Trixie's new NIC condo!

[TrixieRabbit]

My husband and I just finished building Trix anew home. We got the grids at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Costco, Staples,Wal-Mart and Office Max didn't have ANY! It was $14.95 for a pack of 16grids. They also had 1 box with 25 grids for $20.
We then went to Home Depot and bought plywood and peel-and-stick linoleum tiles. The tiles were $17 for a case of 45 tiles.
My husband zip-tied the plywood for the 2 upper levels to the grids ofeach level by drilling holes in the wood and zip-tying them to thegrids. It makes the rest of the cage a lot more stable as well. Wecovered the tops of the plywood with the linoleum tiles....
The zip ties were only $7 for about 1000 ties! We put wheels on thebottom of the base and also zip-tied the bottom edge of the cage to thebase to keep it from folding in. We used 2x2's for support. The tophinges up in the middle to open and close, and the front 2 verticalgrids also open. We used metal binder clips to hold the doors closed,they were FREE and work GREAT!


My question is....the linoleum seems to be REALLY slippery. I put Trixon the 2nd level of her cage Tuesday night and she just thumped andseemed really nervous. She can jump on and off my bed, but wouldn'tjump off the 2nd level onto the first level. She hasn't even tried togo up to the 3rd level! Could it be because of the linoleum tiles?

I bought her a really large seagrass mat from Bed, Bath and Beyondwhile I was there....she spends all her time sitting on and chewing themat. Maybe I can buy a few more and zip tie them to the edges of thecage over the tiles so she doesn't slip and slide? |


Does anyone have any ideas of anything I can put down for tractionother than the tiles and the mats? She EATS carpet and towels, sothat's out of the question.

Sorry this is so long, and thanks in advance for any ideas.

~Denise

 

[TrixieRabbit]

another pic....notice her sitting hunched up inthe corner...lol. NOT a happy bunny! Even though its 3 times the sizeof her old cage! :?

ETA: Just noticed, its the exact same pic...sorry! Thats all I have for now...

 

[naturestee]

Great cage! It will probaby take hersome time to get used to it. When I moved my buns to theirnew pens, it took Mocha and Loki some time to work up the courage tojump up to their shelf. How slippery were the tiles youchoose? Some are really slick while others give some prettygood traction.

Any chance you could put straw mats on the other levels too? You could anchor them with zip ties.

 

[FatRabbit]

Cadbury lives in my kitchen and she use to bevery scared of the tiles but I put a blue fleece blanket down-- her baby blanket that she played with anyway and it's fleece becauseit was winter in rochester, NY (think lottsa snow!) -- andsheseemed much happier. Shesits andnaps on it and whenshe's warm, because it's summer now, she pushes it out the way to layher body on the ground and rests her head on the blanket.

Here's Cadbury's cage w/ blanket -- we used the same grids but fromTarget! Funny how so many people use them yet I'm sure that's not whatthey were made for

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If Trix has a tendency to eat the blanket, though, it's probably not agood idea but if, like Cadbury, she bats with it and rolls on it w/ochewing chunks, she might like something to cuddle and to keep her fromsliding too much

Cadbury also burrows herself around it then runs around the kitchenwith the blanket wrapped around her, which she thinks is great fun It's also a good way to play "Where's the Bunny?" where you drape theblanket lightly on her head and she shoves her head back through--shegets so excited and if you stop, she puts herhead under there by herselfand waits forme to findher!

 

[TrixieRabbit]

The tilesare really glossy looking and have a marble look to them. I am thinking I might have to change the tiles.....