.

I am hitting a cube condo wall. My little rascals like to make it difficult for me. They love sea grass, and those rugs don’t last long either! Any help from the creative minds out there would be great!!! I appreciate it! And Flopsy and Mopsy will too!

[Barbie]

What about cardboard? Just cut up some old boxes and then you can replace pieces as needed.

[Beka27]

Cardboard is a good idea. It has a limited “shelf life” (no pun intended!) but it’s cheap or free and can be easily cut into squares and replaced as needed. And if you are looking for something more permanent, I wouldn’t rule out plywood covered with peel and stick linoleum tiles. You can get the tiles that have a texture to them so they are not as slick. I think some people have even scuffed them up with sandpaper or scored them for more traction. Maybe try tiles on the main floor. Once the buns can navigate those, you can try to put them on the levels.

I’m weary about rubber flooring b/c 1) it can be easily chewed similar to the issues you were facing with the foam mats, 2) it is usually pretty expensive, and 3) it will be harder to keep clean b/c you can’t easily wipe off the rubber unless it’s coated with something… that makes it slick… and it will then be slippery. If the edges can lift up at all, your buns will dig at it and try to eat the edges.

[skibunny8503]

How about linolium that you buy rolled up? We got ours at a bargin outlet for cheap. I used those puzzle mats too and had the same problem with them chewing on it but we ended up putting lino. over top of them. We also use cardboard on Sandy’s cage on the second floor…..she loves to chew on it when she’s bored haha!

[jerseygirl]

I think vinyl tiles or flooring is the way to go. That over a rigid base like plywood. I have used ultra cheap vinyl flooring (the type that’s only 2 mm thick) and have put that in the bunny area upside down. It’s working well for me. The underside is slighty textured, less slippery but still washable.
You could attach vinyl using double sided tape/carpet tape.  If they’re big chewers, maybe secure some safe woods across the condo, or some other chewing material, so they can really get stuck into that instead.

edit: I was looking online at a product called G-Floor. It’s flooring made for garages etc. Would be good for large areas – for a condo, you’d only need off cuts or samples.

[ViVi]

I use cardboard. It doesn’t last very long, but it keeps Siggy entertained. He spends a large portion of his day ripping it up. I’m going to try Beka’s idea about the plywood and tiles.

[Bunny96]

Im going to try and use the Rubber stall mats for horses there expensive but I dont think my bunny would be able to chew them

[Phil-lop+Lydia]

My buns like cardboard so they have something to do and it works as a floor. You have to keep getting it but its really cheap and not bad for the bunnies

[Dust Bunny]

this may be a silly question, but where can you get cheap linoleum scraps?

[jerseygirl]

I imagine most flooring stores have off cuts. Maybe even thrift stores or recycle places?

[usagi]

I think they would sell linoleum by the square foot at Home Depot or Loew’s… They seem to sell everything by the square foot, so you can buy as little or as much as you need.

Thanks for bringing this up, DayJRuggir. I can foresee this becoming a problem for my bun the future, and had been pretty stumped myself, as Lemony is a digger and a chewer, and the rubber mats would be destroyed and possibly ingested in no time.

Good question!

[skibunny8503]

Posted By Dust Bunny on 03/25/2010 11:02 AM
this may be a silly question, but where can you get cheap linoleum scraps?

Do you have any outlet/bargin stores around you?  We have this place called Ollies Bargin Outlet that we got a giant roll of lino for really cheap.  It was cheap because the lines on the lino didn’t line up with the ridge, so it was on sale.

[Dust Bunny]

Posted By skibunny8503 on 03/25/2010 04:48 PM

Posted By Dust Bunny on 03/25/2010 11:02 AM
this may be a silly question, but where can you get cheap linoleum scraps?

Do you have any outlet/bargin stores around you?  We have this place called Ollies Bargin Outlet that we got a giant roll of lino for really cheap.  It was cheap because the lines on the lino didn’t line up with the ridge, so it was on sale.

 

Ohhh I love ollies!! Such a fun and shady place to kill an hour haha but I don’t know of any around me now.  I’ll have to check out Lowes or something.

[mocha200]

i have a question. i have linolium on my condo and my bun has eaten a lot of it. ( i know he is eating it cuz there are no peices left) is this bad?

[jerseygirl]

My girl has eaten lino before. You don’t want them eating too much of that kind of thing though. You might have to fix the edges down with wood, or replace it with something like stick-on vinyl tiles.

[Beka27]

I’ve never thought of Ollie’s Ski! We have one in our city (just opened within the last year or so). Been there a few times just looking around. I might have to go there again with the buns in mind.

[skibunny8503]

Posted By Beka27 on 03/27/2010 05:08 AM
I’ve never thought of Ollie’s Ski! We have one in our city (just opened within the last year or so). Been there a few times just looking around. I might have to go there again with the buns in mind.

Oh yeah we got our lino there, I can’t remember the size of it but it was a giant roll and we only had to pay $45 for it!  You couldn’t use it in your actual house because the colored strips didn’t line up with the ridges on the lino so that’s why it was so cheap.  We also got our lament flooring in our dining room there too, looks wonderful!  

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