Safety of NIC condo

[Shannon]

Hello,

My name is Shannon. I am from Winnipeg Manitoba. I am not a bunny owner yet as I am doing research first. I don’t want to be one of those pet owners who don’t know what they get themselves into and surrender their new pet to a local animal shelter.

My questions are about the safety of the NIC rabbit condos. I have shared my plans to make a rabbit condo with one of my friends who is also a vet. She has concerns over the safety of the condo because she says rabbits are not really climbers. Also she is concerned over the fact that the rabbit might hurt themselves and get stuck between the wall and the ramp. Has anyone had any bad experiences? I would never want to make something that would hurt an animal. The layout I showed her was a man’s layout who shared what he did on youtube. The address is rabbitcondo.com

Also, don’t the rabbits chew on the plastic ties that you use to hold the condos together?

Thanks for your help,

Shannon

[osprey]

Hi Shannon, and welcome to BinkyBunny!

Bunnies most definitely jump between levels in a condo.  Mine have a four story condo without ramps, they jump between the levels using shelves.  Even my 2 1/4 pound dwarf navigates these jumps easily.  I have read several sites that say this jumping activity is good for them, it lets them explore and gives them an opportunity to stretch their legs.

As to chewing on the ties, mine have never done that.  They do chew on the wooden floor supports that I put in, and they have chewed on the coroplast floors, but not the ties.

 

[Beka27]

welcome here!  what a coincidence… i love to eat chocolate too!!!  i think you’ll find good company on here.  lol…

i’m very pleased that you are gathering info first.  i’d also encourage you to adopt from a local shelter or rescue when the time comes.  you can search rabbits on petfinder, or just find info on a rescue and take it from there.

many people do the condo thing and as far as i’ve heard, have not had any problems with it not being safe.  you might have to experiment to find the best way to secure everything… but the nice thing is that you can take it apart and try again.  my bunny had an enclosure made from NIC grids and she did chew off a few of the smaller ties.  i had bought a  multipack that had all different sizes.  if you use the ones that are thicker and about 8 inches long, i don’t think they can get their teeth around it as easily.  but even when she did nip them off, she did not eat them.  they just lay on the bottom and i picked it up and replaced it.  i did learn to try and make it where the cut off end is facing out from the bunny b/c they get sharp when you cut off the excess and they can scatch themselves.  (i actually have two scratch scars on my hand from rubbing up against them.)

another option is a simple dog exercise pen.  placed over a scrap of linoleum with some rugs and you have an enclosure that is very easy to clean in, around, behind.

here is the link to the “cool habitats” section on this site.  there are pictures of both pens and condos from members.  that may give you more ideas too.  https://www.binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/CoolHabitats/tabid/71/Default.aspx

[DawnT]

I new to bunnies also.  I just built a 4 story condo using the NIC’s.. my buns do not bother with them at all.   Building the condo was the best I ever did.  If you are looking for sites where you see different condo’s google rabbit condos.  

I was amazed at how sturdy they are.

[babybunsmum]

welcome   love your forum name!

i’ve built several nic condos now & had great success with them.  i do not have ramps either.  the buns find it easy to navigate the levels & really seem to enjoy them.  i used 8″ long zipties to fasten them together & have not had a prob with buns chewing them off at all. 

i designed my condos to use nic panels for floors and covered them with plastic sign board.  so that the floors aren’t too slippery i wrap a smaller piece of sign board or a ceramic tile with fleece or fake sheepskin and set it on the floor.  then buns have a cushy ‘landing / launching / lounging pad’.

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[ADEE]

what is the plastic sign board?? im getting the last of the things we need here in about 20 minutes to make one of the nic cages to keep in the living room

[Beka27]

^^^chloroplast (coroplast?) it looks like a corrugated cardboard… but it’s plastic instead… it can be easily wiped down and folded to make a container. the last picture that babybunsmum posted has a box made from it on the bottom (the big white box.)

[Shannon]

Okay thanks for all the reasurrance. Where do you get coroplast? Is there a special way to fold them? Is there a website that talks about the easiest way to make it out of the coroplast.

[Beka27]

click on this link and scroll to the bottom.  it talks more in-depth about it… and where you can get it.

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

[babybunsmum]

thanks for posting that link beka!  that’s exactly what i browsed through before making my first condo & the site was very helpful.  i found the stuff at a local sign shop for $30 for a 4′ x 8′ sheet but i think if you shopped around more than i did you’d probably find some for cheaper.  it helped to know the  size of pieces i’d need since they could do a couple of cuts for me right in their shop.  it also made it easier to fit in my little vw golf.

[Beka27]

that link is also listed in the cool habitats section towards the bottom.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Hi Shannon,

I am very glad that you are checking into everything very thoroughly.  If you are not comfortable constructing a condo on your own (it is a huge project or your vet is still concerned), then a wire dog crate works well and is what my local HRS uses and places a shelf in.  I had this kind of set up for my two for a long time before I converted to a NIC condo.  Leith pet works makes rabbit condos as well: http://www.leithpetwerks.com/

I have had ramps in the condo and they did not get stuck under them, ever or between the ramp and the wall, I placed the ramp next to the wall and you can place a cup hook in the side and secure with a cable tie.  An alternative is to have a step instead for them to jump up and down.  I can assure you that while in nature rabbits do not climb too much, they do enjoy hopping up and down different levels.  It does take some time for them to get used to, however.  My two have never chewed on the ties either and you fasten them as tight as you can and clip off the excess tail end of it.

If you have any more questions, please ask!

[BinkyBunny]

If you have very young bunnies (babies) then condos and even xpens can be sometimes cause problems if they try and squeeze their little heads in between the bars. But for adults, I have yet to to find one that chews on the zipties.

I have also never had a problem with bunny jumping up or down from different levels. Even my bunny, Forrest, who was a little netherland dwarf had no problem. But you can also build a ramp.

You also have to sure do not leave big gaps between the cubes. We never even used the round connectors that came with them as they can create a bit of a gap. We used just a bunch of zipties to secure it all.

[Shannon]

Nope the bunnies that I will be getting are five or more years old.

[angelicvampyre]

My dwarf will not jump between the levels so I have bulit a ramp and love my condo!

[hooty22]

Felony jumps on EVERYTHING. If there is a generalization about bunnies, I can bet Felony doesn’t fit.

[Adalaide]

I’m not sure why you were told that buns aren’t climbers. Before I built Freya’s condo she was getting on top of everything she could, the higher she went the better. I used the zip ties that are 8″ long and made sure that the end I cut off was always facing out. Freya hasn’t bothered to bite any of them yet, it’s been a few months so I don’t suspect she will. We didn’t bother with ramps since she’s a jumper. My lack of experience with zip ties did lead to some pretty scratched up arms by the time her condo was done. I still get a nasty scratch now and then from not paying attention when I’m taking care of her or cleaning. I’ve used wooden dowels as supports for her condo and it’s pretty sturdy. She’s chewed on the dowels a few times but not much. Also, if there is any concern about getting stuck between a wall and a ramp, just keep ramps far enough from walls that it won’t matter. When Freya gets to be an old fart I’ll get her some ramps, but I’m not concerned with them beng near the walls.

[angelicvampyre]

well my guy had surgery yesterday and today he is jumping the levels and also tried to climb the bookshelf! So much for trying to keep him quiet!

[Moonlight_Wolf]

When Freya gets to be an old fart

Hahahah I just had to laugh at this!!

[Ella K.]

As I keep my rabbits in my room, it was important to me that I had a stylish ( enough ) cage. The coroplast is great, but it didn’t look so nice with my room.

To solve this problem, I made my NIC condo and used plywood for each level. I got a piece of fabric that matched the colors of the room, put glue around the edges, and applied it to the plywood. After this, I got some clear vinyl tablecloth, which I glued atop the fabric to keep away any mess. This keeps it nice and stylish, and still is a great home for the buns!

[Ella K.]

If you have a problem with the zip ties, you could take a lighter and hold it a few cm’s away from it, and that will melt them so he can’t get to them.

[Sarita]

This thread is from 2008 – I am locking this Ella K. and ask that you do not reply to old threads.

Thank you.

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