So I go to the Klubertanz site to order new floors and J-clips, so I can have heavier wire on the floors and J-clips that are not junk to attach them with. The clips seem to hold the rest of the cage together, but not the floor.

Anyway, I was not expecting six different kinds of J-clips! What do I get? I'm figuring I should not get the ones that have 592 or 1,000 clips in a pound, but that leaves four choices:

5/16" X ½" Standard J-Clip; Zinc Plated .. R200 . 380 ... $2.90/lb
3/8" X 5/8" Clips; Zinc Plated .................. R400 . 300 ... $2.90/lb
5/16" X 9/16" Light J-Clips ...................... RDL6 . 592 ... $2.70/lb
5/16" X ½" Stainless Steel Clip ................ R430 . 350 ... $7.50/lb
3/8" X 5/8" Stainless Steel Clip ................ R995 . 300 ... $7.50/lb
5/16" X ½" Aluminum Clip ........................ R111 . 1,100 . $7.45/lb

OneAcreFarm, you got the R200 last Feb, right? How are they holding up?

And does anybody know where their floor supports are?

They are fantastic! Not a spec of rust and once they are on...very hard to come loose. Now ask me about the ones I got from TSC....

Really? Wow! I honestly thought the zinc would corrode! Nice to hear they don't come off, either.

Mine came from Bass. I'm probably about as happy with them as you are with the TSC ones.

That's what I wanted to know... I'll be placing my order *ahem* later... gotta go get busy on dinner! Didn't realize the time!

__________ Thu Feb 02, 2012 5:54 pm __________

Oh -- and I found "floor supports" on page 18... I hadn't looked there before, because that was for stackables. Are those regular cage supports? I thought the support was a heavy-gauge wire. How do these things go on the cage?

Guess go with the heaviest gauge. Aluminum shouldn't rust, but I had a feeder of it years ago and it sure rusted...
Stainless steel, I guess.

If it rusted, it was not aluminum. Aluminum will corrode a bit... gets sort of a white coating on it... but it will not rust.

Asked my beloved Shay for his input, and he wants me to go with the stainless. So stainless it is! I was going to go with the zinc-plated ones you have, OneAcreFarm, until I brought it up with him.

I use stainless. I spend a little extra on the details and they last much longer, stay nicer and make things a little easier. When comparing my cages, hardware, auto watering system, etc. to a friend's setup (who pinches pennies on every level) is the difference between night and day. 2 years from now mine will still be very nice. His will need replacing. Find the best deals, but don't skimp on quality.

For j-clips I've used both stainless and zinc. Both seem to have certain advantages. I don't think you'll go wrong with either, but still think stainless is a little better quality.

Thank you, AZ Rabbits!

I like your sites, too!

Can you put stainless ones on with a normal J-Clip tool (which I already have)?

You should be able to. If you're clipping a lot, use padded gloves. It will save your hand from a lot of hurtin' when you're done.

I have been using the rings too repair my floors and i love them.

If I had to make more cages, I would go with this....



The J Clip Applier made me feel like a 100 yo woman with arthritis in every joint of my hands for a week after making 5 cages.

__________ Fri Feb 03, 2012 9:34 am __________

I was wondering about the rings, but I think I'll still go with the clips. I already have the tool, and ILoveBunnies and I can swap out using it.

Thanks, AZ Rabbits, for the tip about wearing gloves! I will certainly do that!

You DEFINITELY want to wear gloves or you will have blisters for days!

On a related note, they sell a j-clip removal tool... but I have found that the pliers used to put the clips on takes them off as well. Angle the tool so you can get the top and bottom "prongs" inside the j-clip, and squeeze it to spread it apart.

Last time I put together 16 cages one weekend. My hands felt like they'd gotten run over by a semi. I only had gloves the 2nd half of assembly. At the end, you're hurting pretty bad and using your knees, the floor and everything else for leverage. I was too stubborn to rest because I HAD to get them done and out of the way...

If you're assembling a lot, the gloves with a big pad in the palm is helpful. Well worth the $10 to $15 for the good gloves, which will last a while too.