For those who have never ordered cages

[Marinea]

My hubby decided to take a break from cage building, so I ordered two new cages from BASS. I wanted to share the experience with those who have not ordered before, as I had no real idea of what to expect.

I ordered two 48x30" single compartment cages, with upgraded 14 ga GAW floors and swing out doors. I went with BASS because I have read several places that Kluberantz is facing some delays at the moment.

I didn't particularly like the BASS website- it is not easy to navigate orders. I ended up calling in the order and the lady on the phone was extremely nice. Even with the Labor Day holiday, my cages arrived within a week.

Hubby and I took out our tools and went to work.

Some notes from the build:
- there ARE j-clips in the box, look for them (oops);
- the cages are very well built and sturdy;
- put more j-clips in than they call for- we put clips on the floor about every other inch;
- it was much easier to build than I had anticipated.

My only real complaint about the cage is the door being off-center, which may make it difficult in this large a cage. However, looking through the catalog enclosed with my cages, they sell complete door kits for under $5.00. We are going to order some, and add a second door to each of our cages to make it easier. All we will have to do is some wire cutting on the front panel.

Hope this helps anyone contemplating buying cages. I found the whole thing rather easy, and well worth the money (our total was about $132 for the two large cages, including shipping and my upgrades).

 

[Wheels]

I ordered four 24"x 36" cages from Bass last October. I did use the online ordering and got exactly what I wanted. Shipped when said and they were easy to get together I think the 4 cages and some other supplies I bought was right at $200 (give or take) I too thought it was well worth the money!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

My original 24 holes are from BASS as well. I also beefed up on the J clips. Miss M had trouble with the floors of her BASS cages sagging, but she followed their directions of doing it every 4", I think. My floors still crown up when a rabbit is not on them.

The customer service at BASS is excellent. I ordered flush mount feeders with my cages, and my original choice was a larger unit. The lady at BASS called me to let me know that they would not fit beside the doors and we changed the order. (My doors swing in and up, so door mounting isn't an option.)

My only real complaint about the cage is the door being off-center, which may make it difficult in this large a cage.

You could probably request the door to be centered for future orders.

 

[Miss M]

Miss M had trouble with the floors of her BASS cages sagging, but she followed their directions of doing it every 4", I think.

Actually, the instructions said to put a clip every 6". We thought we were really doing something when we put them every 4". :roll: "Oh, yeah, these floors shouldn't be going anywhere!" 18 months later, we replaced them with 14 gauge floors from Klubertanz. They couldn't even hold a single 5-pound bunny without sagging badly, and the clips were rusting and stretching. The Klubertanz floors still look like new. The floor supports (or "stretchers", as they call them) I got are superfluous.

At the time, Bass had only 16 gauge floors available. They have 14 gauge floors available now. The clips I got were not good quality.

On the other hand, MSD has the 16 gauge floors and the clips... and has had no problems. Maybe I ordered at a bad time. :shrug:

Now we put clips every 2".

 

[MamaSheepdog]

The clips I got were not good quality.

On the other hand, MSD has the 16 gauge floors and the clips... and has had no problems.

I have purchased "better" heavy duty J clips from other sources, and I actually don't like them. For some reason they don't curl into themselves, but rather the ends butt up against each other. I used some on my flip top doors (so no stress) and they have come open and need to be replaced.

 

[Prisma]

Unless specifically asked for, cage doors are not centered unless the company makes all their cages that way. I've had a few bought not quite new but almost, but either I am terrible or just got a bad batch. They've not out lasted the temporary before I knew better hardware cloth cages from when I FIRST started years ago, and they were on their last leg any way. I'm looking into doing a wood supports/wire design instead of just wire and using the hardware cloth again instead of purchasing more stackers or singles. Thanks for the experience of actually ordering though, maybe once moved out will consider (and with more $$ to tip into cages).

 

[akane]

I've been debating ordering bass cages but so expensive and I don't like the doors at all. I tried building cages last weekend but the wire I got is not sturdy enough. It had no guage on it. Just. Said 30" 10' rabbit cage wire.

 

[Bigrig]

I did consider Bass myself for cages. However the cage price would be GREATER than Klubertanz (well, not including shipping anyway) once I added 14ga GAW floors and babysaver wire, and still have GBW sides/top. So I will just be patient and go with Klubertanz.