Need advice on bunny set-up!

[Gina]

Hello girls!  I am really uncertain about this issue with my bunnies so I figured you guys could help.

I will soon be moving to our first home in NY.  We will have a bunny room/ Gina room/ future kids room maybe?  There is old carpet in there and we were thinking of tearing out the carpet in the upstairs and replacing it.

I have 4 bunnies that I have made NIC cages for.  There are 2 bonded pairs.  They still are pretty bad with their litter habits.  I would like to let them run around that room in pairs, but they will probably poop/pee everywhere.

What should I do for the flooring in that room? 

Choices:

keep old carpet (though old and ugly and will eventually smell)

tile (will be hard to replace?)

sticky tile as a temporary thing (does pee go through?)

new carpet that matches everything else (will eventually get ruined)

or any other options?

 

[jerseygirl]

I would actually put vinyl down straight over the old carpet. It’s a cheap option, easy to clean and the carpet underneath would add extra cushioning for when they jump down onto the floor. Would that work? I’m actually thinking of putting something under the vinyl I have in the bunny area as it is just layed on concrete. I worry about the impact on their joints.

[Sarita]

Most of my rabbits are reluctant to walk on straight vinyl and need the traction of carpet. My setup for my penned rabbits has vinyl with carpet over the vinyl. That way it protects the carpet underneath and allows the rabbit some traction.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

THERE is another option! I bought this stuff for the flooring in my bunny room. We actually put it ontop of carpet and steamed the seams into place, but it could go overtop of just about anything.

I love it because it’s easy to clean (I can literally dump water on it and mop it) BUT it also has great traction (it has a tacky feeling as well as grooves). A warning though-it took them all a day to stand on the ‘new weird floor’ but now it’s great-they can run, and have traction, lay on it because it’s soft, and it’s rubbery so it’s cool too!

I bought it in a home reno type place, and it seems fairly common

 

 

[Gina]

 

i use vinyl now but the pee actually does soak in and i have to change it every few months.

[Gina]

i may choose this and only do half the room so the other half can remain people-friendly.  does the poop or pee get stuck in those grooves?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Nope not really at all. Noot (the gray one) is a total unlittertrainedslob He dumps food and pees all over it and generally makes a huge mess and it’s still really easy to clean up!

[BunnyLiz]

KK- I remember loving that flooring idea when you came up with it. But im loving it more and more now. Lucy annoys me to no end because when she is upset that she doesnt get her way she bites and digs and chews at there nice big rugs. She really cant keep doing this, if she chews through the rugs (Ive layered them, so there is a rug underneath too) and gets to the carpet (again!) then my mom will have a fit. And I will only have two options, 1. Stick them in a little cage, but that simply wouldnt do as they are in there cage more these days. Or 2. Pack the buns up and look for somewhere else to live. And Lucy is so messy, she digs out litter and hay weekly. But she is a monster chewer, she has destroyed plastic toys and ate a willow tent in two days. So anyways, how chewable is it? Could they sink their teeth in it?

[Gina]

arggh i am having trouble finding it.  your website is a uk website.  i have checked lowes and home depot websites and they have rubber tiles, but not a sheet of it.  did yours come in a big sheet?  that would be easier. because then i could just lay it over my carpet.

maybe the vinyl would be ok if i put some kind of protector underneath?

[Toki+Pumpkin+Elmo]

I put down foam tiles (the ones for kids). My bunnies don’t chews it so it’s not a problem for me but yours might. During winter, I put rugs or mats down. I clip it in the corners so that it looks neats. Whenever I clean the cage, I just wash them.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

It comes on a roll and you pay by the linear foot-That room is something like 90sq feet and it was about 150$ to do (memory + math =bad…but something along those lines). I had to search to find it-not that it’s not carried but it’s actually just one roll in a mess of a flooring department I’d honestly take a picture of it and bring it in-I did that and they were like ‘oooh yup over here’

As for the chewable-I was concerned because mine are big rubber feinds and it’s sort of rubbery. BUT none have touched it and it’s like-four months now? As long as you put it down nicely and don’t have tempting-tempting-corners to pull up it should be fine!

[flippersmom]

I can’t wait until morniing to show this to the hubby!!!! He’s a construction dude and is at all the home improvement centers all the time!!! I bet he know what it is!!!! It seems perfect!!!! I think you’ve just solve my problem of what to use for the new condo set-up!!!!!!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Ohh if your hubby knows what it’s called, that’ll help other people find it easier too! Sweet!

[Gina]

Flippersmom:

Yes please give us any details you find out about what its called and what store to get it in.

[flippersmom]

Sorry it took so long – hubby left this am before I was up and I just was able to get both of us to the computer!!!! He said he knows it by ribbed rubber matting and that there are a couple of different sizes of spaces between the ribs (unsure of the exact measurement though). He knows they have it in rolls at the Menards around us in the flooring department and you can get smaller squares (like to line a toolbox) at Sears in their tool department. Unsure if it’s carried at Home Depot or Lowes (the other major home improvement places around us) as we have a business acct. at Menards so he’s there more.

I have found lots of good bunny supplies at Menards and at very good prices. Plus it goes on the business’ bill!!!!!!!! Hubby used to ask me if I wanted to go with him if he was going in the evening or on the weekend – not so much anymore as I alway find something for the buns!!!! I do have him trained to look for those torn bags of woodstove pellets though!!!!!!!!

Anyway, hope that info helps!!!!!

[Author]

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