NIC condo distress!

[cassfuentes]

So I was following the second floor plan on this site: http://www.longislandrabbitrescue.org/NIC-plans.pdf for making my condo (the 42x42x28 plan) and holy hugeness it is BIG. Not big as in, bunny will love all this space, huge as in bulky and obtrusive and there is no space in her little front yard area for hopping and merriment. It looks ridiculous! My bunny will be a holland lop and while I know she'll get bigger, theres just no way that this is the best way to maximize the space. I included a picture of it in progress (there are areas that aren't completely zip tied because we ran out but I need to rearrange things now any way!)
I'm thinking of doing away with one layer so its only two grids high or just overlapping two grids about half way since now its coming up to my mid-chest, and removing the front two cube spaces so it will be a large L fitting into the corner. What do you guys think? My boyfriend just pointed out that if you consider the size ratio our bunny has more living space than we do in our apartment lol. I'm just completely overwhelmed by the size of it and the living space looks cramped and overwhelmed! The X-pen area looked more spacious and homey without the NIC condo!

 

[JBun]

Downsizing would be fine. She'll still have all of the space in the xpen to hop around. That's the good thing about NIC condos. You can change it if what you set up, isn't working out. I think a 2x2 might be better than an L shape, as that is a little bit more limiting in running space. You could even do without the condo for now and just use the xpen. When putting the levels into your condo, keep in mind the size your rabbit is now, and how big she will end up getting, when deciding how high up to put each level. While she is little, you can secure box steps for her to be able to hop up to each level, until she is bigger and doesn't need them. One thing to be aware of is, that if you are getting a baby bunny, they can sometimes fit their heads through the bars and get their heads stuck, or sometimes they are even small enough to just slip right through the bars. So if she is still tiny, you may have to put something up like posterboard, along the bottom edge of the xpen and condo, until she has grown a bit bigger.

 

[cassfuentes]

Thank you JBun! We considered the 2x2 also, I think we're going to end up disassembling and reassembling about 50 times until its just right! My fingertips already hurt from all the zip ties! I have some ramps that came with our sugar gliders cage so I was planing to use those for the levels. She was a very dinky little thing when I saw her at 5 weeks so I'm excited to see how much shes grown but I put that little picket fence around the bottom in the hopes that that would interfere with escape (at least, thats how I convinced my boyfriend an adorable picket fence was a necessary part of her enclosure) but we have some extra NIC grids that I'm thinking about lining the bottom edge with!

 

[JBun]

Yeah, I've had to rearrange a few condos too. It's a pain when you already have the floors put in. It sounds like you're going through a lot of zipties. I don't know how many you are using to connect each panel, but usually you only have to use 2 to connect each panel side, and for added stability you can criss cross two more at the corners where 4 panels come together. A ramp may work for your setup. Usually they seem to take up too much space, so I always went with putting a box in as a step. Then I would cut holes in it so it could also be a little hideout.

Your bun may also be able to squeeze through the bars of the nic panels. I had a bunny that was really tiny. And one day I put her in her new nic condo, and after a few minutes I look over and she's not in there. I found her running around behind the couch. She could squeeze that tiny little fluffy body of hers, right through the bars. I guess just wait and see how big she is. You just don't want her getting her head stuck and freaking out.

Looks nice though. I like the little picket fence

 

[KeltonB]

Maybe you could make the x-pen area her main living space and you could construct a 2x2x2 NIC that you could just lower down into the x-pen when you need to confine her. Just an idea.

 

[Blue eyes]

I was thinking the same thing... why not just use the exercise pen? Or if the openings on the x-pen are too big, use the NIC grids to create an x-pen.

Take a look at these photos (scroll down) on how they used them this way:
http://www.3bunnies.org/housing.htm

 

[cassfuentes]

Haha, I hadn't even considered just using the x-pen, I have no idea why though! I guess I just got overenthusiastic! I've already purchased all these NIC grids so may as well use them! And I am definitely using wayy too many zip ties, 3 on every side with an x in every corner. Next time I'll be using less! But I've been building and arranging all day and i think I've got it settled! The eva foam puzzle mats I ordered came in the mail today too so I have the floor in, now I just need to cover the cardboard shelf covers with the cloth I purchased and I'll be done! What do you guys think?

 

[cassfuentes]

Sorry the picture isn't too easy to make out details, I'll take a better one once its all finished! I also have an 8 inch concrete form as a tunnel bridge to go in the top

 

[Azerane]

I think it looks amazing, my only concern was the lack of double-width area, although the second level in the corner should provide good sprawling space and it looks as if you are going to have 24/7 access to the run, so no problems there. Looks great I like the green and cream mats, they're so much more pleasing on the eye than the large black ones I have. What have you got around the top edge of the run?

Sorry the picture isn't too easy to make out details, I'll take a better one once its all finished! I also have an 8 inch concrete form as a tunnel bridge to go in the top

I really like the idea of a tunnel as a bridge, will have to keep that in mind.

 

[Blue eyes]

I love what you came up with! It looks great!

I agree with Lisa on limiting the area initially -- maybe block off access to all the upper levels so she just has the ground floor to explore. Would probably be easier for litter training that way.

Then when she's trained, she'll be thrilled to have all new areas to explore.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

looks wonderful! I agree too about initially blocking parts off-litter training with my buns worked best that way.

 

[cassfuentes]

Thanks everyone! When I first started buying thins for the pen we went with gender neutral green and yellow since we weren't sure if she was a boy or a girl. The thing around the top of the run is just a pink gingham ribbon to make it a little more girly! I'm not a huge fan of pink but all the fabric I purchased is gingham so I thought it would be a sweet touch! And its completely out of her reach up there so it'll be safe. I was actually going to buy the black foam mats because the green and yellow ones cost quite a bit more but luckily my boyfriend understands how attached I get to some things so he offered to buy the green and yellow ones! They have really sweet little flowers and polkadots on them!
And thanks everyone for pointing out that I should restrict her access to the upper levels! I put the hay rack over the litterbox so I was hoping that would help but luckily I put the lowest level pretty high up since my ramp was so long and the ramp comes right off so I don't think she'll be able to jump up there quite yet!
I'm finishing the shelves now so more pictures to come!!

 

[cassfuentes]

Photo dump! Here it is all ready for bunny! The lowest ramp I'll be removing until her litter habits are a little bit established, hopefully she's not all about going in the hidey box! The weird picture of the wall where you can see a bit of my fingers is actually a panel I made form cardboard covered with yellow fabric and then covered again with a clear shower curtain to protect the walls. Its just the height of the xpen, and gives a cute wall papered look thats easy to clean! And the little purple bunny hanging out in her bed, we're going to bring it with us when we go to get her and politely (and awkwardly) ask if we can rub it on mom and her littermates to bring a little of their scent home with her! I definitely feel like I'm getting a baby's bedroom ready lol Now I just cant wait!!!!

 

[JBun]

Haha, it IS kind of like you are getting the babies room ready to bring it home. That's really cute! It looks so clean and neat, at least til you get her home, then be ready for bunny destruction Unless you are lucky and get one of those rare well behaved rabbits. Mostly the only time a rabbits cage is clean, is right after you clean it.

 

[cassfuentes]

Lol, I'm sure it will get destroyed! One of the plus sides to restricting access to the upper levels will be less cleaning for now!

 

[Azerane]

Just one thing regarding the tunnel bridge, have you secured it to the shelving at all? I would highly suggest you do so, because it is going to shift as your rabbit runs through it and I wouldn't want it slipping off of one of the edges as she runs through. Sometimes when Bandit is in his tunnel he'll decide to run or stop very suddenly and the tunnel can more a fair distance from the force of it. It looks fantastic though.

 

[BunnyBabyboo]

what are you using for flooring? I am having an issue finding flooring.

 

[J.Bosley]

Looks amazing! I cannot wait to finish my NIC Cage. I love how subtly girly it is, haha. Enjoy your new Bun!

 

[cassfuentes]

Azerane: I got my boyfriend to punch two holes in the back of the concrete form and I ran a zip tie through them and through a small binder clip so I could still detach it easily!
BunnyBabyboo: I'm using EVA foam mats that you would buy for a children's floor or workout space. I like that they're not too slippery but still easy to clean. Some people have problems with their buns chewing on the and some don't. Mines not here yet for me to test but I'll let you know how she likes it!
J.Bosley: Thanks, subtly girly is exactly what I was going for! I'm not a very girly girl but I'm at that age where all my friends are having babies so I'm getting a little nesting crazy lol!

 

[cassfuentes]

And I'll keep an eye to make sure shes not chewing the stuffed bunny, I already removed the little bean bag he had in his bum, I'm just praying she doesn't pee on everything soft since thats most of the cage lol. Fingers crossed!