NIC condos

[caviesnbuns]

I am planning on building an nic condo when I get my first bun next year but I need some ideas. I am planning on getting either a mini or holland lop. I am not sure how high to make other levels or even how to build more levels. Need ideas! Thanks.

[mocha200]

Have you looked here? If you click on “CUBES” there are a ton of houses made from NIC cubes!

binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/RabbitHabi…fault.aspx

Here is the NIC condo I made for my bunnies. I love it!

[caviesnbuns]

Oh I love your condo. I watched your tutorial on youtube but I still don’t understand how you gave it the wood panel look. I only have room for a 2X4 cage that is 2 grids high. How should I arrange it so there are multiple levels but still running room? My guinea pig’s 2X4 is on top and the storage underneath will become the rabbit cage so that is why it can’t be higher. If I made it higher I wouldn’t be able to get into my guinea pig’s cage (i am short). Plus, my parents wouldn’t allow me to make it taller or wider because they think a 2X4 is plenty big for a rabbit.

[ipelow]

I have a Netherland Dwarf in a regular cage, which she likes fine because she hates slippery floor. Her litterbox takes up one side (with her food dish right next to it because it goes in one end and out the other) and her “bed” that she stretches out on is on the other side. However, I now have a Flemish Giant who is almost 3 months old (and already much much bigger than the adult ND), and I did the NIC cube thing. I originally planned to make the levels for him to jump onto and what not, but I ended up just making a HUGE cage for him. He loves it and runs around all over the place (the best part is when he stops to shake his big floppy ears around and then takes off again).

Aaaaaaand I just realized you said you don’t have much room to work with, so my post was completely irrelevant. Oh well, I am still always proud to talk about my bunnies.

[ashlee1228]

I appears that the wood panel effect is created by self adhesive textured vinyl floor tiles placed over the ply wood. You can get the tiles at any home improvement store in a variaty of styles (wood grain, stone, etc) costing anywhere from 68 cents for single tiles on up depending on the style and quantity, and they are very easy to cut to size using a study box cutter tool.

Additionally I have found that the vinyl floor tiles work great as cool places for the buns to lay, all I do is take a piece of cardboard from an old box and stick a few tiles to it and then place the tiled cardboard into the cage or where ever the bun likes to lounge. My rabbits love to lounge on the tile and no matter how long they have been laying there it always feels cool to the touch, it’s also super easy to wipe clean and when the cardboard bottom gets gross it’s cheap enough to just toss the whole lot in the trash and start fresh, and never has either of my buns tryed to dig or chew it.

Be warned: the adhesive is VERY VERY sticky!

[mocha200]

Its actually linoleum. It was a $38 remnant from minards.

Ipelow: Do you have a picture of your cage I could see?

To answer your question about having multiple levels with a 2×4 2 grids high, what I would do is just have a 2×2 shelf so there is still plenty of room for your bunny to stand on its hind legs. hope this helped.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

How much out time would your bunny get? 2×4 isn’t very big at all-even for the smallest of buns.. In fact, a little too small for guinea pigs (they say 10 square feet minimum for one piggie) I wonder if you would need to wait until living arrangements are different or work with parents for permission for more room.

[caviesnbuns]

Yes, I know a 2×4 is a bit small for any bunny. Once potty trained completely, I plan to let him run around whenever I am home(at least 3-4 hours) while I do homework. Actually a 2×4 c&c cage is 10.5 sq. feet according to the guineapigcages.com chart and is plenty big for a single 4 year old adult male. A 2×3 is only 7.5 sq. feet and is the bare minimum for a single piggie. Thank you for your concern though I might be able to convince my parents to let me add on another grid to make it a 2×5 but they don’t understand the importance of a large cage. They think a 2×4 is plenty big and they won’t let me purchase any more grids. I assure you though that my future bunny will have plenty of out of cage time and will be able to have full run of our backyard during the year(supervised of course).

[peppypoo]

If you can’t make the footprint of the cage bigger, could you add another level? When my bunnies were in a cube condo (they’re in an expen now) it was 2×3 but 3 stories high, which provided a lot more room for them even though I didn’t have very much floorspace to spare.

[caviesnbuns]

@peppypoo I would add another level but my guinea pig’s cage sits on top and if I make it one grid higher, I won’t be able to reach my guinea pig’s cage(I’m short).

[ipelow]

Posted By mocha200 on 10/06/2011 07:59 PM
Its actually linoleum. It was a $38 remnant from minards.

Ipelow: Do you have a picture of your cage I could see?

Sorry, I actually don’t have a camera here with me at school.  I just took a rough measurement of the cage though, and it is about 58 inches long, 29 inches wide, and 43 inches tall.  Again, those were rough, quick measurements,  so give or take an inch on each number.  I used coroplast as the floor, which I had cut to the exact size at Fast Signs near Akron Ohio.  The panels I used were ordered from walmart’s website.  It was the 14×14 wire cube shelving panels (or something like that).

His mommy (my girlfriend) came to visit this weekend and he loved showing off for her by doing laps around his cage.

 

[caviesnbuns]

*Update* Sadly, on Halloween, my beloved guinea pig died. I have been pretty depressed and have missed having a room mate. It is now for sure that I will be getting not one, but two rabbits. I can now have a bigger cage but I am not sure how big. They are 3/4 holland lop and 1/4 netherland dwarf so they will be pretty small. They are currently about 2.5 months old and they are brothers. We will hopefully be neutering them sometime after christmas. We are picking them up at the end of next week. I still only have room for a 2X4 but I can add more levels. How big should I make the cage? What should I use for the flooring? What is the easiest way to litterbox train them? Thanks!

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