Breeders!!! Cage Question?

[mistyjr]

haha! No Problem Jun! You have hijack it all you want

 

[mistyjr]

oops, i meant Jen

 

[jcottonl02]

Lol but Jun is actually a lovely name!! It was my character when I played Tekken!!! Hehe.

I'm not all that savvy when it comes to breeders etc. and rabbit showing, so you'll have to forgive me if I ask a stupid question . It's something I'd like to learn more about, though, because it's a whole different side to rabbit ownership.

 

[mistyjr]

Yes! It doesnt hurt to ask questions., I'm just new to this since December 2009! People always ask! inkbouce::biggrin2:inkbouce:

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I like answering questions. lol.

Emily

 

[jcottonl02]

BlueSkyAcresRabbitry wrote:

I like answering questions. lol.

Emily

Lol when I know what I'm talking about, so do I! Rabbit showing etc. doesn't really come highly in my knowledge base though!

 

[bunnybunbunb]

BlueSkyAcresRabbitry wrote:

bunnybunbunb wrote:

I use wood nest boxes so I do not have to worry about the calcium. I use many boxes without bottoms or wire bottoms as well as carboard boxes if I need

I use vinagar/water to clean in the house, it and the green products. It works well in the house for cleaning off grim and stuff. I used it to clean off the calcium off the bathroom floor, too, where Cameron was running lose in there for a while.

Wood nestboxes are lovely. lol, I use wood too. Although there are some pee stains, it's not bad. Do you bleach your wooden boxes? I was reading a book that said to do that, and I wasn't sure if the bleach solution would soak into the wood and cause rotting or not? Don't want to try it until I'm sure it's fine. If so, I'm sure bleach could get the pee stains off the wood easily, especially since they're small - I have holes drilled in the bottom for sanitation.

Emily

I have not in a while but it was what I was advised to do by my old mentor. He said to bleach the cages once a month, always before moving a new rabbit into a cage a diffrent rabbit was in, and the nest boxes between each litter. I remember everything he ever told me and since I have strayed away from it all I have ill luck. I will be going back to what he told me, for the most part. He had amazing luck and great breeding practises that worked for 20 years. He stopped breedingthree years ago but I see him from time to time. I miss going anddrooling over all his lovely rabbits. If I could I would get his line back in mine but I do not know anyone with them.

I saw him two weeks ago, looked the same as ever. "Still no rabbits?" "Nope. Well, dad has some San Juans at the house but that is it." "I bet your garden is not near as good as it use to be, huh?" "No! *laughs*"

He uses, or did use, solid bottom hutches for the San Juans. For his rabbits he went from solid floors, to hanging cages and then there was a mud slid and he lost lots of cages. He had 20pregnant does at the time that he had to move to his house, he was keeping most of his rabbits at his father's farm, and he had two weeks to build housing. He made an AMAZING hutch I would LOVE to have. It was/is a standing hutch, 6 diffrent parts, 40 cages if I remember right. I believe they where/are 2 x 2.

I still remember my last trip to his house when he was selling out. *sigh*

 

[la~la~land]

My dad and I framed up my new hutch today :thumbup

Its got 3stories, each is4 ft wide and 3 ft deep. I'll make a thread and post pics when I find my camera cord. Theres going to be a slide in divider in each. When a doe has kits I'll take it out so plenty of room for mamma and babes :biggrin:

Its solid floored but all my buns use litter boxes. I've yet to meet a rabbit that I can't get to use one to atleast pee in. They get dumped every other day and bleached monthly. I'm using those stick-on tiles on the floor so accidents can be whiped up :biggrin:

IMO wire floors are fine for most breeds but since the fur on mini rexes feet is so thin they're prone to sore hocks when on wire I prefer solid.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

la~la~land wrote:

IMO wire floors are fine for most breeds but since the fur on mini rexes feet is so thin they're prone to sore hocks when on wire I prefer solid.

I have my MR's on wire floors and have no problems with them having sore hocks at all. As long as you have well-furred MR's, wire floors should be fine, and even if they're not well-furred, a place for the rabbit get off the wire is suitable.

I love having the wire cages with REW's. It helps to keep their feet a lot cleaner, unless they have litter boxes and sit in them, lol.

Emily

 

[la~la~land]

BlueSkyAcresRabbitry wrote:

I have my MR's on wire floors and have no problems with them having sore hocks at all. As long as you have well-furred MR's, wire floors should be fine, and even if they're not well-furred, a place for the rabbit get off the wire is suitable.

I love having the wire cages with REW's. It helps to keep their feet a lot cleaner, unless they have litter boxes and sit in them, lol.

Emily

I've known lots of people who keep minis on wire just fine

I've just had bad luck with it Even with resting boards. Whatever worksfor the individual :thumbup

 

[whaleyk98]

Lazy breeders paradise????


Thats a little insulting dont you think?

I feel that wire cages make for a cleaner environment for the buns....NOT because Im a lazy breeder. Sheesh.

 

[jcottonl02]

whaleyk98 wrote:

Lazy breeders paradise????


Thats a little insulting dont you think?

I feel that wire cages make for a cleaner environment for the buns....NOT because Im a lazy breeder. Sheesh.

I can't find this anywhere in the post? Sorry lol :?

Anyway, you shouldn't take offence to it- I'm sure there was nothing personal. If you know you aren't lazy then there's no need to feel personally attacked.

It may generally be easier to clean, wire pens, but my buns obviously don't live on wire, but I am certain their environment is just as clean as any wire pen, because I spend a lot of my time cleaning and disinfecting them. And my buns are litter trained, so there are no poops/urine anywhere apart from the litter trays, which are cleaned daily

I still can't get my head about leaving my buns on wire. It must be absolutely fine, because so many people do it and have no problems etc., but it just reminds me of chickens in chicken farms in metal wire cages lol :cry2.
I understand that breeders don't necessarily have them as 'pets', and the cages are supposed to be temporary, but I still can't get my head around breeders standards meaning buns can spend vast periods of time in a 1ft x 2ft all wire cage, and no socialising time (really...if the breeder has to share out time with 10 buns a day).

I am by no means attacking ANYBODY at all- this are just my personal wonderings, and obviously a reason why I am not on the Rabbitry much at all. Please nobody feel offended, or personally attacked, because it gets a bit tiring, when someone is just expressing an opinion.

I seem to be the only one with this opinion though, so that says something about how right I am lol!:thumbup

 

[whaleyk98]

Ok, your forgiven. I was just a little taken back thats all. No harm done. Everyone has their own opinions and preferences. :biggrin:

 

[mistyjr]

lol.. its okay

 

[jcottonl02]

whaleyk98 wrote:

Ok, your forgiven. I was just a little taken back thats all. No harm done. Everyone has their own opinions and preferences. :biggrin:

Btw I didn't say the lazy breeder thing, just to clarify I still can't find it anywhere lol! hehe. What page is it on lol cos I actually can't see it!

Yeah people are entitled 2 to their own opinions but sometimes if they aren't particularly constructive to the conversation, and just antagonistic (which I think that previous comment about the lazy breeders was bordering on), then we could do without them .

 

[countrybuns]

I believe the person who made the post was samantha on the first page. She said in her first post that she uses wire bottom cages but does not like them. She considers them the lazy breeders paradise but still uses them because she can't afford all solid bottomed cages.

 

[jcottonl02]

countrybuns wrote:

I believe the person who made the post was samantha on the first page. She said in her first post that she uses wire bottom cages but does not like them. She considers them the lazy breeders paradise but still uses them because she can't afford all solid bottomed cages.

Lol ah thank you countrybuns! The first page was the only page I didn't scan for minutes and minutes lol!

I'm not sure samantha would have meant it in a way to offend others- a comment like that is likely to inspire a lot of slightly offended and peeved replies, so I am sure it was just said wrong. It was probably meant as a humorous remark

Are solid-bottomed cages that much more expensive? :?

 

[countrybuns]

When you are buying breeder cages or constructing them then yes, it isn't a big difference for a couple pets but it can be when you have many rabbits and no Samantha was not trying to be offensive. She uses them so she was basically poking fun at herself with that comment. IMO anyways

 

[TinysMom]

jcottonl02 wrote:

whaleyk98 wrote:

Lazy breeders paradise????


Thats a little insulting dont you think?

I feel that wire cages make for a cleaner environment for the buns....NOT because Im a lazy breeder. Sheesh.

I can't find this anywhere in the post? Sorry lol :?

Anyway, you shouldn't take offence to it- I'm sure there was nothing personal. If you know you aren't lazy then there's no need to feel personally attacked.

It may generally be easier to clean, wire pens, but my buns obviously don't live on wire, but I am certain their environment is just as clean as any wire pen, because I spend a lot of my time cleaning and disinfecting them. And my buns are litter trained, so there are no poops/urine anywhere apart from the litter trays, which are cleaned daily

I still can't get my head about leaving my buns on wire. It must be absolutely fine, because so many people do it and have no problems etc., but it just reminds me of chickens in chicken farms in metal wire cages lol :cry2.
I understand that breeders don't necessarily have them as 'pets', and the cages are supposed to be temporary, but I still can't get my head around breeders standards meaning buns can spend vast periods of time in a 1ft x 2ft all wire cage, and no socialising time (really...if the breeder has to share out time with 10 buns a day).

I am by no means attacking ANYBODY at all- this are just my personal wonderings, and obviously a reason why I am not on the Rabbitry much at all. Please nobody feel offended, or personally attacked, because it gets a bit tiring, when someone is just expressing an opinion.

I seem to be the only one with this opinion though, so that says something about how right I am lol!:thumbup

I don't know anyone personally who has their buns in a 1 ft X 2 ft cage. My smallest cages (minimum recommended size by ARBA) are 18" X 24". My rabbits can binky in them and will do circles sometimes.

One thing that surprised me as a new breeder was that not all rabbits seem to like "out" time. I have several that when taken out of their cage - want to sit in one place and just wait to get put back. (Once put in their cage they'll play again with their toys and they'll run and binky). Others of course- LOVE their out time and run and play.

Many many pet homes use wire cages also.

My adult flemish giants are in dog crates - with solid floors and litter pans. They don't get out every day - BUT they do get out fairly regularly (they always seem to know when it is their turn and are waiting for me that morning to let them out).

When they do get out - they get several hours of playtime - sometimes 6-8 or even 10 or 12 hours (if I forget to put them back and rotate them).

I hope that helps. One thing to remember is that while not all pet owners are alike - neither are all breeders. I find that an encouraging fact.

 

[mistyjr]

My rabbits all can move freely and around in circles if they want too. The black cage that I have bought at the farm store is smaller then the cages that I have built. But they have plenty room to hop around. Plus they have an 21 foot run too!

Yes, I have to agree with the breeders are different... They are all feed/ water daily. And they are all good token care of.