Extra large dog crate set up for new bunny???

[3willowsbunny]

After perusing what is available in hutches and indoor enclosures for our soon to be adopted medium to large bunny (looking at 2 standard rex and some mini lops along with some mixed breed meduim sized buns) I have pretty much decided that an extra large 48"x30"x32" 2door dog crate might be ideal. Not sure of the bar spacing, that would be my one concern. I would be adding a shelf and ramp and attaching at least one 36" high x pen for a nice big free hopping area for when we are not home. He/she will be in my parrot's room, my parrot is "free range" but stays on her cage most of the time, I doubt a bunny would interest her too much. We will also have baby gates on the two open doorways into the room (it is really the "dining room" and is right off the kitchen) for extra escapeproofness. Does this sound okay? My last two indoor bunnies were both in pretty small cages but did get lots of out of cage time, I just want this bun to have a nice big condo to call home even while he/she can't be out with us.

 

[Imbrium]

The key factor is age - if they're an adult (or young adult), it sounds great! If they're a baby, then the spacing could potentially be an issue - my lionhead got her head stuck in a NIC grid at 9 weeks old, which was terrifying (though she made it through the ordeal unscathed).

However, since you mention both "adoption" (meaning the bunns presumably meet the minimum age for spay/neuter surgery) and "medium to large", I imagine you'll be adopting a rabbit far too big to have to worry about bar spacing.

Also, now that I think of it, the issue with the NIC grid was that the height of the openings more than the width - she shoved her face through and her ears popped up, then the horizontal bar above her head prevented her ears from going back through. To this day, she shoves her face into the openings between x-pen bars regularly and has never gotten stuck.

So, yeah... I'm rambling, and your proposed set-up sounds excellent - tons of people use XL dog crates for adult bunns and I've never heard of a single issue. It sounds like your bunny will delightfully spoiled .

 

[Imbrium]

Oh, and since you mentioned rather tall x-pens... I typically recommend this pen as the best deal I've seen for heights of 36'' and up; *however* it's normally $59.99 w/free shipping for the 48'' tall pens and something like $52.99 for the 36'' pens. At the current prices of $89.99 and $80.99, respectively, it's not even remotely close to a good deal. I'm linking it anyway, though, because I don't know how soon you plan to buy an x-pen and Petco's online sale prices/specials fluctuate on a regular basis (possibly as often as weekly, I don't remember exactly). If/when they have it listed at 40% off again (the price when I bought it), that's the point at which the pricing actually becomes competitive . I own both 36'' and 48'' versions and love them... though I'm cranky that silver wasn't available back then and I got stuck with gold.

Like with many Amazon items, the price on this pen tends to fluctuate as well... it's my go-to recommendation for pens up to 30''. I wouldn't buy it in a height over 30'' though, as it doesn't have a door and would be too high to step over. Actually, I just noticed a similar model that's equivalent in price to the Petco one when it's 40% off - $52.97 for the 36'' pen w/free shipping - which *does* have a door.

 

[missyscove]

I use a 42 inch dog crate for my pair of buns and I've been really happy with it (vs. an NIC cage and a store-bought rabbit cage I had previously). I used a combination of dowels, cutting boards and a laundry shelf to make their shelf and they have one of those rainbow tunnels they use as a step. They get plenty of free roaming time in my room too, but I like that when I want to take them somewhere I can fold their cage up and bring it with me. It's also easy to clean and I feel like they're secure in it should any of the other animals that live in this house make it past my baby gate and bedroom door (my roommates have cats and dogs that only interact with the rabbits through a gate.)


For size comparison, my buns weigh about 3 lb and 5 lb.

 

[3willowsbunny]

Thank you both for your replies! I like how you did the shelves, I was wondering just how many I could get in a two door but it looks like you can get a nice solid second level up there! I was going to use brackets and screw them into the bottom of the shelves and hook them onto the wires (hard to explain). Are the dowels nice and secure, they appear so, my only issue would be them slipping or something but they do look stable (now I'm rambling.... ). We will be visiting at least one humane society (no kill rescue) next weekend to see who is available. The one closest to us had a beautiful Flemish Giant that we all fell in love with (via pictures and description on their website), my kids were crushed when she got adopted. We are now just going in with open minds and waiting to see who picks us. We are not interested in a very small bunny though, we have an autistic son (17) who though he is very good with animals would probably feel more comfortable playing with a larger bun, I also want our slug of a Golden Retriever (who wouldn't harm a flea and gets along great with my African Grey) to not feel a bunny is a squeaky toy. I'm actually even open to a bonded pair if they happen to pick us...the husband may even be okay with that, he loved my other buns when they were not peeing on the carpet (I had no idea they could be litter box trained when we had them years ago) I think one would be the best for starters though. My other question, I was thinking of getting a sheet of linolium to put under the cage/pen to catch any mistakes would this be good? It would go a few inches beyond the reach of the cage/pen so bun could not chew it.

 

[missyscove]

I used one of those wire laundry shelves with a wooden (particle board?) shelf on top of it that I put linoleum tiles on. The dowels fit nicely in the grooves of the wire shelf. My wire portion goes all the way to the right side of the cage and the wood part is all the way to the left. The cutting board on top of the laundry shelf as well as the one in front of it (on the right side) have little metal ends that you're supposed to pull out to set it up over a sink, but I used those to secure it to either the laundry shelf or the edge of the cage. The bigger cutting board on the other side just rests on top of the dowels. At one point I had two smaller laundry shelves, each zip tied to the sides of the cage so there are definitely different ways to set it up. I opted for the two door crate because of the way I wanted to position it in the room and wanted the door to be on the long side.
You could also zip tie the dowels in place which is what I had done originally but after bringing the buns somewhere and setting it up again I decided the dowels were secure enough for me to be happy with them like that.

If you spend enough time in the hardware store it's easy to get some inspiration. If you're handy you could cut a piece of wood to fit the length of the cage or even get a longer laundry shelf and cut it down to fit exactly the length of the cage.

As far as which rabbit you adopt, if you think you'd one day like a bonded pair, adopting a bonded pair eliminates the need for you two bond two rabbits yourself which is always a nice plus; if they're already bonded you don't have to worry so much about what would happen if they don't get along and you need two cages, etc. There's nothing wrong with having a single bunny though.

 

[Imbrium]

We are now just going in with open minds and waiting to see who picks us. We are not interested in a very small bunny though, we have an autistic son (17) who though he is very good with animals would probably feel more comfortable playing with a larger bun, I also want our slug of a Golden Retriever (who wouldn't harm a flea and gets along great with my African Grey) to not feel a bunny is a squeaky toy. I'm actually even open to a bonded pair if they happen to pick us...the husband may even be okay with that, he loved my other buns when they were not peeing on the carpet (I had no idea they could be litter box trained when we had them years ago) I think one would be the best for starters though. My other question, I was thinking of getting a sheet of linolium to put under the cage/pen to catch any mistakes would this be good? It would go a few inches beyond the reach of the cage/pen so bun could not chew it.

Interestingly, it's the smaller bunnies who seem to pack the most attitude per pound, lol. I would bet on Norm and/or Nala getting right up in a Golden Retriever's face and laying down the law if they got the chance; Gaz probably would too after a little time to work up the confidence . They're all in the 3.75-5.5 lb range. Another member's bunny, Shya, is a mere 3 lbs and positively fearless - she bosses around all the cats and dogs in her home!

Our kitten snuck past me into the area where we were keeping Normie before we had gotten around to doing a supervised introduction between them; I decided to see what happened before intervening. It had been all of 24h since I brought him home and a couple hours since I moved him from a small pen to the hallway/bathroom area (in other words, he wouldn't have established it as his territory yet). She cautiously approached him, curious about the new guy, and he got RIGHT in that face! She backed away from him as fast as she could; he pursued with his airplane ears pointed forward towards her (like he always does when very curious), then charged her. She freaked out, backed into a corner, freaked out again, lept over him and then took off over the baby gate to get away. I couldn't stop laughing!!

If you're pretty open to the options but definitely want a larger bunny, you shouldn't have much trouble finding one that's a good fit. Sadly, many people are so set on the idea of wanting a cute "little" bunny that if they ignorantly select a larger breed baby rabbit, they'll dump it at a shelter after discovering how big it gets . The HSPCA doesn't have many rabbits, but the ones it has are almost all medium sized or larger; if I remember correctly, none of the ones there on my last visit were true dwarves.

Heck, Normie's paperwork on the backside of his cubby (ie the volunteer/employee area side) indicated that he had a weight of 7.18 lbs (though I weighed him in closer to 5.5 lbs and the vet I took him to did as well, not sure if it was an issue with the shelter's scale or if he lost a lot of weight during the week he was there between getting neutered and having to get used to different food... I'm definitely keeping a close eye on him to make sure he stays at a healthy weight for his frame. Kinda sad he's not 7+ lbs as I liked the idea of a bigger bunny to go with my dwarves, but I love him just the same) and that he was surrendered four days before Christmas "because he got too big". Jerks. I'd love to see the looks on their faces if they met a Flemish Giant! Their loss, though - he's an amazing and very loving rabbit; can't get enough cuddling and loves to lick.

As for one bunny vs two, I started with a F/F pair (not technically bonded, but they were babies and babies get along with anyone before their hormones kick in, so it was pretty much the same as having a bonded pair; I had to repair their bond when they had a fight shortly after their spays, but they're still bonded as adults). I really don't think it's any more challenging to start with two than one *if* they're already bonded (make sure to ask questions to verify that the shelter has truly bonded them and hasn't just stuck them together and claimed they're bonded because they didn't fight right off the bat). At the same time, there's nothing wrong with getting a solo bunny if you prefer.

I think meeting bunns and letting one (or a pair) pick you is a wonderful plan - I've gotten most of my pets by letting them pick me. I'm sure your family will find a bunn or two that stand out as "belonging" with you!