Dog Crates for Larger Buns?

[Snuggys Mom]

JimD wrote:

Pet_Bunny wrote:

aurora369 wrote:

I just bought 12 boxes of grids.

MMB mentioned a while back that Costco were selling the grids.

They were $19.99 with enough grids for 8 cubes.
But the neat thing was that it came in different colors now. There were the basic white.
Then a multi color package of blue, red, and green. They even had sets of chrome colors.

Rainbows!

I'm wondering if those are only available at the Costco in Canada.:?

I inquired here (in the US of A)at a Costco and I'm not having any luck.

I got mine for $15 per box at my local Costco, but that was over a year ago.

 

[katt]

julia- use away! my photos can be used

i have some descriptions that i wrote on another board, if you want them, email me at [email protected] and i will send them to you personally.

oh, and my name is Katie, and my buns are Winnie and Herman



katie

 

[pam111]

Both of my rabbits have dog crates as cages.

I have a smaller crate for my mini rex. That crate also has a shelf in it. I will eventually ad a shelf to this cage, as well.

 

[Jess_sully]

Great picture, thanks! I love the simple yet cute decoration, too. How much does that bun weigh, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[pam111]

Honestly, I'm not sure how much she weighs. I haven't had her to the vet yet, and I'm terrible at guessing. She's pretty heavy, though not as heavy as she looks with all the fur. I'd guess she's only around 7 pounds or so.

 

[Jess_sully]

Mkay, thanks for the estimation

Well, I think I've made my decision: I'm going to stick with an exercise pen. This is simply because he'd have to be shut in the crate for six-seven hours every day while I was in college, and I don't think there would be enough room for exercise, even in the large dog crate. I found a really good quality exercise pen for CHEAP at JB Wholesale: the 36" one is only $63.00... and that's WITH shipping and handling, woot! They're heavier than the commercial exercise pens, they all have doors, and they look nicer because they're black rather than chrome or silver (in my opinion). I was pretty excited to stumble upon the website! Here's a link:

http://www.jbpet.com/Shopping/product.asp?catalog_name=JBWholesale&product_id=164-0209&category_name=CratesExPens

I think I'll make it 48" by 24" (8 sq. feet) while he's a baby, and once he's neutered and fully littertrained, I'll add the other two panels so it'll be 72" x 24" (12 sq. feet). I was planning on using lineoleum as the flooring, with towels securely clipped to the lineoleum out of the rabbit's reach so they can't be dug up or anything very easily. He'll have a large cat litterpan on one end, his water bottle and food dish, toys, and possibly a cat bed on the other end? What do you all think?

Does anyone else have pictures of exercise pen setups? Yes I know, I'm changing gears in the post Oh well!

 

[JimD]

Jess_sully wrote:

Does anyone else have pictures of exercise pen setups? Yes I know, I'm changing gears in the post Oh well!

For Tootsie I use a cage/pen combo. She's approx 10 lbs and needs the room just to strech out.

Her cage is a Midwest Wabbitat 157 (37"L x 20"w x 19"h) and then thepen is attached. The pen is only 2' high, but Tootsie hasn't made much of an effort to get out....yet.

 

[Jess_sully]

I wanted to get that wabbitat when I was considering some smaller breeds, but I don't think I'm going to bother anymore, simply because just a pen would be good enough for me. He'll have more room that way, too, I think? Wow, lucky that your bun hasn't tried to jump the 24" pen... how long has he been in it?

 

[JimD]

Jess_sully wrote:

Wow, lucky that your bun hasn't tried to jump the 24" pen... how long has he been in it?

We've had her since last September. She's had the same setup since we got her.

Twice she has scrambled up over the top and into my lap, when I was sitting next to the cage. Both times I was dishing up pellets and I guess I just wasn't moving fast enough for her likings

Her'es my Tootsweetie strecthing up for a treat .....

 

[Jess_sully]

Awww, adorable picture. Hmmm. I've read in a lot of places that small bunnies jump a lot higher (and can clear 42" pens) than larger buns. If I get the harlequin, I might stick with the 36" pen. However, if I get a Champagne or Satin, maybe I'll go for the 30" one. It's $15.00 cheaper, so that's nice The 24" one is REALLY cheap (as far as expens go), but knowing my luck, I'd get a bunny escape artist

Do have a picture showing the whole setup (cage AND expen) by chance?

 

[JimD]

Our Rosie has cleared 3 foot with little effort. She's probably 5 lbs

 

[Jess_sully]

Ahhh... see, she's a perfect example of little bunnies jumping higher! Very cute, too!

 

[flemishr2cool]

Hey Katt, I tried emailing you but it returned my email saying it couldn't deliver to that account? Do you have another email? Or you could just email it to me

[email protected]

Julia

 

[naturestee]

Well, they're made with wire shelving grids instead of exercise pens, but here's my bunny room.

Each grid is about 14 inches square. The pens are 3 grids high (because if Mocha gets in with Fey or Sprite I'll have one less bunny!), 5 grids long, and about 4 grids wide.

 

[Jess_sully]

Great, thanks for the pictures! I was thinking about the option of making an exercise pen with grids, but I'm just not sure if they'd be strong enough for a large bun?

 

[naturestee]

My grids are attached to the wall and I have no problem with strength. Loki shakes them all the time and he's a bit of a weight lifter for a bunny. He loves throwing big heavy things. They're also reinforced with zip ties at the weak spots.

Loki building up his muscles:

 

[Jess_sully]

Love that picture! Hmmmm, that's nice to know

 

[katt]

thought i would share this as we are talking about x-pens. . .

i posted a photo of winnies pen from a while back. . .well, i grabed the camera tonight after cleaning her cage (okay, a little while after cleaning her cage. . .) but she recently got a level added in:

her 'level' is a small 24 X 18 cage from petsmart. . .it is rather old. . .we got it right after i got trixie in one of those "bunny kits". . .they worked for like 2 days and after that we used them as flemish carriers and "just in case" cages for weaning and such. . .this one is missing it's tray completely (someone left it out in the yard were someones father snowblowed it and just about recked the fathers snowblower. . .)

i basically zip tied it(we are working on something more secure for holding it up)) to the x-pen (fits perfectly), tossed her towel in there and a few toys and placed 1 of 2 water bottles up there. . .she uses her giant pig-loo to hop into it and hop out of it and because it is a cage with a smaller opening she still can't jump out of the pen. . . i am still debating if i want to remove the door (it is nice to be able to close her up in there when i do spot cleaning in her cage and don't have the time to let her run around the room for a while). . .she loves it and it cost me nothing as i had the tiny cage laying around the barn!

katie

 

[katt]

julia. . .it didn't work because i am a goof and didn't write the correct email address. . .

[email protected]

but, i am emailing you right now with the descriptions. . .so don't worry about emailing me first!

katie

 

[Jess_sully]

What a neat idea, using the old cage as an extra level! Hmmm, I'll keep that one in mind, too