Oh my goodness! My hands are hurting just thinking about that! 5 was bad enough! Between cutting the 14g wire and using the JClip appliers, my poor hands were almost unusable!

Miss M, anyone who tries to sell you on the myth that "stainless steel will not rust" needs to be placed into selected disregard. While it may not rust as quickly as many other metals, it WILL rust. I see it routinely in the world of firearms.

I'd personally select the zinc-coated j-clips. Zinc, after all, is what is normally used in galvanization of metal.

And if I could make one more suggestion, it would be to get a set of GOOD j-clip pliers from Klubertanz while you're placing the order. The ones I just bought set me back $15, and I wish I had just bucked up and bought them the first time around. I built some wire hay racks with them earlier in the week, and WOW, what difference it made.

Yep, my thoughts exactly. After 15 years working with stainless steel surgical equipment, I can tell you that it CAN and WILL rust if left in the elements. I chose the zinc coated because it is the same as the wire. Get the good appliers and a pair of the cheapies...you will use the good ones for most everything but may need the cheapies in a tight spot where the thicker ones won't fit....can't remember who told me that, but it was good advice. Also, if you CAN, get two pair of the good ones. That way Shay can help and you don't have to fight over who gets the good pliers!

Well, the stainless ones are already ordered, but we are under no impression that stainless steel does not rust. The water where we lived in Florida caused my Oneida to pit and rust. I finally turned to restaurant-grade stainless to retard the effects of the highly-corrosive water!

We have six cages that need new floors, and we'll be doing three of them during the week. That will leave three that will need doing when we empty the rabbitry to redo the chutes and gutters. So this really shouldn't be that bad. I can probably do at least two of those three during the week, too, come to think of it. The one with Fluffy and Nibbles in it... well... Fluffy is a real handful. Then again, I could put Fluffy and Nibbles into a carrier for a bit... hmmmm... I could have all this floor stuff done at my leisure, and not at the same time we're trying to do chutes!

I also didn't see this before placing my order, so... no new pliers. Hopefully, taking it a bit at a time will keep my hands from becoming unusable.


I think I get what you're saying. I'll get my pliers tomorrow and have a look at them. That sure would be nice!

I really appreciate all the tips and input! I'll have to cross my fingers on the stainless, since they're already on the way! Guess I'll be the RT guinea pig for these clips!

I am sure they will be just fine! Anything with iron in it will eventually rust, so it's all good!

I hope so! They couldn't be worse than zinc coated, could they?

I wouldn't think so, I just did not want to spend the extra money and did not think I needed so many at one time.... ...what a noob!

Yeah... my math told me that one pound was way more than enough... so I ordered two pounds! Better to have and not need, than to need and not have, right? Besides, I'm sure I'll need them eventually.

Now to think of alternative uses for all those leftover Bass clips....

Well, I made 5 cages and I ordered two pounds....and I ran out... so...you *may* want to call them and change the order. They won't be ready to ship out for a week at least...call them and find out....

My mind was busy while I slept, apparently... when I woke up this morning, my first thought was "you could reinforce the floors with 1"x2" wire for added strength". It might make cleaning more of an issue since fur and urine might get trapped between the 2 layers of wire, but it should help with sagging.

Excellent point. Dissimilar metals in contact with each other in the presence of moisture and oxygen WILL cause corrosion at an accelerated rate.

Sorry, that's just the USAF aircraft maintenance CDC volumes coming back to haunt me!!!

Well, since I'm just replacing the floors, I should be okay... that would be about like building two cages, I think.


That reminds me of a time in high school, when I had a calculus problem in my homework that I just couldn't figure out. I solved it in my sleep, and I woke up like, "OF COURSE!" But by the time I made it over to my paper, I couldn't remember the next step!

Would an added layer of 1x2 help the 16 gauge wire not be hard on the feet? Also, I was thinking of cutting up the old floors and using them as baby-saver wire.




Actually, I had completely forgotten that fact from chemistry. Guess we'll see what comes of these stainless steel clips!

Good idea about using the old wire as babysaver!

I think the thinner gauges of wire are harder on their feet because it applies more isolated pressure. I was thinking of placing the 1"x2" under the floor wire because that seems safer (feet wont get caught), but maybe placing it on top and securing the floor wire at intervals to keep it taut would help if you have thinner gauge floor wire.

To help with the 16 gauge wire floors, Bass Equipment sells "Floor Spreaders" which are steel rods that run across the cage floor (under the floor). They help support the floor a great deal and stay very clean. My first set of cages I made I had to use these. I highly recommend them if you need the support.

Link: http://bassequipment.com/Cages/Cage+Components/default.aspx

I ordered 14 gauge floors, "spreaders", and the new J-clips, and they just came! Now to get busy on those cages!