Baby cages...

[KittyKatMe]

So, my buns have indoor and outdoor cages. The indoor ones are Xpens, but they are pretty small. I move them in to those when it gets hot or rains, but it hardly ever does. Their outdoor cages are HUGE, with big roofed runs attatched. The cages really are a lot bigger, so I have them out there usually. But they are well ventilated, protected, and there isn't any extreme weather here. The babies spent their first week inside, because it was so hot, but they have spent most of their time outside. Most people don't want to invest in a really expensive cage, so what should I reccomend to them for housing? I have told the people that they can keep them outside, but they probably don't have in mind what I have. I will probabaly tell them about NIC cages and Xpens, but I don't know yet. Also, what about food? I really want my babies to stay on a good pellet feed, without any add-ins or other junk. Grrr, what questions should I ask? In past litters, they have all gone to rabbit-experienced homes. I wasn't sure if I should post this here, but I figured it was the right place.

 

[Pharfly]

Baby bunnies can escape Xpens and NIC cages. I had a dwarf litter last year and the babies could get out of the NIC cage when they where about 3 weeks old.
Xpens and wire dog crates have openings of about 2 inches, I have had young rabbits, 8-10 week old fit through then as well.

 

[majorv]

As far as the feed, you should give the new owner a ziploc bag of the feed you're using. Be sure to write on the bag the brand of feed. You can't make them buy it, but you can encourage them to continue with it. As to the cage, you can encourage them to keep the bunny inside, but it's their decision based on their situation. You would know better what setup to recommend depending on whether the bun willinside or outside

 

[KittyKatMe]

The Xpen I have has rabbit wire around the bottom, so they couldn't fit through. Now they can't fit through the normal openings either, so I think they'll be okay in an NIC. Does anyone have a list of questions to ask the new owner?

 

[Imbrium]

I would recommend a NIC cage only after the bunnies are around 11 weeks old - at 9 weeks, my little lionhead got her head stuck in a grid because she shoved her face through and then her ears prevented her from pulling it back out. by 11 weeks, she was too big for that. I used a cheap store-bought cage inside a playpen until they were big enough for the condo.

different playpens have different spacing on the bars. the ones I use now, I wouldn't be surprised if an 8 week bunny could squeeze their way out (it's technically a dog pen).

I used these two playpens when my bunnies were younger - the spacing is quite small and they safely contained my bunnies at 7-8 weeks:
http://www.petco.com/product/113679/WARE-Clean-Living-Small-Animal-Playpen.aspx
and
http://www.petco.com/product/113062/WARE-Small-Animal-Playpen.aspx (larger version)

 

[whitelop]

I don't use this pen for my rabbit, because she doesn't need a pen. But I have it for around my wood burning stove to keep my son away from it. I'm looking at the holes right now and they aren't big enough for any bun to get their heads stuck in.
http://www.northstatesind.com/index.cfm/event/productview/id/89/catid/2

Its very stable and really large and they sell attachment pieces to make them even bigger. They're like $60 at walmart. So that could be a suggestion, if you like the pen itself.