Why don't some of you like NIC cages?

elrohwen · Oct 28, 2009

Luluznewz wrote:

Now I have a rabbit but only because I made sure having one didnt seem like a big deal. In that situation a store bought rabbit cage was a lot less scary than some huge NIC creation. I dunno, apparently a cage that says "my first home" on the side with a pretty purple tray just seems more friendly to her. Whats she doesnt really know is the rabbit is rarely locked inside it....mwhahahahaha

Haha, my landlord came over and there was Otto, lounging in the middle of the dining room. I had originally promised that he would be in a cage all the time ... Oops! But the landlord didn't seem to mind as nothing smelled and nothing was torn up.

lovebunnyok · Oct 29, 2009

Tupper's cage is with NIC, and I love them! The way I made it, it only takes 10 minutes at most to clean. I have a particle board floor that I just sweep up.

The doors are like french doors made with NIC, that just swing open. I keep it closed with a clear hair clip. Tupper loves it! It's a large cage 4 cubes x 3 cubes x 2 cubes high. It doesn't have a second floor yet, but will someday.

mouse_chalk · Oct 29, 2009

I LOVE our NIC cages! They're awesome.

It did take a couple of builds to get them how I wanted them, but I really like them now.

Both of ours are set up like this:

The door is made with grids, it folds back out of the way when the buns are out and playing, and it's held shut with carabiner (sp?) clips that keep it pretty secure and are easy to open in a hurry. I've designed it so that the first shelf is at the back, so I can easily kneel in the entrance and reach to the back to sweep it out, although to be honest usually I use the vacuum to clean the cages, so I just put that in there and suck up all of the hay and stray poops! The bunnies are fine with the hose now and barely bat an eyelid when I vacuum the cages. I used both the connectors and zip ties to hold it together- the connectors hold the shape and the zip ties keep it secure, and the whole thing is very sturdy.

I think the grid cages give a lot of space, and being able to make it up however I want means it's easy to move furniture about, or if we move house to make sure the cages fit in. The bunnies love having the levels too- Mouse and Chalk use their top level as a bedroom, and eat/toilet at the bottom. It makes me feel a whole lot better if we can't let them out for as long each day that they aren't cramped up in a small space. I have seen some store-made cages that also come 2/3 leveled, and about the size of 2x3 grid cages, which are the only ones I would ever consider buying if I had to switch for any reason.

The only thing that does bother me about them is that Mouse and Chalk aren't the greatest with their litter habits, so if they pee at the back of the cage it can run out behind, but we have slats of laminate flooring laid down, on top of a shower curtain, so that stops it going onto the living room floor. We're currently looking for coroplast to fold up and make a sort of 'tray' in the bottom of their cage, or perhaps building a wooden base and lining it with lino. I think Aurora369 has something like that in her cages which works really well.

BlueCamasRabbitry · Nov 1, 2009

I like NIC cages, but seeing as how I have a rabbitry, I just wouldn't be able to have them in NIC cages.

I also find that NIC cages are kind of hard to make sure they're sturdy. I get frustrated just making my xpens out of NIC panels....so I'm sure trying to get the sides and everything else on a NIC cage sturdy would be much more frustrating, and I'm a perfectionist so it would bug me if a panel wasn't placed right, etc.

If I had a house rabbit, then I would most likely have a NIC cage. The only other thing that I find difficult about NIC cages is that they do seem very hard to clean. I agree though, it wouldn't be too hard if you had the doors in a good place, built correctly, etc. and it would be a plus if the rabbit was completely litter trained.

Emily

kahlin · Nov 1, 2009

NorthernAutumn wrote:

I think design has a lot to do with ease of cleaning. I had to rework my design a number of times until I got it right. Y'know, double doors, swing up panels, etc. Then, cleaning was a breeze

I definitely agree with this. Once I was able to design my condo so that the *whole* front portion opened up (the same way you can open up most xpens) it was a lot easier to clean. I also had a few swing up panels to help clean between the levels. Adding wheels made it easy to move and clean behind. (even alone)

However, I still like using the NIC cubes for xpens instead. If we were to downsize from our current house, I might consider a condo again. I didn't hate it....the main reason I switched was because using xpens makes it easier for travelling, or outside play time, etc.

Orchid · Nov 1, 2009

Luluznewz wrote:

I have never had an NIC pen, but I thought I'd say why that doesnt work for me. My landlord is really fearful about pets. At first she said no to a goldfish in a bowl...seriously.

Now I have a rabbit but only because I made sure having one didnt seem like a big deal. In that situation a store bought rabbit cage was a lot less scary than some huge NIC creation. I dunno, apparently a cage that says "my first home" on the side with a pretty purple tray just seems more friendly to her. Whats she doesnt really know is the rabbit is rarely locked inside it....mwhahahahaha

Thats my reasoning. Even if they are similar sizes, I feel like there is something comforting to non rabbit people about a cage with clean lines that they see in stores all the time. My roommates like it a lot better too.

This place had two pitbulls that TORE it up badly..the walls were nasty, the carpet detroyed and even the fence opening was torn apart (backyard)...so when I asked to check this place out she said no animals...and I said I couldn't agree to that as we had Simon still at the time...she had to think about things for like two weeks...before she ok'd it on the fact Simon stayed in his cage most of the time...(which did not happen)...but anytime they came I made sure he was in there...everything clean and what not...

Now I found I personally like creating the castles and getting nuts....A bunny who likes to chew through the zip ties can be a problem...but also for those that think they look bulky...when they do come in tiny size which actually can be less an attrraction for the chewing bun...and you barely see them.

I have had one that was open on top, made like a pen that worked well for Simon...

I would just shift it aside if I needed to get to the wall, but I also had the room to do so. Same with the fist cage I made for Isobel...all I had to do was lift and move it forward and I could get to everything fine..

I like to think I created mine in such a way that there was not much I needed to do but switch out towels on the shelves, clean the floor and boxes as needed,,,...and I use this CHEAP, but great, totally flat carpet that is great for buns..I think so at least...and if peeing is an issue....put like kitchen flooring down under it...cant chew anything then...and replace cheap carpet as needed....

I never worried much about flooring to encase it all like a cage...