The Stormhaven Litter System-Step by Step Instructions

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Runestonez

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As promised:)

Step by step instructions to constructing a Stormhaven Litterbox!
Beginning with the Hay Bin!

1. Choose your NIC
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2. Do NOT try to bend across the weld joint...the NIC will snap everytime! If this happens it cannot be used without running the risk of your bunn injuring itself!
Locate the weld joint and be sure it is either at the top or bottom of the hay bin...NOT on the sides!
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3. You should be bending the NIC on the 3rd row of squares from the bottom and again on the 3rd row from the top to form the "U" shape.
Use a marker a make a tick on each edge where you are bending.
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4. Since I bend quite a few at a time I made a bending jig out of old 6x6 lumber...the easiest way to bend them is to find someway to secure them and apply body weight to arc them over to the angle you want.
In this case I insert it up to the ticks I made in the jig.
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5. Using force and body weight I lean on the NIC and begin to gradually bend the NIC.
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6. Bend the NIC to just shy of a 90 degree angle.
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7. Once the first bend is made reverse the NIC and begin the second bend.
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8. It should look like this when it is finished being bent.
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9. Mark out the opening for the hay bin. It can be one large opening but I suggest leaving one row of squares in the middle and one row on either end to keep bunny from deciding the hay bin is a nice place to sleep!
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10. Next step is to cut out the wires to form the opening...I suggest getting someone with a Dremel to help you...they CAN be cut by hand...but I seriously advise against it unless you have ALOT of time on your hands!
I use a fiberglass reinforced cutting disc to cut the wires and a grinding stone to polish the cuts! It is VERY important to make sure there are no metal burrs or weld flash left when you are done...they can be very sharp and bunn may be injured! So be sure to check thoroughly before moving to the next step!
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11. Once you are sure the hay bin is smooth and clean...apply a light coat of acrylic paint to any cut or damaged areas...this will keep it from rusting over time. (I know the thought of paint may make a few people nervous...but I used to make these where I worked and when we had blemishes from the oven we used acrylic paint to cover any undesirable marks...and the coating is basically an acrylic coating...it will be fine!;))
The finished Hay Bin!
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Making The Litterbox!

1. Pick a litterbox the size you want. (If you want to make life easier and want to attach a hay bin without too much cutting buy a litterbox that fits the full size NIC or you will need to notch the front corners of the NIC when you make the cutout!)
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Here you can see the notches I was refering too for the smaller litterboxes!
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2. For those of you who are attaching a hay bin you will need to drill two holes in the top rim of the litterbox where the hay bin will be attached...like so...
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3. Next we need to cut the light grating to fit the litterbox. It comes in a 2 foot x 4 foot sheet. Wire clippers work best for this part. You will need to clip a section of grating that fits as closely to the sides of the litterbox as possible...it should be sitting at least 1 to 1 and a half inches above the bottom of the litterbox! This will allow the pine pelleted litter to swell without touching the hay or bunnys feet!
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4. Once you are happy with the grating it needs to have feet added for support! Grating can break and bend so adding feet helps support bunnies weight better across the surface!
When I cut feet I used to just use little ones but we found that 2 sets of long feet that run the width of the litter grate were best...when you cut out the feet you will need to leave nubbies on the top part that you will glue to the bottom of the litter grating. These will provide extra strength to the feet to keep them from popping off!
We usually leave a row of half cut squares which we then slide into the litter grating and then glue in place. You should be able to see what I mean in the pic.
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5. Before you begin gluing...take a good look at the light grating...one side is bevelled(rounded) and the other is square cut...you want the square cut side facing down into the bottom of the box! It is sharper and you DON'T want bunny walking on this side!! Use a good quality crazy glue to glue the feet to the litter grating. DO NOT use the gel kind...it takes too long to set and in our case has shown to fall apart more easily than the regular crazy glue!
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Close up...
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6. Once the glue for the feet has dried your litterbox should look like this:
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7. This is generally how we divide our litterboxes...there is no need for litter under the hay bin...put a SINGLE layer of pelleted litter from the bottom of the box to the second set of feet leaving the top of the box bare for the hay!To use more than a single layer is wasting the litter and may cause it to swell up above the litter grating!
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8. Now to attach your Hay Bin to the completed litterbox!:)
Take two zipties...feed them through the holes you drilled in the litterbox rim...
Loop them AROUND the bottom wire of the hay bin where it rests on the litterbox...
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Bring them back towards you...
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Then feed them BACK THROUGH the same holes!
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Clip off the excess from the zipties!

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9. You should now be able to ziptie the hay bin to the litterbox forming a joint that will allow the hay bin to pivot for easy access!
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10. Finally you should have completed your first Stormhaven Litterbox with attached hay bin! If you did it right it should resemble this one!
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Good Luck and I hope they work as well for you as they have for us and our kids!
Just post or PM me if you need any clarification or have any questions!

Enjoy!
Danielle:D




 
LOL:D
I do sell them...but they are so bulky the shipping is killer!
I sent one to Mrs. PBJ in Galveston...shipping was $25...I guess it depends how badly you really want one! LOL:D

They really aren't HARD to make...but definately time consuming...and hard on the hands!:shock:

Danielle

 
Very nice. Thank-you Danielle.

When you explained it before without the pictures, I couldn't understand what you were saying about bending across the weld joint...the NIC will snap everytime! Now that I see the picture,everything is perfectly clear.

:blueribbon:
 
Runestonez wrote:
LOL:D
I do sell them...but they are so bulky the shipping is killer!
I sent one to Mrs. PBJ in Galveston...shipping was $25...I guess it depends how badly you really want one! LOL:D

They really aren't HARD to make...but definately time consuming...and hard on the hands!:shock:

Danielle

It is well worth the price RUne did you get my PM?

I love it make sure you wash the pee every time you do the litter box Rune told me this and I did not do it a couple of times being lazy and now its stained but its stil clean or do what i did and run the litter box and the light grating through the dishwasher

 
Just don't try what I did at first...:shock:
It is hard to dry off the grating...so instead of just banging it...I tried to dry it with the hairdryer on HIGH...they will melt just so you know! :biggrin2:LOL

Danielle
 
Thanks so much! This is awesome :] I'm going to have to recruit my dad for some help. This is now my weekend project :thanks:
 
Oh my gosh....you are AWESOME!

Mods....can we make this a sticky if at all possible? She always gets asked to provide pictures of her litter box!
 
Kep in mind this litterbox works best with wood pellet litter and should have a quick scoop done at least every otherday!

We pull out the littergrate once a week to rinse. We tip the hay rack back as far as it will go...pile the hay into it and pull out the grating...rinse in the bathtub with hotwater...or if there are tough urine stains some warmed vinegar and hot water and give it a good scrub! Bang it on your hand to remove excess water and put back in the litterbox. Tip the hay rack forwards and the hay falls back in place!:)

You can also spray the littergrate with water or vinegar/water mix while still in the litterbox...you just have to be sure you wipe it well so bunn doesn't get vinegar on his feet. The litterbox should be pulled completely apart and washed at least once a month. But it should save time and energy compared to what we usually have to do in a normal litter cleanup!:D

Danielle

Thanks for the kudos! lol:biggrin2:
The reason I designed this was to make life easier for everyone! Its hard to have scads of bunns if you don't have the time to enjoy them! I found myself cleaning more then I was playing...I didn't have time to stop and enjoy my bunns...my whole life was litter! lol And the bunns weren't happy having dirty feet and hay stuck intheir fur! I was worried about them eating wet hay and getting sick. A simple but effective solution for all of us!:D
 
I LOVE it!:biggrin2:
No farm stores or anthing near you?
We have tried Yesterdays News, aspen shavings, newspaper, woodstove pellets...we finally found a place that carried the horse bedding and have never looked back! :D

Awesome stuff!:)
Is it sad that rabbit people get excited about litter?
Soooska gave me a scrub brush when she came to visit and the first thing that came to mind was,"Oh THAT is so GREAT! A new scrub brush for my litterboxes! YAY!"<shaking head>:craziness

Danielle
 
Have you tried any of the supplier locator lists?
There are about7 main suppliers of wood pellets...
Woody Pet
Guardian
McFeeters
Armstrong
Equine Pine
Dansons
There is also Magnum...but they don't have distributors in Saskatchewan yet...

I have emailed a few to seeif any have distributors in Saskatoon...:)

Danielle

 

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