Cage Advice

[Meganc731]

Hi All,

I need advice on choosing a cage. My dog has been pawing out Mr.Wiggles droppings and eating them/leaving them all over the house. It'sgetting worse instead of better,I've decided I need to get acage with a floor grate. I found this one on Ebay...

eBayitem 4330769981 (Ends Jan-12-05 15:09:08 PST) - New 4 levels FoldingFerret Cat Dog Cage Crate 36x23x52

But the dimensions seem to small to me. Dimension: 36"Length x 23"Depth x 52"Height.

I like how Buck does his cages with the dog crate, because then I couldget a 42 inch long crate, but I don't think I could do the grate. Doesanyone have any other suggestions? Mr. Wiggles is a german angora,about 9 pounds. If he and bunny foo foo work out, I'd like to housethem together.

Thanks,
Megan

 

[hotchocolatewithsmarties!!!!!]

it doesn't sound that roomy and bunny might not like the feel of wire under his feet.

lol

smarties

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

Megan, from what Ican tell it isn't that much different from the bunny condos that we arebuilding. Mine is 3 squares wide (36") plus a bit of space between eachgrid. Two squares deep (24") plus a bit of space between grids andagain, 3 squares tall (36") plus the spaces between grids...Mine ishuge as everyone always points out. Isn't your current one the samesize? The one you are looking at is just about the same except muchtaller. I know that would be large enough for Sebastian, no doubts, buthe is under 3 lbs. Mr. Wiggles is much larger. How does he do in hiscurrent space and how does it compare? I wouldn't worry at all aboutthe wire because you will put stuff down I'm sure, just like we alldo....

Raspberry

 

[m.e.]

My only concern would be the narrow shelves, andthe off-chance that a bun might fall from the top to the bottom, withnothing to stop the nearly three foot fall

 

[Buck Jones]

m.e. wrote:

My...concern would be...the off-chance that a bun might fallfrom the top to the bottom, with nothing to stop the nearly three footfall

And that is something to consider. We just gave a hutch to acouple whose house bunny was a shelter rescue. Seems he wasoriginally purchased for a two year old child, who unintentionallydropped him. Bun suffered a broken leg and brokenteeth. Owners did not take him to a vet, so his leg "set"crookedly. His teeth eventually grew back, but he began totake seizures, hence was dumped at the rescue shelter.

Current owners say he gets around well for having one bent leg and theymust tend to him when he's having a seizure, but other than that heseems to be a happy bun. All that from one fall from a twoyear old's height. Who would've thought?

Buck

 

[Buck Jones]

Meganc731 wrote:

...I like how Buck does his cages with the dog crate, because then Icould get a 42 inch long crate, but I don't think I could do thegrate....

Thanks,
Megan

It's not as difficult as you think, if you can get a tape measure, saw,hammer, some nails,1/2" x 1/2'" hardware cloth, electricalwire cutterand some 1" x 3" lumber.

Cut the lumber into four pieces, one for each side of the dogcrate. Cut it about 1/2" smaller than the interior dimensionsof the crate.

Nail the four pieces together in a rectangular shape that will fitinside the crate. Cut a piece of hardware cloth that willcover the rectangular wooden frame with the electrical wirecutters. Attach the hardware cloth to the frame withnails. Roofing nails with large heads work well, or U-nailseven work better. I use a stapler that will hold 1/2" staplesto attach the wire hardware cloth to my frames.

Place the frame inside the crate with wire-side up and frame-sidedownon the tray and you're ready to go! Iattach light weight chain to the wooden frame and suspend it on thesides of the cage, wire side down, so the frame tends to act as anurine guard or to keep poops within the confines of the frame itself,but you don't HAVE to do this step. It will function nearlyas well wire-side up and frame-side down.

Requirements/talent necessary: capability to measure and cut fourpieces of lumber; cut a piece of hardware cloth to an appropriatesize; bang in a dozen or so nails. It's notdifficult. Perhaps, there is someone around who could do itfor you? Shouldn't take but 15-30 minutes maximum.Doesn't have to look pretty or "finished," just functional will do.

Buck

 

[Meganc731]

These are my concerns too. The cubes in my cageare actually 14 inches with space between each one, so about 28 x 42x42, that's why I was thinking of the dog crate idea, theysellgrates to go in the bottom of those, I could cover one ofthosegrates with a smaller grid wire.

[*]28" x 48" x 48"
[*]Slide-out pan
[*]Floor wire
[*]Base and casters available (not shown)
[*]Picture shown with PVC-coated wire


This is another cage I found, this is pretty much a blank canvas so Icould add my own shelves. The only problem I see is that the door lookslike it's centered... could I cut that one larger and put on a new doorpossibly?



Thanks everyone, I appreciate your opinions and suggestions.

Megan

 

[Meganc731]

Thanks Buck,

I had my husband read your directions, he thought he could do it, wewere laughing at this statement "capability to measure and cut fourpieces of lumber;" it seems every project we do, is always an inch offLOL.

I would like to buy one of those dog crates that has the door on theside of the crate, I think that would make it easier to access, what doyou think?



Megan

 

[Buck Jones]

I dunno, whatever floats your boat, Iguess. I find the dog cratesingle end doorsufficient. as it is pretty much used by the rabbit only. Iusually access through the top, which I leave capable of swinging upand to the side. The door sideusually can be placedat either end if it is preferrable to have it swing in oneparticular direction.

I have one cage, 4'L x 30"W x 3'H, that has components from twoidentical dog crates, therefore it has doors at both ends, two "floors"with plastic traysanda correspondingwooden frame for each level. It will comfortably house twobonded pairs of rabbits and we refer to it as the "condo."

I recently had castor wheelswelded to its bottom wire frame,and to that of three other converted dog crates I've altered.I had a local muffler shop do the welding work, which cost me more thanthe dog crates themselves because I usually buy the crates atyard sales. In spite of the cost, it was well worth it, forit eases cleaning chores under and around the crates.

I hang a clear piece of plexiglas on the side of the crate with finewire(zip ties will work, too) in the location which the hay rack hangsinside the cage. This arrangement minimizes the inevitablehay residue that hits the floor by acting as sort of abackstop. The castor wheels enables one to sweep it up morereadily.

If you prefer, for whatever reasons, simple hardware hooks, like for ascreen door, can be used to suspend the wooden frame above the traybelow instead of light chain, but you have to be careful to buy theright length hook that will suspend the frame above the tray at theheight you desire.

I try to suspend the frame above the tray about 1 1/2" or so.Too short a distance between frame and tray sometimes makes itdifficult to slide the tray out of cage easily and newspaperlining sometimes gets hung upif not perfectly flattenedout. Too much distance between frame and tray can mean theurine streammay miss the tray and "squirt" out the side, soto speak. If you make the conversion, you'll understand whatI mean when you see it.

This time of year yard sales are usually non-existent, but itstill is worth a look at the classifieds to see if any hardy souls areattempting to run one. E-Bay is certainly another place tolook for one...or two, if you're thinking of a "condo." LOL

Condo only takes as much floor space as a single level, youknow. You could cut a hole in the top level wire and tray,install a ramp and Mr. Wiggles would have his own condominium!

Buck

 

[Spiced77]

instead of buying a whole new cage, why notmodify the one you have? you could put soemthing up around the edges soyour dog couldnt paw anything out.. but if you need a larger one,that's another story! i have to agree that the one picturedisnt very big.. especially if you're putting two buns in there!

 

[Meganc731]

Spiced77 wrote:

instead of buying a whole new cage, why not modify the oneyou have? you could put soemthing up around the edges so your dogcouldnt paw anything out.. but if you need a larger one, that's anotherstory! i have to agree that the one pictured isnt very big..especially if you're putting two buns in there!

My dog is such a stinker, I put up a really cute coroplast border thatwas all colored like grass, my dog somehow gets under it. I thinkactually it was working fairly good and then she found a sweet spot.Tried making the big Coroplast bin for the whole cage to sit in side,but I couldn't get it to fit right and I never could figure out what todo in the door area. Bunny foo foo is in a small cage with a wire floorand my dog can't get to thedroppingsin hercage,that's why decided it was time for a change. I have aplan for Mr. Wiggles cage though, currently our cat has her ownbathroom, we put her in there at night and when we have the birds out,I've decided to give her Mr. Wiggles cage so that we can move ourbreeding sun conures in to the bathroom. They get really bothered bythe traffic and I think the bathroom would be quieter for them. The catloves his cage anyway, the second we open it she jumps in there withhim and lays down on one of his shelves

I think we've decided to try the dog crate idea... at the moment theonly problem I can see is that the trays on the dog crates come out thelong way so I'm trying to figure out if there's another place I can putMr. Wiggles where we can get to the tray.

Megan

 

[sunnysideup]

Meganc731 wrote:

I think we've decided to try the dog crate idea...

Glad you decided against the ferret cage you showed in your first post.We looked at these exact cages at our pet store and while they say theyare for buns I don't think they are nearly big enough. And those rampsare tee-niney!
Can't wait to see your dog crate/bunny cage.

 

[Meganc731]

sunnysideup wrote:

Meganc731 wrote:

I think we've decided to try the dog crate idea...

Glad you decided against the ferret cage you showed in your first post.We looked at these exact cages at our pet store and while they say theyare for buns I don't think they are nearly big enough. And those rampsare tee-niney!
Can't wait to see your dog crate/bunny cage.

Me too, I think it's going to be MUCH better. I actually found online apuppy playpen that is 48x48, and hasa tray (a grid that wouldneed modifying) but I couldn't find a reasonable price for it, thecheapest I found was $200 plus $40 for shipping, so I'm goingto go with a 42 inch or a 48 inch dog crate. I kept looking at thatferret cage trying to figure out how I could modify it for a rabbit andit just seemed much too small. The only qaulity I really liked about itwas the grill at the bottom! LOL I can't wait to get it done either...hubby wants to wait until after Christmas, I'd at least like to orderthe dog crate so we don't have to wait for it. But that's ok, with thetree in the middle of the room, there's not enough room to be movingaroundthese big cages.

Thanks!

Megan