Since I am building a new cage soon…

[Moonlight_Wolf]

I need to buy more dowels but dowels are pretty expensive, does anyone have a less expensive alternative?

 

[BunnyMuffin]

I’ve read that some people use PVC pipes and that they may be cheaper. For the cage I’m building we’re just using lengths of wood that are 1.5″x.75″ and trimming it down to get it to fit in the grids. They were around $1 for an 8 foot length, so for me it’s worth the extra effort for the price savings.

[Alicia Conklin]

Well depending on how long you need them craft dowels are really cheap and they work just fine for me.  They can only go through 2 grids though because of the length. 

[Colin]

Apparently the square dowels are much cheaper than the round ones – I’ll be keeping an eye on this thread as I want to build a new home for our 2 buns once they’re bonded.

[Beka27]

someone said that they use 1 by 1 pieces of wood, square ones. they’re much cheaper… you’d have to go to a home improvement store (Home Depot or Lowe’s) they might even be able to cut them to the length you need…

[Moonlight_Wolf]

I went to home depot and this it what there was: PVC piping was pretty cheap, the square dowels are not that much less expensive than the circular ones. I would have used craft dowels, because I have heard of them, and they are cheap, but I needed the dowel to go through 3 cubes. I could not find any 1 by 1 pieces of wood there only seemed to be 1 by 2 pieces and 2 by 2 pieces.
I ended up buying the PVC piping because it was the cheapest and Fern would not be able to chew it, she chews the dowels I have now, I even got the guy to cut the PVC piping the exact lengths for me. I also bought a 1000 pack of zip ties. I was going to buy wood stove pellets but they were fresh out.

Thanks everyone!

[Beka27]

excellent! don’t throw out the wood dowels you have now… you can maybe use them to make some kind of chew toy…

[Scarlet_Rose]

I use 1″ X 2″ pine board, which in actual measurements is 3/4″ X 1 3/4″ and it is not nearly as expensive as wooden dowel rods. The PVC pipe I don’t feel is strong enough, especially for larger rabbits.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Too bad you aren’t close! I have an extra dowel kicking around… I’d agree I think PVC is probably much cheaper

[Dave]

You can always use an NIC panel turned 45 degrees like in the picture I attached.  (I hope it’s visible)  I found it is actually quite strong for Steve’s cage.

111357147071.jpg

[Moonlight_Wolf]

The PVC pipe I don’t feel is strong enough, especially for larger rabbits.

But I think for a 3 pounder it would be fine.

I have a question about PVC piping, I kept finding a lot of things that said PVC had bad stuff in it that can leach out, Some places I read said it was safe some I read it was unsafe. I don’t know what to think, I hope it is safe because if it is not then I put 7 dollars down the drain!!

What do you think of PVC piping, read this article,

http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/98/pipe

and this

http://www.pvcworkshop.com/PVCsafety.htm

I really am not sure what to believe, if it is not safe I will go out and try to find something else, but I hope it is safe becuase if it is not then my mom will be very annoyed becuase something like this has happened before.

[Moonlight_Wolf]

My mom says that It is safe, it is only unsafe if water has been sitting in it for a while or it is burned, just like all plastics, but still, what do you guys think? I am just a worry wart when it comes to keeping Fern and her environment safe.

[Dave]

Posted By Moonlight_wolf on 11/03/2008 3:12 PM

But I think for a 3 pounder it would be fine.

 

For a 3 pounder you can get away with a lot more.  Depending on what you are building you can almost get away without dowels and pvc pipe.  PVC will definitely be strong enough.  If your rabbit starts to chew on the PVC pipe give it something else to chew instead or attached something around the pipe that the bunny can chew that is safe.

[KatnipCrzy]

You should have no safety concerns about using PVC.  Short of excessive chewing and ingestion- which is unlikely- as I think the shape and hardness of PVC should be quite discouraging to bunny teeth.  It would not be easy to get spots “started” for chewing.  Just monitor for excessive chewing as with any cage component.  Even if they chew excessively- I find it more likely that they will get “small” pieces off- like shavings as opposed to chunks or strings.

And from a viewpoint of PVC “ingredients”- I would not worry either.   PVC is commonly used for saltwater fishtank plumbing- and we use it on our tank.  And Saltwater tanks are so sensitive that if you were to use a copper fitting to regulate the flow-  you would have a lot of die off in the tank.  But there has been no issues with the PVC itself- they don’t leach anything into the water that will kill the sensitive saltwater fish and invertebrates.  So if it does not kill saltwater critters which are extremely sensitive, I would not worry at all about using it around the bunny.

I myself would not hesitate to use PVC around my bunnies if I were to do a project that involved it.

 

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Ok thanks, that makes me feel better, if it is used in fish tanks without a problem i doubt there would be a problem with my bunny. I think that the major concern about leaching bad things is it leaches into the water, and if it is good to use in a fish tank then I have nothing to worry about, thanks Katnipcrazy!

Yes it is very nice having a 3 pounder rabbit, you don’t have to worry about things too much when it comes to weight and size of the rabbit.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Moonlight_Wolf, allow me to clarify that my comment about PVC pipe is that it is strong enough for smaller rabbits but not for larger ones like my 9 pound rabbits.

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