Ideas?

Okay, so as many of you probably know, my little girl had some babies about five days ago! They are all still healthy little things, and growing fast. Because of this I need a bigger space for Isis and her babies (once they start leaving the nest, that is). I've thought about just putting some sort of pen around Isis's cage and leaving it open so they could go into the pen, but I don't want to use the pen I already have, because then Basil wouldn't be able to get out and play . I'm also concerned about them messing on the carpet if I use a pen (my whole house is carpet, even the kitchen). I want to make sure they have plenty of room to get exercise and be comfortable. Oh! I should add that Isis's cage is set up off the ground about a foot. I've thought about putting something on the door of the cage, like cardboard, to make it like a ramp into the cage, would that work or would they just chew the cardboard off? Any suggestions are very appreciated! Thanks!

If you put a box that is about 6 inches tall near the cage door, they should jump on the box to go in/out. But they babies will not be able to do this for a while.

I would think that they will potty everywhere at this point. Maybe put down a tarp with a blanket on top so that you can just throw the blanket in the wash or shake the poops out of it ?

Well, maybe you could give Basil say 3 hours of exercise in his/her pen, and after those 3 hours you can give the babies 3 hours of exercise in the same pen. And about the carpet, rabbits will chew carpeted floors, so maybe you can put cardboard under the pen. You can also put flooring mats on the ground, here: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f18/rebirth-phoenix-ashes-70875/index5.html see the pink and white floor mats and the beautiful orange bunny sitting on them. Read the post Michelle (Holtzchick) says where she got them.

Good Luck!

Your baby bunnies are soo cute!

I'm hoping to find another pen so that they can all be out frequently, but the rotation is a good idea for if I can't find another one that will work!! And those are both good ideas. A tarp should work, I would think, and the floor mats are a wonderful idea, though I think they might chew on them possibly. Thank you both for the ideas!!!

Cardboard should work as a ramp depending on the weight that would be on it of course. Too much weight and it will collapse. It could be replaced when needed if the buns chew it just make sure if it has printing on it it is not shiny print.

You could look on craigs list, yard sales and any places near you (if you have any) that sell used items for another pen. I have seen them on craigs list occasionally where I live sometimes at a very decent price. You could also check ebay. I just purchased a baby gate for my bun through ebay. I saved $30 that way and got exactly what I wanted and new. Just be sure to also look at the shipping cost because some people charge well over what it should to ship so they make more $$.

ewww, carpeted kitchen? I'm so sorry!!

tarps are really cheap and work great. depending on the spacing of the pen, you may want to line the bottom 6'' or so of it with hardware cloth, cardboard, coroplast, etc. so that the kits can't squeeze out through the bars. considering my 9 week old lionhead got her head stuck in a NIC grid (ears popped up and stopped her from pulling her head out), I imagine a 2-4 week old bunny could squeeze through or at least get stuck in the spaces between the bars of many playpens.

Yeah, the carpet is horrible! When I first moved in the place was an absolute dump (the people who lived here before me were druggies supposedly). we had to completely replace the carpeting and I asked my landlord if we could tile the kitchen, but he wanted carpets Anyway, you guys have given me some really good ideas! I think I'm going to rearrange my living room and put Isis in a cage in the corner with some sort of pen around it (as soon as I get one). Depending on what I can get, I may use tarps or those soft mats for the bottom to prevent the carpets from getting soiled. I was looking at some of the other setups that people have and they gave me even more ideas! Everyone has such nice bun-habitats!

Edit!- Also thanks for the warning Jennifer!!

your landlord is an idiot... tell him I said so at your own risk, though (seriously, what kind of dumbass carpets a KITCHEN of all places??)

if you want something really nice, you could splurge and get hard plastic tile flooring that can go in right over the carpet - http://www.rubberflooringinc.com/garage/diamond-grid-loc-tiles.html ... I've got it in my bunny pen and really like it. some of the soft/foam tiles on the site are MUCH cheaper, but I was worried I'd wake up one day to find that the bunnies had destroyed a large portion of their flooring and have to rush them to the vet to make sure they didn't eat any of it ><

heck, while we're at it, if you wanted to make your kitchen more livable, you could get http://www.rubberflooringinc.com/interlocking-tile/foam/38-soft-wood-tile.html - I redid all the hideous white tile floors in my house with it, kitchen included, and have been VERY happy with how easy it is to clean. only thing is that I'm not sure if it would lie right on a thicker carpet... it really is good stuff, though (the hard plastic tiles like in the first link will definitely sit on carpet... but they look like they belong in a garage rather than a kitchen, they cost quite a bit more and they're tricky to install on top of carpet - I had to put another tile underneath the seam I was trying to snap together because the carpet was too soft and it wouldn't snap). I got a "hardwood" look for $610 for around 470 square feet instead of 8-10k+, installed it all by myself and didn't have to go through the nightmare of ripping up the existing flooring.

anyway, I'm sleep deprived and rambling about flooring... if you want the cheapest, easiest route, cough up $6 at walmart for an 8'x10' tarp. just letting you know there were other options if you wanted something that looked more "finished"

Okay, so I decided to go with the tarp and x-pen. I went to get the one pen that we already have, but it's currently frozen to the ground outside (which is where I used it for outside play). I have the area set up for Miss Isis and her babies (who are now a week old!!!). My bf is supposed to buy an x-pen when he gets off work today and I'll set it up and let Isis out of her cage so that she can investigate the area. I feel sort of bad, she was a little scared when I was setting everything up but she has calmed down now and is laying down, I think she's going to sleep. Anyway, I'll post up pics as soon as I have the pen set up!! I hope she likes it.

Sometimes kits will venture out of the nestbox before their eyes are open, which could be dangerous if they're a foot off the ground. Even the younger ones, with eyes open, aren't usually smart enough to know that they need to find a ramp or box to get down to the ground. When you let them out you may want to have padding all around so they don't get hurt trying to get down to the floor...at least until they figure out the right way down. :thumbup

Thanks for letting me know! I'm going to cut some cardboard and put it on the door of the cage. I'll put some folded towels or something around the opening of the cage. I don't think the babies can get out of the nest yet (trust me, digger has tried), so I'm not too worried about anything within the next few days, but I'll mace sure they have something soft to land on!