Questions about minimum cage/ pen size

[Djakarta]

Miranda will be going in to be spayed sometimein the next 3 weeks. I've been advised to separate her from the babies(2)after the spay.

To further complicate matters, my MIL is coming to visit in about 3weeks, which means that all the foster animals need to be moved out ofthe guest room.

So- looks like I'll be building/rebuilding a few cages. I'd like tocreate a configuration where Miranda and the babies share a wall sothey can still see each other.

My idea is to create a 3 by 5 NIC (C&C) cage. Miranda will havea 2 by 3 with 3 levels. The babies would have a 3 by 3 single levelthat would be 2 levels high. The guinea pigs (2 pigs) wouldbe above the babies in a 3 by3.

Both bunny cages would open on the floor level and could be connected to the X pen during the day for exercise time.

Would this be enough space? a 2 by 3 is 27" by 41" ; a 3 by 3 would be 41" by 41".

 

[aurora369]

That sounds like lots of room!

You can still put in a shelf in the babies cage. They willlearn to jump and will enjoy having a "look out" point. Ialways put a shelf along one side of my cages, and suport with Lbrackets. It works very well.

Good luck, and take lots of pictures when you're done!

--Dawn

 

[Haley]

That sounds like loads of room!

My Mr. Tumnus has a 2x3 with a second level and its plenty of room. Ialmost think another small bunny would fit fine in there as well. Myother two boys have a 2x4 and thats also plenty of room, especiallywhen theyre out running all day.

Good Luck and let us know if you need any help!

 

[Djakarta]

The shelf for the babies sounds like fun. Howhigh should the shelf be? Do you use the regular grids for the shelfand cover it with linoleum ? Or do you use wooden shelving?

 

[naturestee]

In one of my pens, the shelving is plywood ontop of the grids. Another popular choice here ispegboard. I wouldn't use linoleum on the shelf because ittends to be a little slippery, even the stuff with better traction.

My shelves are slightly under one grid high. I just went downone square. I chose this height because it was the same asthe shelf in Mocha and Loki's old dog crate and it seemed a good heightfor them. Lots of other people just put it at one grid highthough. You could add an extra grid that's half the height asa step or build a ramp to make sure no silly babies jump up but are tooshy to jump down.

And the sizes sound great to me!

 

[aurora369]

I use coroplast to line my shelf, probably notthe best material but it seems to work well. I sometimes puta gras mat or towell to help with traction.


One grid is the highest I would go. I normally provide acardboard box to make a step up. They can jump up on the box,and then onto the shelf. Eventually they won't need the stepup, but I normally leave it in for them to play with.

--Dawn