Is it okay to put a rabbit cage on the floor? I have a 5-pound dog who couldn't care less about other animals; I have plenty of animals in the house and she never really cares. I'm thinking of putting it in the living room against the wall, it would be right under a window and perpendicular to a wall with an electric fireplace. If that wouldn't be okay, where would be some good places to put it? I'm a first-time rabbit owner, I'm getting one in a week or so, please pardon me for this question that you all probably think is so obvious!
Thanks, from The Mockingjay
I would be careful about how close to the fireplace it is (assuming it gets used) - rabbits overheat much more easily and at much lower temperatures than humans do (indoor rabbits can become susceptible to heat stroke at temperatures as low as 80F).
Also, the window could be an issue... while rabbits tolerate cold extremely well, they're sensitive to drafts, so make sure it's not drafty below the window in the winter. In the summer, make sure that the area by the window isn't a hot-spot (which can happen if it's poorly insulated and in direct sunlight for part or all of the day). In all seasons, make sure that the window dressing (blinds, curtains, etc.) is sufficient to prevent an actual sunbeam from hitting the rabbit's cage. As long as the window doesn't cause the cage to get too hot, sunny or drafty, then being near a window isn't a problem - my girls have a HUGE window behind their condo.
As for being on the floor, my rabbits have a 42'' x 28'' x 70'' high condo at my house in San Antonio and a 56'' x 28'' x 70'' high condo here, so putting it on the floor is the only option, lol. The vast majority of bunny slaves (with indoor bunnies) keep their cage/condo on the ground, as that allows the bunny to enter and exit on their own when they're getting their 4-5+ hours a day of roaming around time (or always, if they're free-range) - that way they can go back to the cage for a snack and a potty break whenever they want
. Really, the only reason to put a cage up higher is if you need to thwart cats or dogs that stress out or antagonize the bunny.
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Not sure if you've got a cage already but since you don't have your bunny yet, it's not like a cage couldn't be returned... so I'd like to share the awesomeness of NIC/C&C style cages with you! They're bigger, cheaper and all-around better than store-bought cages... plus they're SO customizable! Tons of people have one, yet I've never seen two that were the same - everyone does things differently to fit their wants, their budget, their bunny's needs/habits, the space they have available, etc.
These two sites lay out the basics very clearly:
http://breyfamily.net/bunnycage.html
http://www.guineapigcages.com/cubes.htm (shows how to do coroplast floors if you'd rather use that than plywood)
And this site that JBun found gets into the nitty-gritty details - lots of different designs, some in-depth videos, all that good stuff:
http://rabbitcondo.com/lara-and-harrels-deluxe-wide-rabbit-condo
The best deal on grids for the cages (in the US) is - surprisingly - at
Sears (if your local store doesn't stock them, you can do site-to-store to avoid shipping fees). How many boxes you need obviously depends on the design, but you'll need at *least* two boxes to build an appropriately roomy condo unless the bunny is 100% free range and only uses their cage/condo as a home base for their food and litter box.
Each box contains 23 grids.
Here's the first condo I made (42'' long x 28'' wide x 70'' tall):
And the second (46'' long x 28'' wide x 70'' tall):
(I like the way I did the levels on the second condo better - having the level that's only one grid high in the middle instead of the bottom makes it so much easier to clean!
Other tips...
Dowels:
~ If you use plywood for flooring on the levels, you shouldn't need them (except perhaps on the top ceiling)... but with any other flooring, they prevent the levels from sagging.
~ Don't buy dowels at Home Depot (and I'm guessing Lowe's has similar prices). You can get them at
Hobby Lobby [click the link for a printable "40% off one item" coupon] for a LOT less (shocking, I know, as their non-sale prices are a rip-off 95% of the time). Also, some Walmarts carry dowels at a good price.
~ I prefer round dowels over square ones, they're just less awkward to ziptie to the grids.
Coroplast:
~ If you want to use coroplast (corrugated plastic) for the floors, most Home Depots carry a 3'x6' sheet for around $13-14, which is the best deal I know of for it (it's not on their website last I checked, but I still see it in the store). Do NOT ask an employee where the coroplast is - the vast majority of HD employees don't even know what it is. Instead, ask them where the *plexiglass* is. That same section has acrylic sheets/window panes and various sized sheets of white coroplast... including, hopefully, the 3'x6' sheets. They're turned sideways and slid into a fairly narrow (but very tall) slot in the display and are easy to overlook, so don't expect them to stand out
~ Home Depot will NOT cut the coroplast for you - I asked once; they only cut wood. If you need to get a 3'x6' sheet home using a small car, you can cut it in the parking lot using a utility knife (brought from home or purchased at the store for $1) if you know the dimensions you'll need for each floor of the condo. Alternatively, you can loosely roll up the entire sheet and stick it in the back seat - I can get a rolled up 3'x6' sheet into the backseat of my RX-8 (a fairly small sports car) easily.
~ Failing that, most sign stores sell coroplast in 4' x 8' sheets. With a sign store, you'll get to choose from a variety of colors and they'll usually cut the sheet up for you for free.
Zipties (aka cable ties):
~ To build a *massive* condo and have a decent amount of zipties left over, you don't need more than 400-500 even if you waste a bunch by making mistakes and/or changing your mind. (You want some left over because I guarantee you'll start finding uses for them, lol. I went 28 years without randomly using zipties for stuff... then I built a condo. Now I consider them a "must have" - they're even handier to keep around than duct tape!)
~ If you want to calculate a more exact number, you need two zipties for each place that two grids meet... I also sometimes use two more (diagonally) in each spot where four grids meet to reinforce the walls/floors/ceilings. If you use dowels, you'll need at least two zipties per dowel to hold them in place. I recommend multiplying your estimate by 1.2 (ie a 20% increase), since some inevitably get wasted.
~ Whatever you do, don't buy them at Home Depot... and especially don't buy them at Lowe's! HD charges $18-19 for 1000 four inch zipties and something like $4-5 for 100... Lowe's is even worse. I resent that I was once naive enough to think the 1000 pack was actually a reasonable deal.
~ The best option (by far) is to check dollar stores (where everything is actually 99c or $1, not places like Dollar General). I know I've seen zipties at Dollar Tree and I think the 99c store has them sometimes - it's either 80 or 100 for $1 (I'm not sure, it may vary from store to store).
~ If you strike out at dollar stores, I sell them on my
website (about 1/3 of the way down that page) - a 500-pack of 4'' zipties costs $3.80 for natural/$4.05 for black. If all you ordered was 500 zipties, shipping would be around $2.50 (PayPal would charge around $4 at check out but I give partial refunds so that people only end up paying the actual cost). First class shipping takes 2-4 days (not counting Sundays), depending on where you live, though, and after shipping fees, dollar stores are an equal or better deal - in other words, definitely check them first!
~ Dollar stores aren't just for zipties - while you're there, you might want to look for whiffle balls, hard plastic baby toys, cat balls, untreated wicker baskets and other bunny-friendly playthings
. When it comes to buying bunny toys, dollar stores are WAY better than pet stores!
