I've decided I hate my cages.

[Tegan]

I've come to the conclusion that my cages suck. The cages are 30 deep by 36 wide and the door is SMALL and on the left side of the 36. Making it impossible for me to get into the cages really.

After mulling it over and talking with hubby, I've decided to just make a colony in the basement instead of cages. He hates the cages hanging from the rafters, they make the house shake when the buns get crazy. Since there's a "bedding box" already on the floor below their cages we're just going to build a colony area in the middle of it. This means that I'll have to choose one of the 4 bucks instead of 2, but I'm pretty sure I know which one I'm keeping.

We aren't tossing the cages just yet though, if this is a horrible failure we're going to revamp them, but since we would both rather see the buns kept in a colony this is the way we want to go for now.

The question becomes, how tall do I make my fence? I know rabbits can climb given the right motivation, but would 3 feet be tall enough? Since any escapes would be confined to my basement it's not a HUGE deal if one gets out...but I would like to prevent it if at all possible.

 

[MaggieJ]

Four feet would likely be better. A motivated rabbit can jump over three feet easily. On the other hand, since everything they need would be in the colony, they might not be motivated to try to escape.

Those cages will not be wasted. They are useful as hospital cages and for quarantining new rabbits and even as grow out cages for youngsters if the colony becomes a tad crowded at times.

 

[Secuono]

My outdoor pens are 30-36in tall. Some rabbits, when stretched out, almost reach the top. As long as I keep the pens on new grass, they don't bother escaping.
So as long as you give your rabbits enough motivation to stay put, they shouldn't want to escape. Food and other things should be kept where they can't easily smell it and decide on escaping one day to pig out.
Any huts or hideouts should be at least 2ft from the walls. If you rotate toys and hide outs, as well as move around the stuff in there each time you clean out, it will help them think it's a new place they need to spend time exploring.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Why not just make bigger doors on your cages? I mean, try the colony setup too, but in the mean time, take off the doors, cut the hole 18"w by 16"h and put a new door on. That will allow you to put head and shoulders into the cage if you need to reach that opposite corner...just a thought. I had this same issue with our first cages. Our next cages we had built, we put the door in the middle of the 36" and made it as big as it could be....

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

Some of my pens are 3 feet tall and I have not had a single excapee. One is 2.5 feet tall and I have to return a bun to its correct pen from time to time. I would go with 3 feet. They are likely to stay put. But if they do get out they would be confined to the basement. And there are no other animals that can get to them? 2 x 4 frame and cage wire make for a great colony. You could use the wire from your cages even.

 

[phillinley]

My outdoor pen I put the buns in for their daily exercise is a just around three feet, and the other day my 5 month old flemish buck hurdled it. He did a flip kick, sprint and leaped right over it.

 

[Tegan]

We have a dog, but he's not allowed in the basement unless I'm down there. So no worries there. I think I'll just make it 4 feet though, just means I buy 8 foot boards instead of six. Thanks guys.

I was kinda dumb when I bought the cages (best laid plans and all), they are one giant row of cages. I need to cut one off the end and modify it so I have a cage "just in case" then I can sell the rest off. Or just sell them whole and buy another cage.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

We have a dog, but he's not allowed in the basement unless I'm down there. So no worries there. I think I'll just make it 4 feet though, just means I buy 8 foot boards instead of six. Thanks guys.

I was kinda dumb when I bought the cages (best laid plans and all), they are one giant row of cages. I need to cut one off the end and modify it so I have a cage "just in case" then I can sell the rest off. Or just sell them whole and buy another cage.

You weren't dumb...lots of us use banks of cages. All of mine are banks of three, side by side. They just don't work for you, and sometimes that happens. You *could* cut it into individual cages and get a roll of 1"x2" and just add the missing side wire. Then you would have a bunch of individual cages to keep or sell....just an idea.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

He hates the cages hanging from the rafters, they make the house shake when the buns get crazy.

You could make a simple frame out of 2" x 4"s and hang the cages from that. I would anchor it to the rafters with some chain to prevent it from tipping just in case the rabbits get really rowdy. If you left a little "give" in the chain the house wouldn't shake.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

There is a earthquake ......Or sorry, it is the bunnies again. :lol:

 

[OneAcreFarm]

There is a earthquake ......Or sorry, it is the bunnies again. :lol:

:rotfl: :mbounce: :rotfl: :mbounce: :rotfl: :mbounce: :rotfl:

 

[Tegan]

Heheheh the funny thing is, the mini-rex made the house shake a lot more then the standard rex are.

 

[GBov]

You weren't dumb...lots of us use banks of cages. All of mine are banks of three, side by side. They just don't work for you, and sometimes that happens. You *could* cut it into individual cages and get a roll of 1"x2" and just add the missing side wire. Then you would have a bunch of individual cages to keep or sell....just an idea.

My first cages had small doors and it took me awhile to get brave enough to cut them out and put new, BIG door on but it made all the difference to my - and my buns - happyness. And now I am cutting all those cages - they are two hole cages - into single cages.

By all means build your colony, they are GREAT! But take the time to change and fix your cages once the rabbits are out of them.

Win win all the way round, colony and spare cages

 

[rockeee]

My 1st used cages were several 10' eight hole cages, 30 " deep, with shared feeders in the swing down doors. There are many things that I hate about them, like trying to open the doors with feed in the feeders! But. I have cut them into 5 foot lengths & taken out dividers & added baby saver wire in some, left some or all of the dividers in others to be able to separate & keep more junior buns while they grow a bit, etc. They have been awesome, & definitely help us design new cages, by knowing what we don't want! Don't be afraid to modify them to your liking - that's great advice you got!

 

[mystang89]

How are you planning on making the basement colony? What are you going to do about the smell from urine?

 

[Tegan]

They are in a 20 x 6 area, wire and wood "fencing" with a tarp on the bottom. Then I got pellet bedding and "fluffed" it. You can see the pee spots, I scoop them out daily and as much of the bunny berries I can easily get. So far so good and no smell.