NIC condo questions

[cadburybunz]

 Well, as you all know we got aspen yesterday, her previous owner gave us her NIC condo with her, and well, lets just say it’s great….but not… The cubes are in GREAT shape, but the flooring is a mess. it has the vinyl squares on it, which is great, but they aren’t all the way to the edge, and theres a lot of exposed wood, so of course any water, or other things that are wet have over time warped the wood, and it’s gotten quite icky. also the wood wasn’t completely cut so theres a piece that sticks out the side pretty far, and it throws the balance of the cubes way off. so I’ve decided that it just all (the flooring/ wood) need to be replaced.  So with that, My question is…. Right now the condo is 3 cubes high, by 2 cubes wide, and 2 cubes long. She goes to the 3rd level, but not as often as the 2nd level, so I’ve been considering going with 2 levels, but making it longer (3 cubes long) and still 2 cubes deep, I don’t want to stress her or upset her, in a bunnies world would more floor space be better or more verticle space be better? 

 

Thanks so much!! 

[mocha200]

Yes I think floor space is better then vertical, specially if she doesn’t use the top floor. I don’t think it would upset her to much, but I think you should wait till she is all settled in to make to much changes.

Do you have any pics of her condo?

[cadburybunz]

Thanks Mocha! I wont be making any big changes until I know she’s good and settled, although I must say she’s been doing great, and I even saw a binky, AND she was completely relaxed on her side today snoozing under my dinning room table! I was SHOCKED!!!

I will get some pictures of it this evening and post them.

Thanks again!

[mocha200]

aww a binky! I have a feeling she really loves you.

[jerseygirl]

I’ve not made a condo before but I believe you can make the floor of them from grids also. Then put solid flooring over the top. This might help square up the whole structure.
A larger floor space sounds like a good idea. Aspen sounds like somebunny who’ll adjust quite nicely. It’s nice to hear she’s settled so well.

[cadburybunz]

Thanks Jersey,
Well I’ve got all my measurements and I’m going to be heading to lowes tomorrow morning to get a piece of plywood cut, and then get some vinyl tiles. I will probably spend $15 MAX on the whole thing, I have plenty of grids to make the cage, with a second level, so that’s all I will need! Super excited!

Mocha, if you go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/morrowfamily4/sets/72157625926013552/ there is a picture of her current condo. which isn’t bad, but the wood flooring needs replacing really bad… and it’s just so off center it drives me CRAZY.

[mocha200]

Thanks for the photos! I like the condo and I think she would love a wider one so it isn’t so small.

[LoveChaCha]

Sarah, I just made a nic grid condo and got some plywood from Lowes. I’m not sure if you got the wood yet, but I recommend doing into the scraps of Lowes. They have a lot of scrap plywood and by chance, I got a good size one for free o_O

[Beka27]

IMO, 2×3 grids is the absolute minimum floor space they should have. In general you don’t want the cage to be smaller than 2×4 feet… NIC grids are 14 inches, so the actual dimension of the condo would be 28×42 inches… pretty close to 24×48 inches. If you could do 3×3 grids, or 2×4 grids, that would be even better!

[cadburybunz]

I made the new condo today, it is a 2×3, but it seems so much nicer, and I think she even prefers it to the one she had before, which was 2×2 but 3 stories high, this is a 2 level 2×3. my PLAN is to have her free range in the next few weeks, only being confined to the cage at night, and then when we aren’t home, I’m a stay at home mom, and student, so I’m home way, WAY more than I’m gone. My husband (please note he hasn’t even met the bunny in person) wants to order her one of these –> http://www.leithpetwerks.com/prodpage.cfm?prod_code=BA300 What are your opinions on these types of cages? I’m partial to the ease of cleaning the NIC condo’s personally, but we will see.

I will post pictures tomorrow of the new set up!

[Monkeybun]

The leith cages are a bit more annoying to clean, and not as customizable as the NIC cages in my opinion. I have seen numerous leith petwerks cages at foster homes for RA here in Portland, as the owner of leith petwerks is in our area They are great cages, but I like being able to change the bunny’s cages however I like, adding levels, making bigger, etc. Not to mention if the grids get grubby i can just un-ziptie em and wash them off in the sink. Can’t do that with these cages. and well… $300+ is a bit steep in my opinion.

[cadburybunz]

That’s my feeling on them as well, I don’t think I will like the Leith cage as much as I do the NIC, and since I’m the one who cleans the cage, and does 98% of the work with the bunny, I think I want to stick with the NIC… I think he will like this new set up better, so hopefully it will change his mind. He just likes the “clean straight look” to the leith… and well now, the NIC is clean and straight! LOL

[jerseygirl]

If the NIC condo is working for you now I say go with that too. The leith petwerk condos are deluxe but you can create neat, similar structures with the grids. I’ve even seen castors on a base for a nic condo to make it mobile like the petwerks one. May as well save your dollars and put it toward supplies or pet insurance.

[nugget]

I’m running short on time, so I just zipped through all the comments…but…
I made a 2×3 grid condo for Oliver….2 levels, and I think it works great. it has a “hay hatch” and what I like to call his “loft” area where we keep his water and his food dish. Below his loft is where his “front door” is. All of his condo is contained in a nice base with 3 inch sides to keep all the mess inside. My future brother-in-law does cabinetry work, so he was able to construct the base for me out of scrap material.
Are yo uplanning on showing us pictures?

[cadburybunz]

 Ok, hopefully this works, here is 2 pictures of her new NIC condo. 

 

 

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