x pen questions

[koolaidsmiiles]

Few questions regarding an X-pen

1. What are the pros & cons regarding X pens compared to actual cages?
2. How tall should the X pen be so that the rabbit can't jump over?
3. Are X pens economically cheaper then getting a cage?

 

[Imbrium]

Nice thing about a condo (store-bought cages are way too small; you can build a huge NIC condo for the same price as one) is that you can get extra space into the same "footprint" by having levels. Also, in the wild, bunnies prefer high ground so they've got the best view of any approaching predators - mine love to camp out on the higher levels of their condo.

Height depends on the rabbit - my Holland lop is a little loaf and pretty much any pen will hold her. My lionhead has never jumped out of a 24'' pen without something to stand on, but that's probably only because she threatened to so badly that I upgraded to taller pens. If you want to be able to give your rabbit(s) big toys, cardboard boxes, etc. then you need a taller pen because they can push things to the side of the pen and use them to climb out.

X-pens are technically cheaper, but require more floor space to achieve the same actual space. With a pen that's got a total length of 16', you can use screw eyes and zip ties to connect it to the walls to get an 8' x 8' square where two of the walls are actual walls and two are playpen panels - that would achieve the 60 square foot minimum for a rabbit or pair that doesn't get 4-5h outside the cage each day. If you don't use walls to some degree, you'll end up with a 4' x 4' square... which is a smidge small without levels if your bunny spends a lot of time in there.

To make the most of your floor space and give your bunny more variety, I highly recommend a condo - you can build a basic condo (for example, 2 grids wide x 4 long x 2 high condo with a partial second level) for under $60. That said, some people go with just the x-pen and it CAN be a viable cage replacement - in the end, it comes down to personal preference and your own needs.

I don't have a pic handy of my set-up here, which is a 2 grid x 4 grid x 5 grid high NIC condo and a pen to create about 64 square feet of space (including the condo's footprint). At my house in San Antonio, I also used a condo and pen set-up, which took up most of my living room

For pens 24'' or 30'' tall, the best deal I've seen is this one... if you want something taller than that, the best deal I've seen is this one. I've never actually bought the Amazon one, but I've got both 36'' and 48'' versions of the second pen (sadly, mine are stupid gold because silver wasn't available back then ) - I'll vouch my a** off for the Precision Pet pens, as they're sturdy and durable as hell. Between humans, bunnies and cats, the pens have taken a ton of abuse. 24'' is a cake-walk for a human to step over and 30'' (well, 29'') was a little inconvenient for me (I'm 5'4''), so lack of a door shouldn't matter much... but if you go taller, you'd really appreciate the built-in doors on the Precision Pet pen!

If you want a little more info on NIC cages (tutorials, some tips on getting good prices for the materials, etc.), I just made a huge post in another thread about them that has lots of links/tips.

 

[Tauntz]

Xpens:

1. Pros: I love the ease of set up & ability to move or change the size & area of the enclosure. It can be used indoors or out with minimal equipment to secure & stabilize it. You can attach another to make a larger area if needed.

In a hurry, I can do a quick clean up (especially of water spills) by moving the sections to corral my bunnies in one section while I clean up the mess of another. No bunny escape or having to put them in another secure space while doing minor cage clean up.

Gives bunnies much more room than the average cage.

Cons: No wheels to roll it to another area.


I purchased my xpen prior to getting my bunny girls & they have been at home in their xpen since they've come to me. I personally love it & think the only thing better would be a completely bunny proof house with well trained bunnies that always use their litter pan with no accidents, only play with or chew their toys & nothing else, knows furniture is for humans & doesn't bother it except for its designed purpose of sitting or laying on but even the toy makers haven't made that bunny yet! lol

2. This is the xpen I purchased: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H8YTJI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It works fine for my two Jersey wooly does. They've never leaped over it yet. I do use a flannel sheet clipped on using the wooden clothes line pins as a cover & to "prevent" any leaping escapes during the night or when I am out of the house. Its height is 30 inches.

3. Yes, I do believe it is more economical than store bought cages plus roomier for the bunny. Most pet store cages are too small, in my opinion, for a bunny to stay in. For everyday caging area I think the xpen is the best inexpensive, easy to use & transportable bunny enclosure. I can't compare it pricewise to the NIC cages of similar size. My bunny girls give their seal of approval of the xpen! lol

 

[Vosify]

This was my x pen cage I had set up for my first Flemish. I used NIC and bought extra clips like the ones that come with the x pen to clip the NIC shelves I made to the cage so she had two levels.



The floor was a heavy duty tarp because she was on carpet. Super spacious and easy to clean. I changed the shape lots as I felt like it.

 

[Blue eyes]

@ Vosify, nice looking cage.

I just wanted to agree that x-pens require more floor space. They are great to have on hand regardless of whatever cage you decide upon. As Jennifer (Imbrium) suggested, they make a great additional space for any cage.

I would also stick with nothing shorter than 30" in height. If you make use of an existing wall, the x-pen can provide much more room. Here I used one for a temporary cage when bonding.
The next photo, I used a different x-pen for a 'vacation cage.'
And the last photo, I used it for some outside time one day.

 

[Imbrium]

The floor was a heavy duty tarp because she was on carpet. Super spacious and easy to clean. I changed the shape lots as I felt like it.

I didn't even think to mention flooring... I just leave the bunns on the "hardwood" floors (some sort of cheap laminate, I assume) in the apartment, but at my house in San Antonio, the living room is carpeted. For the sake of protecting the sh*tty carpeting from bunny pee and wanton destruction, I also used a tarp under my pens. Walmart sells an 8'' x 10'' tarp for under $6.

On a side note, I love the ghetto-rigged second level in the x-pen - very cute! Everybunny likes a high spot to camp out

They are great to have on hand regardless of whatever cage you decide upon. As Jennifer (Imbrium) suggested, they make a great additional space for any cage.

Yup, I swear by my NIC condo/x-pen run combo set-up for my own bunnies! Some of you have the luxury of being able to trust your bunns to roam a bunny-proofed house... but some of us have cats and said cats get really depressed when bunnies shove them around, eat their food and pee on their stuff. If you let your bunny out daily but don't let them roam free 24/7, they'd definitely appreciate having a pen zip-tied to their condo if you don't just go for a full x-pen setup for those times when they get rambunctious in the middle of the night (which is almost always).

Even if you go NIC and let your bunny roam free for a few hours a day, an x-pen or two is still great to have (as is evidenced in Blue eyes' pics).

A NIC cage doesn't exactly break down and pack away easily for travel, while an x-pen can easily fit in the back seat of pretty much any car or possibly even the trunk (my trunk sucks a**) - I've put a 48'' pen in the back of a Mazda RX-8 (smallish sports car). A $6 tarp and an x-pen = instant bunny "vacation home."

Also, house bunnies *love* a trip outside, assuming it's no hotter than around 80F and you have access to a grassy area that you're 100% sure hasn't been treated with pesticides or fertilizer or even a concrete patio area. It can be hard to keep track of bunns in a back yard and make sure they don't get into any tiny spaces or through a weak spot in the fence, so keeping them penned up and under supervision is by far the safest way to go. I like to put up two 36'' pens in the front yard and take my bunnies out - they love it! I know they miss it terribly after 6 mos in an apartment where I don't trust the dog-crap-infested grass to be safe for them.

 

[FreezeNkody]

I like my xpens. My rabbits seem to enjoy them as well.

 

[aozora]

I'm a first-time bunny owner, but I decided to go with an x-pen after doing some research and I don't regret it one bit. I may decide to "upgrade" Mocha to a NIC condo someday but for now, I think an x-pen works great for him-- not to mention even if I do build a NIC condo in the future, the x-pen will still come in handy.

Pros to x-pens: Definitely the ease of set-up and portability! All you have to do is prop it on the floor with something underneath and you'll be good to go. It did take me a ton of trials and errors before I finally settled on my current set-up, mostly because I discovered along the way that Mocha is a bad little chewer, but now I've got a big rug covering most of my floor (it's hardwood and he hates how slippery it is) with a plastic chairmat over it, the kind you'd use in the office under rolling armchairs. It's made of very tough plastic and he has tried to chew at a corner, but he hasn't had much success and all I had to do was cover that spot with cardboard to dissuade him. His living area is a total breeze to clean because 1) when I need to do a quick sweep, all I have to do is lean over the pen with my little dustpan and broom as it is open-top, and 2) when I need to do a complete clean-up I just pop him in his carrier, fold up the entire x-pen and set it aside. Once I'm done cleaning, all I have to do is unfold it back into place, let Mocha out, and that's it! I haven't really taken him elsewhere yet, but I can always take the x-pen with me and set it up wherever I end up going too.

Cons: Besides the larger space it takes up, definitely the fact that it's hard to have a second level without worrying about him jumping out. The kind of x-pen I have only has one horizontal wire going all around that is too high for him to comfortably jump up and down so I can't do much to customize it with another level (it's the exact same one as the second pic in Blue eyes' post, actually). Not to mention if I do customize it with panels and zip ties and whathaveyou, that would take away the portability aspect of the pen as I can no longer fold it up easily.

It really depends on the bunny in terms of how tall your pen needs to be. Mine is I think 29" and Mocha has stood up on his tippy toes a few times and stretched alllll the way up when he first arrived, probably to check out how tall the pen was, but he has never once tried to jump over it. He has, however, learned to jump up on my bed with relative ease and that's about two feet off the ground.

 

[FreezeNkody]

I have 3 of these I use
8 panels each. My rabbits have room to run so as they want. But they have their own room so taking up space isn't a problem for me.

 

[PaGal]

I have two extra large dog cages. In one is my Flemish buck. In the other are the two small girl buns. My flemmie gets the run of his side of the room during the day. In the evening I put him in his cage and the girls get free time in their side of the room.

With the girls I started with an x pen set up as a cage. First I used thick pond liner as a floor but they chewed that up in no time. I then made a coroplast bottom but again they chewed it. They now have the extra large dog cage. The x pen is used to separate the room so no pregnancies occur since I have heard they can mate through a cage. Now the girls chew the carpet. I put cardboard down but they just find another spot to chew.

The nice thing about the cage is they cannot chew the floor or wall trim while in it. It is easy to clean. Also it's not possible for them to jump out. Space is limited though but I plan to add a second level to the girls this weekend and may add a shelf to the bucks.

The x pen can give more room. When I had it set up as a cage it was 29" X 7' which gave them a good length to run when they felt like it. Mine was fine being connected to itself in a rectangle. If you want to use it with a wall making one side of it then you may need a way to attach it to the wall. With the x pen set up as it is now although it is heavy the buns can move it enough to escape. One end is attached to a baby gate blocking a door way and the other end I attach to their cage when they are out and move it further from their cage when my buck is out.

I purchased each dog cage from a company on ebay. They were brand new and cost $60 which included shipping and they both took 3 days to arrive.

The x pen is 48" tall, each panel is 29" wide. It has 8 panels. It also has a door. I believe I paid $70 including shipping as I also bought it new off of ebay. It came with a cloth bag that you can use for transporting it after folding it up.

I do know that even buying either item used at least in my area would cost as much as what I paid for new on ebay.

As far as the buns comfort I think I would have prefered sticking with the x pen set up as a cage if I could have found something that the girls would not have chewed as a floor as it gave them more room.