How is this a bad cage?

So I was on another rabbit forum site and according to them, my cage is terrible for my rabbit.
I checked the ARBA care guidelines and it is more than enough.
Anyways do you think it is okay?

You are going to get totally different answers depend where you go. Some of the rabbit people go so far as to think they need the run of a whole room to be happy to the other extreme where large breeds are kept in 24x24" cages.

You're cage is fine. They're probably HRS people that think that rabbits are only content with free run of the house or such.

You cage is more than fine--it's quite luxurious.

Did these people say what was wrong with the cage or just that it was terrible? Making a blanket statement like that is less than helpful.

Things I like about the cage:
It's nice and roomy so bunny can hop around or stretch out or upwards.
Bunny has a shelf and can get off the wire.
It looks easy to keep clean.
The large door makes it easy to take bunny out for play, exercise or cuddles. If it's a struggle, you might not do it so often.

If you're looking for ways to enhance it, a couple more toys and a section of a branch from a safe species of tree for gnawing would be nice. (Apple, pear, willow and poplar are all good.)

It looks well kept to me, and looks like it is plenty big enough. Some people are just hateful no matter what the issue is and speak all negative because they can hide behind the anonymity of the internet. Now, there are others that don't feel rabbits should ever be kept in wire cages and that could be the case as well. The fact that you are concerned that it might not be the right fit tells me you care about your rabbit and that speaks volumes... I think it is just fine though. I know it's hard, but try not to let people get to you...

Maggie's suggestion for some chewables is a good one. I put some large pinecones in for my rabbits for the first time in several months and they had a field day! I have given them rose and blackberry trimmings, but just switching it up made it something new and fun.

Oh my, be more confident in your own opinion , there are so many ways to do it right. It doesn't matter what you do and how, there'll always be someone on the net with a different opinion, or no clue at all but a strong incentive, or some semi-religious agenda who knows everything better...

I mean, there are people out there who want rabbits to go extinct because then no bunny will suffer - these people really have severe psychological problems (and never saw a happy rabbit binky, or are unable to see such), or have a very queer opinion of what life itself is about, you most likely wont meet them in real life, but there is no way to keep stupid out of the internet.

Cage looks fine to me, it took me some time to get used to the idea of wire cages for rabbits (not common here), but they sure have advantages over wooden hutches. Something to gnaw on sure is a great idea, they like it.

What I always include in my hutches is a box to hide in, but these are outside hutches and there can be predators at the front door. Also, with more than one rabbit in the hutches a place to go out of sight is a good idea.

Sure, there are ways to do it wrong, that little box in front is home for a NZ red buck, there are 3 giant checkered in that commercial hutch (no access to the lower storey), and that rabbit in the geniua pig cage is really big, these rabbits never get out, I keep nagging the owner to get better cages, since he has no car I help him to transport them with car and trailer when the chance arises (my back still hurts from last week), no point in denunciating or condemning this old guy, but I do try to help to make things better.

MaggieJ":x8ccc5v8 said:

You cage is more than fine--it's quite luxurious.

Did these people say what was wrong with the cage or just that it was terrible? Making a blanket statement like that is less than helpful.

Things I like about the cage:
It's nice and roomy so bunny can hop around or stretch out or upwards.
Bunny has a shelf and can get off the wire.
It looks easy to keep clean.
The large door makes it easy to take bunny out for play, exercise or cuddles. If it's a struggle, you might not do it so often.

If you're looking for ways to enhance it, a couple more toys and a section of a branch from a safe species of tree for gnawing would be nice. (Apple, pear, willow and poplar are all good.)

Click to expand...

Thank you! I really like it too. I was just so annoyed by these people! :evil:
The people said it was too small and wire is terrible for her feet. I agree with you that the space is roomy, and as for the wire, I have used it for the last decade and have never had a problem.
I am trying to find a good peice of wood for her too chew. I did not know they could chew on pear wood (Truffles loves pears so I bet she would like a branch of that too). I have a pear tree so I might get a stick of that.

Thank you everyone who responded. I knew it was a good cage, I just needed a little back up against these people. <br /><br /> -- Mon Oct 17, 2016 3:49 pm -- <br /><br /> SableSteel you were right they just told me that HRS is the standard, and that I need to be more open minded to other ways of raising rabbits :chair:
I think I'll just delete my account on that forum and stick to Rabbit Talk

I can't see very well, but it look like Truffles might be a mini rex? If so, than she shouldn't outgrow the cage, but there is a chance she might be a bit more prone to sore hocks than other breeds.

From my own experience, bunnies tend to skip the ramp and hop right up and down off of ledges, and unfortunately, landing on the hard surface can de-fur paws a bit more quickly than being on just one level of wire. (At least, so it seemed with the velveteens.)

Truffles may never have a problem with it, but then again, some rabbits with poor foot fur will be prone to sore hocks even if kept in a clean, soft, solid environment their whole lives. It's more of a matter of genetics than the wire itself.

Some pet bred rabbits, especially breeds like rex, often ignore problems with the feet. They are more likely to get sores than rabbits with better breeding where the breeder would remove any having lots of difficulty from their breeding program. A lot of the pet keepers and rescues deal with badly bred, overly sensitive rabbits and sometimes you do have to be more careful about illness and things like hock sores depending on the source of your rabbit. I'd probably pull the ramp because rabbits don't really use them and put a chunk of wider wood (not plywood the glue is questionable if chewed) just below and in front of the shelf. Then there will be a solid place to push off and land. You might want to drill holes and bolt or ziptie the wood to the cage or you could use something heavier like large, flat landscaping stones if you are careful what the wire supports. Many use a plain ceramic tile for getting off the wire but that has a risk of sliding in this situation. That's also why I said to fasten the wood if it's not heavy enough to hold position and wood would double as a chewing source. Just get an untreated softwood (white wood) board. Sometimes you can find what you need in a scrap bin of a large hardware store or lumbar yard. My chinchillas have a lot of scrap bin wood because they destroy it rapidly. Many places have spruce and poplar as well as pine. Just so long as it's not the greenish looking stuff that is treated for outdoor use.

Zass":2c1v0tka said:

I can't see very well, but it look like Truffles might be a mini rex? If so, than she shouldn't outgrow the cage, but there is a chance she might be a bit more prone to sore hocks than other breeds.

From my own experience, bunnies tend to skip the ramp and hop right up and down off of ledges, and unfortunately, landing on the hard surface can de-fur paws a bit more quickly than being on just one level of wire. (At least, so it seemed with the velveteens.)

Truffles may never have a problem with it, but then again, some rabbits with poor foot fur will be prone to sore hocks even if kept in a clean, soft, solid environment their whole lives. It's more of a matter of genetics than the wire itself.

Click to expand...

She's is a 3 yrs old mini rex so she has done all her growing.
I have noticed that she has really well furred feet (if that makes sense) so hopefully it is enough padding for her.
I will keep an eye just in case.

bunnychild":2gpu740r said:

Zass":2gpu740r said:

I can't see very well, but it look like Truffles might be a mini rex? If so, than she shouldn't outgrow the cage, but there is a chance she might be a bit more prone to sore hocks than other breeds.

From my own experience, bunnies tend to skip the ramp and hop right up and down off of ledges, and unfortunately, landing on the hard surface can de-fur paws a bit more quickly than being on just one level of wire. (At least, so it seemed with the velveteens.)

Truffles may never have a problem with it, but then again, some rabbits with poor foot fur will be prone to sore hocks even if kept in a clean, soft, solid environment their whole lives. It's more of a matter of genetics than the wire itself.

Click to expand...

She's is a 3 yrs old mini rex so she has done all her growing.
I have noticed that she has really well furred feet (if that makes sense) so hopefully it is enough padding for her.
I will keep an eye just in case.

Click to expand...

If her feet are well furred at 3 years old, I'm sure she will do just fine.

akane":13sedg16 said:

Some pet bred rabbits, especially breeds like rex, often ignore problems with the feet. They are more likely to get sores than rabbits with better breeding where the breeder would remove any having lots of difficulty from their breeding program. A lot of the pet keepers and rescues deal with badly bred, overly sensitive rabbits and sometimes you do have to be more careful about illness and things like hock sores depending on the source of your rabbit.
I'd probably pull the ramp because rabbits don't really use them and put a chunk of wider wood (not plywood the glue is questionable if chewed) just below and in front of the shelf. Then there will be a solid place to push off and land. You might want to drill holes and bolt or ziptie the wood to the cage or you could use something heavier like large, flat landscaping stones if you are careful what the wire supports. Many use a plain ceramic tile for getting off the wire but that has a risk of sliding in this situation. That's also why I said to fasten the wood if it's not heavy enough to hold position and wood would double as a chewing source. Just get an untreated softwood (white wood) board. Sometimes you can find what you need in a scrap bin of a large hardware store or lumbar yard. My chinchillas have a lot of scrap bin wood because they destroy it rapidly. Many places have spruce and poplar as well as pine. Just so long as it's not the greenish looking stuff that is treated for outdoor use.

Click to expand...

I had never thought about how pet breeding could effect that kind of thing but it makes perfect sense. It's kind of ironic because I have seen breeders accused of making rabbits weaker for the sake of pure breeding. *sign* :noevil:
Truffles likes to lay underneath the ramp so I'll leave it for now. I'm looking for some wood that might work; I like its dual purpose.

Pretty much everything that has already been said, but some people think that wire is just wrong. However, I read about an experiment where they had large group pens and had half of each wire and solid. The rabbits spent significantly more time on the wire half. But I do agree that it is good to give them the opportunity to get off the wire if possible.

As long as it has enough room square feet that is. It fine. The only problem I see wrong with your cage is that the hole in the side are too big for a mom rabbit with babies. Other than it looks great I just could not afford the price of one of those more or less 20 of them.

bigfoot_158":3a13gk6l said:

As long as it has enough room square feet that is. It fine. The only problem I see wrong with your cage is that the hole in the side are too big for a mom rabbit with babies. Other than it looks great I just could not afford the price of one of those more or less 20 of them.

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I am no longer breeding rabbits so I don't worry about that.

The problem I had with a similar cage is that the pan slides out the side instead of the front. I would have to have 6 feet long area to empty the pan. Of course I also had a problem with no urine guard. The floor wire on cheap ones are really thin so I would not buy without actually seeing one. Cheap cages I've bought via internet so far just turned out to be cheap cages and no bargain. Even the same exact cage today is not of the same quality as one purchased 10 years ago. Wires are thinner, lousy quality.

a7736100":2zg6oydz said:

The problem I had with a similar cage is that the pan slides out the side instead of the front. I would have to have 6 feet long area to empty the pan. Of course I also had a problem with no urine guard. The floor wire on cheap ones are really thin so I would not buy without actually seeing one. Cheap cages I've bought via internet so far just turned out to be cheap cages and no bargain. Even the same exact cage today is not of the same quality as one purchased 10 years ago. Wires are thinner, lousy quality.

Click to expand...

I agree that the drop pan coming out the side is annoying.
I bought this exact cage 10 years ago and I have to say in the decade since they have made some nice improvements. The second level is no longer plastic, the floor is sturdier, and the little stopper to keep the pan from sliding out is easier to use.
I did buy it in person from a store I trust so I knew it would not be cheap.