zip tie safety

[Rex]

 I just put together a temporary pen out of NIC cubes and zip ties for Tealeaf (to be reconfigured into a bunny condo for two at a later time).  I saw the warning about zip ties injuring bunny eyeballs and was wondering exactly how people make sure these are safe.  Right now I haven’t trimmed the ties, but will want to eventually.  Is the culprit the locking part scratching bunnies if it slips into the inside part of the cage, or is it if there is a sharp edge if a tie isn’t trimmed far enough?

Do people have other methods of putting the squares together?  Perhaps wrapping wire around the edges? (but that would possibly leave little tiny sharp bits of wire where it is cut…)

Thanks for the help 

[Jessi]

Wow i actually havent ever heard this and am actually planning on buiilding my cage tonight with zip ties.

Thinking about it i dont see  how they could be harmful to them unless you dont trim them or leave them facing in the cage. I would just keep a really close eye on it.

[jerseygirl]

Some people have hit the cut ends with a cigarette lighter.  Losing a few ties in the process I imagine.  :p

[mocha200]

Be careful. one time when I cut the zipties Lulu cut her foot on it and it was bleeding. so be careful that they can’t get to them.

[Beka27]

It helps to make sure they are all twisted to the outside of the pen. And also taking a lighter and (CAREFULLY!!!) melting the sharp edge just a bit.

(And do I need to add an additional disclaimer? Probably. Minors: DO NOT use lighters without your parents permission.)

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Mwahaha *Gets out lighter and burns down house while trying to melt the tips of ziptyes* Looks at Beka’s disclaimer…. “Whoops forgot to get parents permission!”

[jerseygirl]

heh heh^

Added disclaimer? Make sure curious rabbits are not in pen/condo whilst attempting to melt zip-tie ends with lighter. They may end up with curly rex-like whiskers.

[Beka27]

Moonlight… you’d be surprised. We don’t need kids telling the fireman… “But Binkybunny said I could!”

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Haha yea, I know, I just thought it was kind of funny!

[Rex]

Posted By jerseygirl on 11/25/2010 05:53 PM
heh heh^

Added disclaimer? Make sure curious rabbits are not in pen/condo whilst attempting to melt zip-tie ends with lighter. They may end up with curly rex-like whiskers.

Well… they already have curly rex whiskers so no danger there… 

I decided to just keep the ties facing out and not trim them since this is a temporary pen that I am planning on converting into a condo if the two buns ever bond.  That way I can easily tell that they are facing out and the area right outside the pens is off-limits due to territorial issues.

[MayaConsuelo]

Let me point out that I did the zip-tie the right way, with the ends facing out so Bun-Bun wouldn’t hurt himself… then was cleaning the condo and scraped the hell out of my arm last week and had a bleeding wound/scar that lasted for a week… argh!

[Beka27]

Oh yeah! I’ve done that too! Walked by the pen or bent over to pick something up and scratched myself up pretty badly! BUT… I figure I will heal much quicker than a bunny, so I will take the brunt of the sharp zip ties.

[MarkBun]

I have found that using a pair of flat nail clippers (human, not bunny) when cutting the ties makes it so that you can get down to the very nub of the zip tie.

[Author]

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