Made the cage to pen switch over! Pictures of course!

[Alicia Conklin]

Well, we decided against the guinea pigs.  It is becoming more and more apparent to us that Tucker needs a bunny friend.  We don’t have the space or resources to support a guinea pig pair and a second rabbit so the guinea pigs did not come home with us and we will instead focus on getting Tucker a friend down the road.

 

Anyway, so we finally settled on an idea for his pen.  I have pictures of course!!! Please excuse the mess…we have decided to use his old “cage”..the one he came to us in as a litter box.  It’s scary how small this thing is that he was supposed to live in!!  Anyway, so yes, we used the old cage as a litter box and he thinks it’s oh so much fun and so he scattered some litter and stray poops >.< onto the floor.

 

The side of the cage, next to my desk where I work during the day.

View from the front of the cage.  The higher sides are the ones where he could jump out of the pen from when he sits on his shelf.

Attempting an air shot…

A better birds eye view…

Tucker’s kitchen…pardon his “friend’s” appearance, he had just been violated and was resting…lol

Tucker’s “bedroom”

This is the litter box made out of the base of the cage he came in.  He loves to play in here…

This is the “living room” area with all his toys and a second, smaller bathroom.

 

We used MDF boards connected together with brackets and then laid down self stick tiles and wrapped it all with NIC grids.  The NIC grids are held into place at the base by coaxil cable staples.  They work wonderfully and make sure Tucker can’t move the sides away from where they should be.  Tucker LOVES his new cage, he’s been doing binkies and bunny flops all day and last night.   It’s also been so much easier for me to get in and clean. 

[Scarlet_Rose]

That is a wonderful set-up! I am so jealous! Nice litter box too!

[GrammyB]

Your pen looks great!! Tucker will be so happy to have more space. Keep an eye on the flooring to make sure he’s not eating any, some of that stuff has lead in it. 🙁

We have a big litter pan like that too, that’s about all those cages are good for. I laugh at our first pans they are so small, 2 are used for our guinea pig & 1 is used to grow oat grass for the critters. You seem to be using a lot of litter. Try 1/2-1 in. they don’t need much. Then just scoop out & replenish the used corner every day or two.

We got the GP on the 23rd & found out they need 7.5 sq ft. for one pig! Even our first bunny cage was too small. So we made a 2×4 grid cage, that way there’s enough room for two. We want to adopt another in the next few months. Do your research before you get a GP, they can die from pasturella or bordetella & GP people were telling us to keep them in separate rooms. Well we don’t have the space for that, so they can’t play together & GP can’t be where buns have been. For GP play time we put a blanket down. Our vet thinks it will be ok, our rabbits have no symtoms, but they could be carriers. =/

I think you made the right decision under your circumstances. Tucker should have a friend. We have a bonded pair of rabbits & they are so happy together.

Is Tucker neutered? That should be done before you try to bond.

[TARM]

Ooohhhh, I like it! Gah, every time I see someone’s set up I want it in my house!

EDITED TO ADD:  I especially like the supply shelf!  Makes it so convenient to have everything RIGHT THERE. 

I looked into the hutch in the living room deal and I just don’t have the funds for that yet…but THIS set up looks like something I could easily do.

EDITED AGAIN TO ASK:  What is a coaxil cable staple and how to you attach them?

[Alicia Conklin]

This was pretty cheap to do.  It needs about 2 boxes of NIC cubes, 12.99 per box at target, a pack of zip ties which was 6.99 for a big tub that had MORE then we needed, the tiles were .33 each, the wood was more expensive then I’d have liked but that was because we had to get strips that were meant for like closet shelves, so they were better wood and more expensive.  This really wouldn’t have mattered though, but for us we only have our dodge neon, so we couldn’t get a big sheet of plywood home, anyway the wood cost about 20.00.  So so for under 60 I’d say..  And even his rug, I got that at costco for 13.99.  

http://www.goodmart.com/products/83586.htm  Those are coaxial cable staples like the ones that we got.  We got them at lowe’s but I don’t see them on their website.  They have a tiny nail attached and you just hammer that into the wood and it holds the cube in place. 

[Alicia Conklin]

Yea, Tucker isn’t much of a chewer..besides carpet! but we always keep an eye out to make sure that nothing is being eaten that shouldn’t be.

Tucker likes more litter then 1/2 to 1 inch.  We’ve tried it like that…he usually ends up just tipping the box.  It’s not actually as much as it looks though, it’s about 1.5 inches of litter…but the part that you can see is deeper because he was digging in it and pushed alot of it up to the front lol.

Yea, we were going to do  2 X4 grid, and make Tucker’s cage an extra cube out in width.  But, luckily there was another family that could take them in, so we just decided to have them go to them and not pursue guinea pigs..atleast not for a while.  We might revisit the idea after we no longer have hamsters, since they have a short life span

No, Tucker’s not neutered yet, that’s what I meant by “down the road”.  Neutering around here turned out to be ALOT more then I was counting on for a good vet so I am currently working overtime this month so that he can be neutered around the end of the month.  Tucker is still young anyway, and from what I had heard it is best to wait until they are a year old before pairing.  So, I figure by the time he is neutered and has his recovery it’ll be a good time to start looking.  Luckily there are two rescues nearby who are going to keep an eye out for potential mates once they get the go ahead that he’s been neutered   So for now he’ll just have to settle for us, the cats and his toy bunny as his friends.  If only he could be free range I wouldn’t feel as guilty for making him wait for a friend.  He gets along with the cats really well and they love to just lounge together but the girl cat, who is closest to him is afraid to jump INTO the pen, she only lays with him when he’s out in the room or the pen door is open. 

[TARM]

Thanks so much! I have a whole buttload of those little thingies that I never used.

I think I’m going to build one of these. Though I’d love to make that humugo cage I printed the plans for I’m not talented enough to even try that…but this I can definately do.

[Alicia Conklin]

LOL I was going to do that cage too, and I was fairly sure I could do it if I followed it exactly but I wanted to make it only 3 cubes  long instead of 4 because then it could fit in the space that I needed it to.  And, I couldn’t figure out how to make the doors go the way that I wanted (completely open or atleast mostly open)  if I only made it three cubes long. 

In the end though it came down to laziness from me haha.  We had the pen part and it was time to start designing his new cage.  The shelf that’s in there is actually part of his old cage..just cut apart from the other pieces lol.  I kept it completely intact and just zip tied it to the new pen because I was exhausted and didn’t want to design a new cage and it worked out perfectly and I love it!

[xXPanicXx]

omg thats awsome!! i love the pen and am glad u decided on thinking of getting a bunny friend, just because i think he would feel better about it to ^.^ HEY i have that same brown bunny! lol i think it makes a groan noise if u squeez it? haha mine like to clean it.

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