1 day in & seeing that the "condo" idea wasn't a good one

[HOWsMom]

Less than 1 day in & seeing that the "condo" idea wasn't a good one - just too hard to clean for Bug already, and the solid surface of the bottom (a shower curtain, in her case) is slick, and the pee just pools

Moved George to a spare small animal cage I had (I think it's about 18x30") - still a solid bottom, but at least we can put shavings in it.

Think she's going to save up for a wire bottomed cage now, or keep George in with the shavings - not sure yet.

 

[akane]

These cages take a lot of work but they can be modified. You can build boxes that hold bedding and use the panels around it to add height and shelves. Shelves can just be a ceramic floor tile or equivalent but it will bang a little when jumped on if that's a problem. We've built enamel coated plywood boxes that repel urine and hold bedding. Then for rabbits just put a frame of untreated, unpainted 2x4 around the top edge in case they chew. The 2x4s are easily replaced as needed. Some have used plexiglass to reinforce materials that can be chewed like coroplast bases. The base is not what you need to worry about chewing. It's the edges so just protect the edges of anything. Make BIG doors. Open up the entire front if possible. If the roof needs more support without the front you can put in a wooden dowel or a one of those metal bars normally attached to walls to hold up series of wire shelves. Replacing the roof (part of the roof if it doesn't cover it all exactly) and/or back with a strip of the wire shelving can also reinforce things or you can use the wire shelving panels as the doors. Some places will cut them to a specific length for you.

-- Fri Jul 24, 2015 2:05 pm --

This 3x6' pen of polyurethane coated plywood held guinea pigs, rabbits (could not find the rabbit design version with solid top and shelves), and chickens. Current setup was my last remaining guinea pig and the rest converted to chicken growout.

What you can do with grids if you know how to overlap them properly
3high 9x2 grids

Creativity will get you everywhere with panel cages.

 

[Dood]

Condos only work well with litter trained rabbits and it takes several months for a rabbit to learn good bathroom habits (unfortunately some never do ) - maybe once George is more mature and reliable with using his litter box you could try the condo again.

 

[MaggieJ]

I wonder if buying a square kiddy wading pool and using it as the bottom of the condo, with shavings, would work? You'd likely have to rebuild the whole thing, but it might be a solution. Rabbits typically choose a potty corner, so once George does that you could put his litter box there to catch most of his droppings.

In the meantime, the solid bottom cage you have is certainly adequate. It gives you ample time to consider alternatives.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

You might also look into getting a large concrete mixing tub at a home improvement store. They come in several different sizes.

In our area the ones that Home Depot carries are superior to the ones at Lowes, so you may want to check the quality at different vendors to see if there is variation there as well.

 

[akane]

They'll chew the edges on a kiddy pool. Been there. Done that. They are less intent on it than some other materials and would take awhile to do much damage (at least mine) but it will steadily lose plastic and the plastic will go into a rabbit. What does work along those lines is a low sided, broad stock tank. Made a great bottom layer for cages a few times. Might be expensive though.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

If you're just keeping him as a pet then neuter him & he should have good litter habits. Maybe not poop, but they're usually good with pee.

 

[Susie570]

Condos only work well with litter trained rabbits and it takes several months for a rabbit to learn good bathroom habits (unfortunately some never do ) - maybe once George is more mature and reliable with using his litter box you could try the condo again.

True, and even then, sometimes rabbits decide, for whatever reason, that they're going to stop using the litter box this month. :x I think it has to do with hormonal fluctuations, but for whatever reason, the condo idea has lost it's appeal to me, after probably half a year or so of dealing with them.

I've gone back to wire floor cages with litter pans for everyone.

I plan to make a play yard from the panels.

 

[Dood]

If you're just keeping him as a pet then neuter him & he should have good litter habits. Maybe not poop, but they're usually good with pee.

i think temperament (of the rabbit and the bloodline) and not whether they are neutered or not is the determining factor - my Mini Lop bucks NEVER spray urine even though they are housed next to other bucks and does and they are actually VERY tidy and extremely reliable about peeing in their litter box, even when running loose in my living room they will return to it to piddle, my does not so much

Although if George does turn out to be a sprayer, neutering him early may help prevent the behaviour from becoming a habit

I've never owned a rabbit that didn't leave the occasional poop lying around but they are dry and quite easy to sweep up

 

[Susie570]

If you're just keeping him as a pet then neuter him & he should have good litter habits. Maybe not poop, but they're usually good with pee.

i think temperament (of the rabbit and the bloodline) and not whether they are neutered or not is the determining factor - my Mini Lop bucks NEVER spray urine even though they are housed next to other bucks and does and they are actually VERY tidy and extremely reliable about peeing in their litter box, even when running loose in my living room they will return to it to piddle, my does not so much

Although if George does turn out to be a sprayer, neutering him early may help prevent the behaviour from becoming a habit

I've never owned a rabbit that didn't leave the occasional poop lying around but they are dry and quite easy to sweep up

Right. My ML buck went through a period where he was spraying a lot... but he has stopped doing that. I've never seen him pee on the floor when he runs around, but he will spray the does if he gets close to them. When he started using a corner of his condo for his potty spot I decided his condo time was up. He's in a wire floor cage with a litter box now, and he seems to be using the litter box again.

 

[ckcs]

I use those panels for 3 of my 3 tier racks. I opted to put a wire floor and a coroplast pan underneath.

 

[akane]

I must just be cursed. My rabbits will spray everywhere and always have from my first pet store dutch buck. The sides of the cages get slimy, the j feeders get slimy, the water bottles get brown and slimy on the outside, the other rabbits turn brown if they are a light color sometimes, and the walls never fail to get sprayed yellow-brown 3-4' up. Every breed I've had. Mini rex, netherland, champagne d'argent, creme d'argent, checkered giant, the mutts created from those, american sables, the short period of american chinchilla x cinnamon crosses.... Every single place I have lived in every single cage design every surface gets sprayed. I have scrubbed so many walls.

 

[Zass]

In the rabbitry, the velveteen buck, Baggins, was spraying ME. In the house with no rabbits in sight, very minimal spray. :shrug: