Garage floor living...yes/no?

[arikun]

First off, do not start an 'advice fight' with me. They live in the garage, period! There are far too many variables that can hurt the rabbits in the main house, mainly dogs & cats. We also have a lot of furniture that is not ours and we cannot have them eating it, there are also wood floors we cannot allow any accidents on. Moving on....


My buns live in the attached garage with our two big aquariums and where the dogs sleep. I was wondering if I made them runs, could they be directly on the cold concrete?

I've had guinea pigs on concrete with cardboard on the floor, but they got sick from it and died. Maybe there was a draft or their naked feet made them more susceptible? This is a new house, so the garage is a little different.

Anyway, I found two buns out escaped running around. Luckily no cables chewed or any fights. Thus I've been wondering with their larger size, fur feet and ability to get back into their cage, can they have run of the garage and be ok?

I was hoping to get wire fencing and making a large area fenced and letting a bun out into the area one at a time to play in. The area would go down along the 12ft in front of the cage row and go out maybe 4ft. I may divide it in half at 6ft to have two buns out at a time, since the cages are two long cages divided into 3 each.

What do you guys think?

Below is a picture I drew of the cages. Top is the current setup. Left cage[1] empty, 2 Tsunami, 3 Daisy, 4 Pearl, 5 Stella & 5 Cricket. Cricket is getting a new home, hopefully soon. This will allow for the bottom picture setup.
Left cage[1] Tsunami, 2 Daisy, 3 Pearl & 4 Stella.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

They can have run of the garage, but I would recommend covering the floor with a non-slip surface. Our garage has a smooth, concrete floor too and the rabbits really have trouble with it, they slide a lot. So I keep something down at all times now to prevent injury.

The cold should be fine as long as they're used to it, but I would provide them with a cage with warm bedding or a higher area to get up to if it bothers them.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I would put something on the floor. Hopping on concrete all day is not good for their joints and muscles. I know my feet and legs hurt after a day on concrete. The foam puzzle mats can work. You probably don't need to cover the whole area, but maybe half of each cage/run would work. I do know that my bunnies do like to lay on cooler surfaces when they get hot, so leaving some exposed area can help. Even if you can't get the mats, a few blankets or a small dog bed would give them something to get off the concrete if they want.

 

[maxysmummy]

i'd suggest covering the floor with some sort of foam mat... kinda ilke what yoga mats are made out of? just so its not too painful on their feeties

p.s i wish i had a space like a garage to keep my buns they could have way more free roam space

 

[arikun]

Went up to get pictures, but my camera battery died. So waiting for it to charge.
I put up a temporary run. Put down a couple towels, box of hay, box with cardboard padding & a bowl of water. So far Cricket, Tsunami, Daisy & Pearl have been out. Pearl is out right now. Daisy & Pearl both know where their cage is and how to get back in. I'm putting a small box in front of their door for them to hop out on and then down. Pearl is having the most fun out of all of them.
Going to try to let Stella out again after Pearl's time is up. Hopefully, I will have pictures by then, too.

 

[arikun]

 

[Blabauve]

Looks like a nice setup!

 

[Flash Gordon]

my buns would get out of that setup within minutes...keep an eye on that shelf u have in the front of the pic...if u dont have adventurous bunnies then ur prob fine...i think garage floors are less slippery then alot of stuff people use for cages.if ur garage concrete is older and has pits in it like urs does and mine then its not so slippery...the new garage floors would be very slippery.

 

[MiniLopHop]

Can I live there? :biggrin:

 

[arikun]

The only bun big enough that might get out is the Holland Lop, Cricket, and I think I found the perfect home for her. Hopefully, she will be going home Friday!

 

[arikun]

Cricket is going to her new home tomorrow. I spent the evening with her in the run. I was cleaning and she was rearranging everything I touched, lol! She had a lot of fun and I got a lot of cleaning done. If she didn't freak out so much when you pick her up, I might of kept her. My fiance loves lop eared rabbits...he tells me this now! Ugh, men! Lol.