NIC cage / alternatives to current housing situation?

[Barbie]

I’ve been looking into other ways to house Leroy.  His cage is a decent size, and he gets out for play time in his pen as much as possible when I’m home, but I want to spoil him and give him a bigger cage with more room =) I’d love to be able to leave him out all day, but that’s not really an option, too many wires around and too many hiding places under the bed, behind the couch and fridge etc.  Also, we have a fireplace – we never use it, but all the same, I don’t want him getting into it.  I’d really like to make him a huge palace out of those NIC cubes, and I’ve found them at a local Bed Bath and Beyond and I have my design all planned out. 

I know a lot of people have posted about the NIC cages, and reading through those threads was helpful, but I have a specific question that I haven’t been able to find the answer to… Since the panels are 14 square inches, if I make a multi layed cage, will Leroy be able to get to the upper levels?  Right now, I’m using a bunch of NIC panels for his pen, and the 14 inches of one cube is high enough to contain him.  He’s never gotten out, but I have seen him try.  He stands on his back legs and STRETCHES his front paws up to reach the top of the panel.  He just stands there and looks around, and then gives up becasue he’s not tall enough to try to push off the ground and make it over to the other side.  If I make a NIC cage and put the levels 14 inches up, will I need some sort of ramp for him to get to the next level?  I’m concerned about putting the levels any lower and using one of the middle wires to attach my shelves to.  I want to use the reinforced outside edges of the squares (btw, I’ll be using zip ties) becasue  I feel like the lower, middle wires are just too flimsy to hold any weight for any amount of time, and definitely not strong enough to hold up my active little bun.  Suggestions?

Also, I’m worried about him falling…  I’ll overlap the levels so he cant slip from the top level all the way down to the bottom (at most, the top of the cage will be 4 cubes high), but still.. will a 14 inch fall harm him?

[Sarita]

Would you consider just leaving him in the pen all day instead? I use an x-pen made from Midwest that is 4 feet x 4 feet and you can get different heights.

[flippersmom]

Hey Barbie – I have the NIC cages for my buns and love them!!! We do have ramps to each of the four levels (your plans sound similar to my cages) and they do fine! We did put small square strips of wood across the ramps to give them somewhere to get their footing to get up. Once they firgured them out – about 15 minutes – they were tunning up and down and having a blast!!!! Sometimes, we find them iplaying in their cages even when the door is open and they have the run of the place!!!!!! I keep wanting to post pics, but I seem to have technical difficulties when it comes to doing it (I know, I know, RabbitPam – it’s soooooo easy!!!!!)!!!!!!!

[kralspace]

I have 3 condos and each has a different way of going up and down. The older ones have a small carpet covered box 7 inches tall by each level opening, and my chunkymoney Lola’s condo has ramps.

My biggest one is 3 levels, each 1 and 1/2 nic cube tall and both the bunnies have no trouble leaping up and down. I have a litterbox full of hay they land in and make sure there’s a non slip rug where they take off. Toby is a small bunny and his mate, Pringles is a big heavy girl and they bound up and down the levels all day long. Their’s is the one on the back wall in the photo with Pringles sitting in the box.

I think it has a lot to do with their traction. When they’re out in the house on the wood or tile floor, I can put up a boundary of NIC cubes tied together only one high and they won’t jump it. In the room with carpet though, even the smallest bunny (2.3 lbs) has no trouble jumping on the table or bed.

 

[Barbie]

Yes, I considered just getting a pen and leaving him in that all day, but I like having things neat, and although Leroy doesn’t have accidents, he still makes a mess of his hay and litter, so I wanted to make some sort of semi enclosed, designated bunny-space for him to consider his own and so I can keep his food and water bowls and litter box and bed in it. My plan is to make the cage, and then around the outside of the cage, set up a pen for him to run “inside” and “outside” as he pleases. Also, I figured having a cage with various levels would make use of some of the vertical space in the room, and at the very least, make a little playground for him =)

Flippersmom and Kralspace, your set ups sound great. I think I’ll try the ramps. How do you get the ramps to stay in place in the cage and keep them from slipping around as rabbits are running up and down? Also, I was just going to get some wide flat pieces of wood to make the ramps and then attach strips of wood every few inches to make some kind of grip, just like you have flippersmom. Did you use glue or nails to hold the “grips” in place? I’m concerned about Leroy eating the glue, and non toxic stuff like elmers probably wouldnt be strong enough. As for the nails, even if I try to file off the end, I’d still worry about Leroy scratching himself. I don’t want to get any kind of rubber stick-on stuff, again because I don’t want Leroy to get sick if he decides to take a taste. Although.. come to think of it, the intermediate step idea sounds like a good option too!

Also, are these cages noisy? Do the NIC panels rattle when the rabbits run around? I mean, I’m going to make the zip ties tight, but I was wondering if the wire panels would still sound like a wire cage – you know, when a rabbit sitting on a wire floored cage makes a big jump and the cage makes a very distinct rattling noise (I’m ashamed to say that years ago we kept a poor bun in a cage like that). Of course, I’ll make sure all the floor surfaces are covered with something solid and soft, so I don’t know if I’d even have that problem. =)

[tabalab]

We put triangle wood cut out in ours! in the corner as a step, My buns dont really need it but it helps. Also you could look into a plastic or wooden ramps

[flippersmom]

As for the ramps…hubby drilled 2 holes at the top and we zip tied the ramps to the cage so that it is level with that particular floor. The little strips were stapled on from the back with a pnuematic stapler – my buns have chewed on them, but only at the edges and hubby made sure to put staples further in. No problems yet, but we definately keep an eye on them!!!!

As for noise – can’t say they really make any!!! We did use both the provided connectors and zip ties. For each level, we used the wire grids, then plywood covered with linoleum (with drilled holes and zip tied in) and some sort of carpet or rug (each level has something different). Hubby made a wooden base on casters also, so we can move them around as a unit to clean behind ect. Once in a blue moon, when the 2 younger girls decide to race from bottom to top and back again (and again, and agian) it sounds like they’re vaulting off a gymnastic springboard – but it’s knd of cute, not really annoying (ok, everything my bunnies do is cute anyway!!!!).

BTW – Leroy is a cutie patootie and I love the name!!!!!

[RabbitPam]

Flippersmom, LOL!!! It is NOT easy. It took me ages to learn BB’s original way of posting pix, and then the system changed!

As far as the height of the levels, I can understand your concern, Barbie, because some bunnies just naturally love heights and jumping and others, like my Sammy, do not. I actually didn’t put a level back into her house after her spay since she made it clear she didn’t want it there and she NEVER jumps anywhere. Tried the couch, only boring me on it, didn’t come back. She and Spockie both found my bed too high, while I know certain bunnies on this forum would be snoozing on it now if they were here.

The suggestions above are very good, and also I’d encourage you to look carefully at the photos in the Cool Habitats section. Go to the green banner above, and click iBunny Info, Cool Habitats from the drop down menu. If you see one you like, you could send the member a message through the Message Center and if they’re still active they may be able to tell you more construction details. Or check their posts in case it’s already been described.

You could also hit the search button, keyword habitat or NIC cubes, and browse prior posts on the topic to get tips.

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Hi, I have a NIC condo and I zip tied the shelves to the smaller ‘middle’ wires. I find that it is definately sturdy enough and I have two buns, three pounds and three point something (I think).
Here is a picture of my condo, as you can see to keep the levels sturdy I put PVC piping under the shelves for stability.

As you can see I also have a pen attached to this.

 

[SirThumpsey]

Moonlight_wolf- I am just curious how the little box house thing is set up. I am guessing that there are holes and the bun can go on different levels. Did you use boxes with lids or no?

[Barbie]

Thanks everyone! I guess I’ll just start trying things out, I mean, the cages are versatile enough that I can move things around if something doesn’t work. =)

Moonlight Wolf, i really like those green floors you have… I was looking around on other threads for help with the NIC condo, and found that someone posted an ebay store (it might have been you… sorry, I cant remember who posted it) that sold all the supplies for making the NIC condos, and what you have looks similar to what you have. Did you get them there, and if so, do you like them? I wasn’t so sure about the flooring because I thought it might be too slippery?

[RabbitPam]

That might have been me, because I got some precut coroplast squares from this store:

stores.shop.ebay.com/Pets-and-Peopl…QQ_armrsZ1

[Barbie]

Yep. Thanks!

For those of you who have used coroplast, do you like it? Is it too slippery for the rabbits?

[Lintini]

I use coroplast the moment for my guinea pigs and use linoleum for Bun. You can use paper clamps to fit some fabric to it, I buy straw mats so she can chew them up too. I didn’t have the best luck with fleece lining because Bun likes to dig so she was ripping it up. Coroplast is very sturdy and easy to clean, same with linoleum of course. For the linoleum I stuck 2 of them together so they are extra stiff. It just kinda depends on what store is easier for you to access. The linoleum squares were 40 cents each, and this huge piece of coroplast was about 11 bucks for a 10×10 piece. Then you have the issue of getting that into your car but they will cut it for you. If you choose either of those, you could try going to Walmart and buying some inexpensive cotton fabric and line it with it for the slippery issue. I have also seen people use carpet. You could try going to a carpet store and see if they have any chunks they could give you for free.

[BinkyBunny]

oh, and quick tip for cleaning NIC cages. Be sure to have a at least one cube panel (I preferred opposite of each other) on each floor that you can just unhook to be able to clean easily. I know that when I only had one on one side, I had to be a contortionist.

As far as “neatness” goes though, I found the pens to be much easier to clean than the NIC cubes. Also, with both NIC cubes and pens you can help prevent hay from getting everywhere by just getting a board, plastic, paper or whatever and place that on the cage/pen where the hay is to prevent it from falling getting on the floor outside of the pen.

[Moonlight_Wolf]

The boxes I used for the box condo are just normal boxes, I don’t know what you mean by a lid, but yes they have holes so my bunny can jump up to the different levels.

I got my coroplast from a sign store in my area, I found it on this site

http://www.guineapigcages.com/where.htm

I like the coroplast, my bunnies chew it less. It is a little slippery but I put the mats that Binky bunny sells down so that the bunnies have something to lye on that is not slippery.

[tabalab]

i wish my rabbits could have their own room

[ORiN]

Hmm… May I know what is usually being used for the flooring of NIC cages? I just adopted a rabbit a few weeks ago and currently planning to build a bigger cage for him in the future. I am using a hard plastic flexible sheet instead of coroplast for flooring in his cage at the moment.

[tabalab]

i have a plastic back splash cut to fit the cage its nice because it have inch high edges on 2 sides

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Linoleum is what I used before the coroplast.

[DawnT]

I built a cae for my buns (at the time there were four) Currently I have two and Bubba’sCAGE HAS 2 FLOORS WERE HE IS able to jump from one floor to the other.  First floor he uses for sleeping and louging.  the bottom floor is where his liter pan and food are.  For some reason I can not upload becaue of the size but I will keep working at it so you can see the pic

[Barbie]

Just an update on Leroy’s cage situation… right now, I’ve given up on making a NIC condo for him. I came up with a design but, I need way more squares than I have currently and all sorts of other things (coroplast squares, wood and small wheels for the base, dowel rods to support the levels, some sort of plastic to make a shield around the bottom edge…). So I’ve just blocked off things Leroy shouldn’t get into with the NIC squares and now Leroy has full run of the living and dining rooms. He absolutely loves it! I was sitting out there with him watching tv last night and he was doing the Bunny 500 and zipping all around like a crazy bunny. I had to move all the dining table chairs into a room that Leroy doesn’t have access to because yesterday I saw him jumping up on the chairs and from there to the table. As cute as he looked sitting there, I was concerned that he might get himself stuck or worse, fall and hurt himself, so of course I had to prevent that! I’ve tried leaving him out for a couple hours on his own and he was fine, but today is the first time I’m actually leaving him for any great length of time. He’ll be out for at least the entire morning while I’m at work. I’ll be home at lunch to check on him, so I’ll decide then if he can stay out for the afternoon… I’m concerned that the little stinker might start ripping up the carpet or something, though he hasn’t done anything like that before… Oh well, I guess I’ll see in a few hours. =)

[jerseygirl]

haha! Looks like you skipped the condo step and moved onto the “give over your house step” than inevitably happens. My buns are free range and I find it pretty easy. Funny, today when I left home, I flashed back to that first time I let Jersey stay out on her own and how nervous I felt. Now, I just have to sight the two before I leave, then I’m happy to leave them. They mostly snooze anyway.

[Alicia]

I wish mine weren’t little carpet nippers!  I can’t trust mine on any kind of carpeting because they’ll leave holes in a matter of minutes!  I’m so jealous..I’d LOVE to have mine be free range but Tucker is SO naughty with the carpet that I can’t even have her out free range part of the time, she has to always either be in a pen or be confined to the kitchen/hallway because it’s the only uncarpeted place in the house!

[Barbie]

Well, Leroy did really well yesterday. No accidents, no bald patches in the carpet, no chewed up bits of the wooden baseboards… So we’re trying it again today! =) I only wish I could have done so well… lol. All day I was a nervous wreck. And when I came home and didn’t see him right away (he was hiding) I just about had a heart attack. Lol.

[Alicia]

LOL aww I’m glad that he’s doing so well!  Now maybe after a few days you’ll do as well too! LOL

[jerseygirl]

So before I said I find having them free range easy….but it’s not all roses…. Like tonight, my main Minx peed 3 times on the kitchen floor because I wasn’t giving her what she wanted. Grrrr….so I got revenge by trimming her nails that was long overdue.

[Barbie]

Well, I spoke too soon. I came home at lunch today and the stinker had pulled down one of the NIC “fences” I had put up around a floor lamp and chewed through the cord! GRR. At least the lamp wasn’t on, so I don’t think he hurt himself, but the light doesn’t work now. I checked him over and he seemed fine and was eating fine when I left. He’s staying in his cage for the afternoon – I’d just worry too much! So Alicia, I haven’t gotten used to it yet, and with this set back, it might be a while longer, lol =P

Jeresy, sounds like your little girl has an attitude! Hehe.  By the way, what did she want?

[Alicia]

Oh no! LOL yes that sounds like what would happen to me if mine were free!  That and a huge hole in my carpet!  Mine have always been good abot not chewing floorboards..but cords and carpet are just irresistable to them and NIC grids don’t do a thing to deter them!  Tucker just lifts the grid and shoves until she gets it to move enough out of her way and Drue usually looks for a way to scale something to get around it.  

[Deleted User]

I had my condo ziptied once and one of my rabbits (Deirdra) gnawed off most of the ties. I now use wire to reinforce the connectors.

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