NIC large enough?

[Myia09]

So I am going through the NIC cage thing..

We will be getting "Sheriff"a black english lop sometime in late January or early Febuaray (He is 3 weeks I beleive and she wants to keep them until about 12 weeks) so I have been cage preparing. His house will be 4ft long (I believe thats 5 NIC cubes) and then about 25 1/2 inches wide (2 NIC cubes)

I am pretty sure that is adequate space, and the breeder agreed,but feel free to correct me.

So my thing is, I will have a total of 5 bunnies, two of which I am getting for christmas (One I already got yesterday from my boyfriend) which is a Broken Blue Holland Lop Adult Female, and a Mini Rex VM Choclate Doe baby.

I finally got my 2 Lionheads to bond through Pinballs passing (My grey lionhead was STARVING for rabbit attention and was having horrible seperation issues so I am very glad) and so it went like this,

Chewbacca has a cage that is 39 inches long (3ft and 3 inches, about 3 NIC cubes) and 25.5 inches wide (2 NIC cubes)
I last weighed her at 2.5 pounds and is adult age. Well she is now sharing that space with my little Simba who is still very young, and I believe still only a pound. Would this cage be adequate for two adult lionheads? They seem to have plenty of space still...

Then I had Simba before in a 28 in long (2 ft 4 inches, 2 NIC cubes) by 25.5 wide.Now I have the Holland Lop in there. She is adult and I don't have my scale anymore, but she is slightly bigger than Chewbacca, but wieghs a lot more. I would put her around 4 lbs. Again, this seems big enough.

Is that not large enough?And would another 28inX25in cage be large enough for the Mini Rex and adult size?

My rabbits get 3+ hours of free time also, if not more. They get free roam.

 

[Myia09]

Bump?

 

[Malexis]

2x5 nic is actually (28 in by 70 in) Each grid is 14 inches. So its over 5 ft long, which would be good for an EL. He'll love all the room. I think for your other rabbits 2x3 would be good, since it seems like their smaller? But i dont really think 2x3 is big enough for two, Idk though some may think it is.
For some of the cages you can stack them?

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Your measurements seem a bit off, as most NIC grids are 14" by 14". So 2 grids is 28", 3 would be 42" and 4 is 56". If you use the connectors, it is a bit longer.

A 4 by 2 grid cage would be big enough for an E lop. If you can go bigger, feel free. 5 by 2 girds would be even better.

For the 2 rabbits (chewbacca and Simba), I would add an extra level. My Korr and Penelope share a 2 by 3 grid cage, but it is 4 tall with 2 levels that are 2 by 2 grids.

I would make the 28" by 25" cage bigger. It is close to a 2 by 2 grid cage which is not that big. If you can be is closer to 2 by 3 it could be better.

 

[Myia09]

They are not off, we tend to overlap our grids for extra support. I took measurments with a tape measure
How do I make the second level sturdy enough for a rabbit? We have not been able to find a way that isn't flimsy.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Many folks mentally measure in terms of whole grids, which is why at first glance your measurements seemed a bit different

To make a more supportive second level, try cutting plywood to fit the shape of the desired second level. you could then put staples through to attach the wood to the NIC grids, or drill holes in the wood and run zipties through to attach. Ziptie into place. Then, run doweling under the length of the floor.

Alternately, placing vertical grids in at weak/buckle points acts as good support.

If you post some photos, I'm sure more good ideas will come your way

 

[elrohwen]

Honestly, I think they all seem too small if your measurements are correct. The Elop should probably have at least 5'x2' or 5'x3'. The smaller breeds who are living by themselves should have 4'x2'. The pair of lionheads should probably have 5'x2' at least. Even if you do add upper levels, the floor space just isn't big enough.

 

[Malexis]

For the two that are sharing you should still make at least a 4x2 because they need room to stretch out. Even if you do levels i believe they still need large floor space to hope around and lay out.

 

[Myia09]

Ok..so this is what we are doing..
We extended my holland lop to 3 cubes X 2 cubes, and didn't over lap them, so its 42in by 28in,
My two lionhead cages will be extended next week when I can get more zip ties, and will be a 4 cubes x 2 cubes.

Then, for my English lop, she will have a 5 cube x 2 cube on top of the holland lop and lionhead cages.

Then, if my my holland and mini rex don't bond I plan on buiding her a 4 cube by 2 cube on top of the english lop cages.

It will look like a wierd pyrimid of sorts..
The boyfriend is building it all so he is the one to figure out all the logistics.

 

[elrohwen]

That sounds good to me! Lucky buns for having such nice cages. You're going to have a tower of buns

 

[Myia09]

Well, I was able to get some really crappy photos (its final week and I was in a rush to get to the libary)
But this is what I have so far:

Now, I have not extended the lionhead's cage yet, and you can kinda see what I mean by the fact I overlapped the grids..that will all be undone and another grid will be added making it the 4cubex2cube.

I honestly don't know alot of the consturction that is going on...my boyfriend works in construction right now so he is the definite master mind.

Here is a poor photo of the buns in thier cages..you can kinda see the Holland lop has a lot more room now which made me VERY happy to see..its amazing what one grid did..
And again the lionheads cage will be extedned. I will post photos when finished

And yes the cages don't have a lot of toys..the reason is when Pinball passed I threw out all the toys and bought new ones and this was all I can afford at this time until about the end of January, unless I get some x mas money

 

[Myia09]

Oh, btw the lionheads are cuddling which is why you can only see a wierd lump of sort.



Oh, and the doors are on top..the last two swing upwards if you can't tell.


I bought two cages for 16.99 each, and I still have enough to build the EL cage..so I have to only buy 1 more box.

So I only spent $51 on all these cages..

As for flooring, the 2nd and 3rd story will have carpet left over from my boyfriends house renovation. So if you add cost for zip ties, the dowels for the upper levals, and other supplies it probably cost only $70.

Sure beats the single XL super pet that is $70 for a single!

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I would also make them 2 grids high. Rabbits need space to stretch up and stand on their back feet. If they are 2 high, you can add a level easier.
Having the door on the side is easier for the rabbit to come and go as they like when they have run time. If you do build them to 2 high, a side door makes cleaning easier.

 

[Myia09]

But if I was to make it 2 girds high, that would be highly unstable for the other rabbit cages that have to go on top. The holland and the lionheads can streach up..as for the English Lop and mini rex, I may figure something out where they have a larger space to streach out.

Again this is all said my rabbits are out almsot all day, and only kept in thier cages at night.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I have a cage that is 4 grids high. I use wooden dowels to support the levels (which could be your other cage). You could also support them vertically with dowels. You could maybe to 3 high so each cage is 1.5 grids. I would then put the smaller rabbits on top and the larger ones on the bottom so the grids don't have to support as much weight.

 

[Myia09]

I will pass that on to James..Try to figure something out.
He already was going to use dowels.
I said soemthing about putting my EL on the bottom, but I forget why but it didn't work as well..

 

[Malexis]

Your EL is gonna need like 2 or 3 grids high, their big bunnies. and i do agree that all the other bunnies should have about 2 grids high so they can stand up and even do binkies if they'd like.

 

[Myia09]

I didn't even think of the EL..I know they will be big its just I have never seen them in person.

Ok..so I talked to James and he told me he would figure it out! lol!
It should be constructed pretty soon so I will post photos