Safe height to climb??

[Deleted User]

Its my birthday soon and I’ve told my partner that I really want one of those cat trees but I’m unsure of what would be a safe height. I’ve just bonded my two bunnies, things are still new but they are now living together in my living room. They have a modified xl dog crate with a second level added which never has its gate shut, which they just use as a hideaway/base and to use the litter tray and eat hay etc. The dog crate fits nicely at the end of my corner sofa so leaves the rest of the room free for them to run around and have their toys. I’ve recently found that trixie is quite the climber and she has taken to climbing on the sofa and sitting on the windowsill. The corner sofa sits just under half the window sill and even though it isn’t high from window to sofa I’m just worried she might try to jump or fall off the window sill on the side that hasn’t got the sofa underneath for her to land on. I did try to block the sofa with the xpen at night but I’m finding that the more I block things off the more it feeds her curiosity and encourages her to find a way past. So what I want to do is get a suitable sized cat tree, nothing extravagant and I’m not really bothered for too many hidey boxes on it, I just mainly want it for the ledges so I can have some sort of safe climbing activity for her. If a cat tree isn’t suitable then any other suggestions would be great.

[Wick & Fable]

I think safety of height is moreso fixated on how slip-proof the ledges are. Rabbits can climb very high, but they have very delicate spines, so a fall can be disastrous. If the top levels are clearly walled so your rabbit doesn’t accidentally slip (it only takes one spooky sound, a twitch, a miscalculated binky or flop….), it’s safe. If you want to add your own barriers, that’d be fine.

I’d recommend stacking cardboard boxes instead. You can cut out the bottom of some to get some height there, but it’s enclosed and you can control the sturdiness of the platforming, so it’s generally a more safe and economic venture.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[DanaNM]

Aww, my Bunston was a climber, he loved to hang out on the back of the couch against the wall.

I’m wondering if you could actually add some non-slip surface to the window sill,, or modify it to be wider with a wooden shelf, and maybe some boxes underneath to add a step up/down? Assuming there is no danger of her falling out the window of course!

I’ve heard that you don’t want them to jump down from a height higher than what they could jump to in one jump. You could add some boxes around the dog crate, and then add something solid on the top so they could climb on that too.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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