X-Pen Cage Flooring

[Cassandra L]

 Hi Guys –

I’ve been going crazy trying to come up with a good floor solution for Gus’ cage. Here’s a pic of his x-pen:

Excuse the mess He’s not in there in the pic, he was out playing when I took it.

Anyway, I need to find something easy and durable to use as a floor. At first I tried laying down one of those plastic painters drop cloths and put a sheet over it, but he chewed up both the drop cloth and the sheet. Then I bought a plastic table cloth with a soft/cloth backing and put it down with the cloth side up. But he is chewing right through that too. The problem is, if it’s flexible, he can dig near the edge of the pen and pull parts of it in to chew on. What I would love is one of those entry way mats that have the rubber on the bottom, but I can’t find one that’s the right size, they’re all too narrow or way too big. Any ideas? 

[Arthur'sMom]

What about a piece of wood? Get the measurements and go to homedepot or lowes and have them cut a piece about 1″ larger than the demensions and about 5/8 inch thick. It’s about 20.00 for a sheet and they’ll cut it for free. Then cover the wood with laminate flooring or carpet tiles (gluing them down with a non toxic glue)

[jerseygirl]

I’m using vinyl for the pens I currently have set up. I always use vinyl upside down because the back has a little more texture (less slippery) but is still easy to wipe over.
I’ll try get a pic…after I’ve cleaned up the pens a bit!

[luvmyhunybuny]

Home Depot sells vinyl in rolls. I bought a huge piece that I used when I was fostering puppies and had them penned up.

[lashkay]

I use sheets of linoleum cut to size taped with industrial nonchemically reactive tape – like duct tape – to the floor and sides of the tray I made from corrugated plastic that their pens set inside of (coroplast). The tray is also constructed with the tape and the whole setup is virtually water tight. I prefer the linoleum and it stays clean and so cleanup is very minimal.

You can use Arthur’sMom’s idea with the wood, you can seal self adhesive linoleum tiles edge to edge to make up a nice floor too adhered to the wood.

[PuddleJumper]

Have you seen the vinyl/plastic type chair mats for computer chairs to roll on for carpeted areas? Its clear and the under side has little plastic pokeys to keep it from sliding on the carpet. The stuff it is made out of is really durable material and its easy to clean up If I had that set up for my bun I would use it! I think you can find it at stores like Staples or office depot and I think wal-mart! Im not sure on prices though…

[Cassandra L]

Thank you guys! I’m about to go to home depot and look around. I wanted to get one of those chair mats but none of them are big enough.

[Cassandra L]

Ok, I ended up getting a big area rug thing. It’s indoor/outdoor carpeting, but not the plasticky turf kind. It’s the flat carpet that you would see in a screened-in porch or something. It should be pretty easy to vacuum up when it gets messy. He always pees in his litter box, so I’m not too worried about that.

[Arthur'sMom]

Excellent idea! May have to do that myself!

[Mr.Bill]

Bought these foam mats at Home Depot. They were about $17 for a 4 pack. The squares are 2 foot by 2 foot.

 

 

 

One of our buns, Ben, didn’t like them. They have a slight texture, so they’re not slippery. But there was just something about them… he wouldn’t get out of the litter box. So I searched around and ended up finding the same type of mat, but with a real thin layer of carpeting on top, on ebay. It might be hard to tell but these are the same 2 foot by 2 foot mats.

[Cassandra L]

I almost got those same floor mats, but I thought gus would find them appetizing to chew on lol

[RabbitPam]

Yes, I agree that the foam are a high risk for chewing and it’s not healthy for them.
I like the area rug solution, as I went with that eventually myself after trying a few types of flooring solutions.
Just for ease of cleaning and protection above the area rug, I’ve been spreading out a few yards of 100% cotton flannel (or a twin flannel sheet) over it to make it soft underfoot but not like a bedding to distract from the litter pan. This week I was glad I did it, because it really needed a full cage big clean, and I just pulled the sheet up, wrapped the whole thing together after moving out her stuff from on top, and threw it in the trash. It made it easier to vacuum the rug underneath, clean the xpen bars and her stuff, and the surrounding area. Put down a fresh one that she seemed happy with. The flannel yardage at Walmart runs about $3 and I get light baby patterns or pale solids, and the sheets are $5. She never chews it. (Though she has missed the litter pan with pee a couple of times – another reason to use a disposable cover.)

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