New Bunny. New Change to the tower

[jap08m]

Duh duh duh DUN. Meet Demitri, the newest to our family.

I got him two days ago, have no idea what breed he is, but I do know he is 3-4 months old. He has an appt to be fixed in the middle of the month. I had him and Reddit meet in the kitchen where she hasn't spent much time at all. He seems to be fairly well tempered for a boy his age. He has tried to mount her a couple times but since he hasn't been fixed yet we separated them quickly. They get along very well. Its nice to see Reddit play with someone of her own kind. If any of you saw my post about a month ago, Reddit had a 5 leveled cage made out of 3 stacked 24x24x18 cages with alot of handiwork. To keep them separated when we can't keep constant attention on them I decided to lower the top level down to the 4th one and reattach.
BEFORE

AFTER

So he has his own room in the tower all to himself for the next two months. Had to switch up the litterboxes cuz having the big one up top for him smells soooo bad. We're planning on moving in the next 6 months, whereafter they'll be free range bunnies, but for Reddit seems fairly happy and Demitri seems to be adjusting well. We'll see how this goes for now

 

[wendymac]

Awwwwww! Demitri is adorable!! He looks like a Dutch cross (and I say this only because of his white band around his middle. LOL) but that's just an uneducated guess. Just watch the mounting thing...they can impregnate a doe pretty quickly!

 

[ZRabbits]

Congratulations on the new member of the family. He's such a pretty bunny. Love those dutch color pattern.

K

 

[Nela]

Awww he is sooo cute! I think I see some mini-rex in him! Does he have a softer coat?

 

[Nelsons_Mom]

He is adorable!

Is there anyway that you can attach an x pen? That cage is MUCH too small for even one rabbit, let alone two.

 

[LakeCondo]

Nelsons_Mom wrote:

He is adorable!

Is there anyway that you can attach an x pen? That cage is MUCH too small for even one rabbit, let alone two.

The pen looks lovely & plenty big to me. I;m assuming the carrying cage is used only for one at a time & only for a short time.

 

[Nelsons_Mom]

LakeCondo wrote:

Nelsons_Mom wrote:

He is adorable!

Is there anyway that you can attach an x pen? That cage is MUCH too small for even one rabbit, let alone two.

The pen looks lovely & plenty big to me. I;m assuming the carrying cage is used only for one at a time & only for a short time.

I'm not talking about where they are playing in the kitchen. If they could live in there full time, it would be awesome! And it would be an easy solution to alternative housing.

I'm talking about the "tower." Being too small. And it's not my personal opinion.

From the house rabbit society:

"A cage should be at least 4 times the size of your bunny when he's entirely stretched out--more if he is confined for a large amount of the day."

"[. . .] guideline to go by is at least 8 square feet of cage time"

From thehouserabbit:

"The RWA (UK) recommend a minimum hutch size of 6' x 2' x 2' to meet the duty of care requirements under the animal welfare act."

"The ASPCA (US) recommends rabbits should be housed indoors only in a cage a minimum of 4' x 2' x 2', again with access to a large exercise area."

Seeing as her cage is only 2ft by 2ft in actual walk-around floor space, this isn't enough.


I'm not saying this as a personal attack. In fact, from all that I have seen of her on the forum, I really like jap08m. I really hope that you don't take it that way.

I just think that you really love your rabbits and try to do what is best for them (which is why you built the tower in the first place). And, while it would be a really nice cage for 5-6 rats or maybe a single ferret, rabbits are DESIGNED to have a lot of floor space on which to hop around (they are grazers, not mt. climbers after all). While the levels do help in some muscle development, they are really not ideal.

It would be awesome if you could find another solution for housing until your move in 6 months. I just think if a bonded pair were to live in such high, but horizontally tight housing, it might cause an outbreak of undesirable behavior.

I'm sorry if this sounds rough, but I am really trying to put it as nicely as I can. I appreciate the love that you have for your rabbits. And I can def. appreciate the money, time, and effort that went into building that tower. But, for rabbits, it is not at all ideal.

 

[MyBabyHasPaws]

Yea, well, I think your tower is lovely.

I dont think its too small, I think its nice. I'm sure you allow your rabbits free time when you are home.

I dont have a huge cage for my buns either. I do what I can with the space I have. I allow my buns free time when i'm home and outside time if the weather permits (not too hot).

Congrats on your new bunny! He's super cute!

 

[jap08m]

Already had this issue with the last time I posted. While Reddit does like to be outside her cage sometimes she spend the majority of her time laying right inside with the door to her cage open or sleeping in her litterbox. One at a time, cuz I don't want her getting pregnant they have total access to this area because by some miracle they were both completely litter trained VERY quickly. Demitri doesn't chew up the carpet but I've had to use the squirt bottle a couple times on Reddit. Either of them is out from 7am-3 pm (when my fiance is home) and then back out when I get home at 7pm. Like I said this is a temporary living situation and we'll be moving in five months. I can't stand when I see a big rabbit in a small cage. The only reason I built Reddits this high was because for some reason she loved to climb, which I guess is weird for a rabbit. So I gave her a couple extra levels which worked out perfectly when I got the new rabbit. I'm doing this not to take offense. So don't worry it doesn't offend me. Trust me, I wouldn't stick a bunny in a tiny cage. That why I rescued Demitri (tiny cage AND THEY WERE GONNA SELL HIM FOR PEOPLE TO EAT HIM!!!!! still don't know how people could do that).
Anyway, the second pictures are whats under the bed. I don't know if anyone else had the problem of the bunny going under the bed and not wanting to come back out. So I built a frame of what ended up being 2x6's and put it under the bed so she couldn't disappear. But she is a ninja, sometimes, and I don't know how, she'll somehow manage to get around it. Hopefully she won't teach him that.

 

[jap08m]

Nela wrote:

Awww he is sooo cute! I think I see some mini-rex in him! Does he have a softer coat?

No, its actually more rough and ragged. I was so used to Reddit because shes softer then silk. Lol.

 

[jap08m]

MyBabyHasPaws wrote:

Yea, well, I think your tower is lovely.

I dont think its too small, I think its nice. I'm sure you allow your rabbits free time when you are home.

I dont have a huge cage for my buns either. I do what I can with the space I have. I allow my buns free time when i'm home and outside time if the weather permits (not too hot).

Congrats on your new bunny! He's super cute!

I would love to bring them outside, but we live in Nevada in the middle of the desert. Theres no fencing at this house, and theres ALOT of natural predators that would scoop them right up. I can't wait till we move. I hate this state anyway. Hopefully my fiance will get orders to somewhere back home on the east coast. Then I'm gonna have a nice little back yard for them to play in. Thanks for your support

 

[Nelsons_Mom]

Wow! Your bunnies get a lot of out time

It's also good that reddit likes to climb. It's my impression that is unusual. I know my bunnies hate it.

Thank you for explaining more of your daily routine. While most wouldn't be able to make a cage like that work, it seems you have worked it out that they are only really in there for a few hours to sleep and therefore do very well by your babies. And, it really seems like vertical space was all you could spare and you tool advantage of it.

Best of luck with the bonding.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:inlove: