New Cage Adventure - Ladysown please read!

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
Rabbit Talk Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
expanded metal is WONDERFUL for cage floors. really.

I have it on half my cages and WAY prefer it over the 1 x 1/2 stuff. Poop falls through, supports rabbit feet nicely, I can run my piggies on it and they don't get broken legs.

If you don't need to change out the expanded metal DON'T. Best thing I could ever have on my rabbit floors.

Let me future expound on the beauty of my expanded flooring.

I can have my polish babies on it and they thrive. They have this awkward stage when I don't like them on the 1/2 x 1 as they can get their feet caught. On the expanded metal not an issue.

The ONLY issue I have with my expanded metal is with Mittens my tiny polish buck .. he's maybe 1.5 lbs. When he mounts a doe his feet can slide through the bottom so I simply hold my hand under the wire to give support to his feet. That is the ONLY issue I have with the original expanded metal base.

The new stuff I have is not as good and isn't the same as the old stuff. I so wish that it was.
 
Here is a bit of a trick to get tight J-clips off.

Take a battery powered drill with a Phillips tip in the chuck (a regular Philips screwdriver will work)
Put the point of a "drywall" screw in the end of the J-clip an slowly turn in the screw. It will expand the J-clip and you can take it off with your fingers.
 
Ladysown - I saw a cage you had for Biscuit made with expanded steel, but it was on the ground. You say it's fine when hanging as well? My worry is that babies will have their feet fall through, as the diamonds are about an inch at their widest point.<br /><br />__________ Sat Jun 01, 2013 12:54 am __________<br /><br />Well, I definitely need some kind of cage clip pliers to get those suckers closed.
 
AND GOOD GLOVES
or you'll get blisters, and take the Motrin NOW, cause if you wait till you are done, well, too late.

for reinforcing the bottom, take a heavy gage wire and bend it to a flat C or Z with the middle length just (less than a millimeter) short of the floor length and use it to pull the sides tight and provide support
 
I guess it depends on the expanded metal, as to whether you can use it for flooring. I didn't know there could be such a difference.

avdpas77":114z2h0n said:
Here is a bit of a trick to get tight J-clips off.

Take a battery powered drill with a Phillips tip in the chuck (a regular Philips screwdriver will work)
Put the point of a "drywall" screw in the end of the J-clip an slowly turn in the screw. It will expand the J-clip and you can take it off with your fingers.
Click to expand...
My hands thank you! :clap:
 
I am hoping to hear back from ladysown more about the expanded wire she's using, what size the grids are. Hers might be closer spaced than mine. I have enough wire to do the cages either way, so it's not like I find out I need the wire and have to run out and get it or something... At this point, I just have to figure out how to use these blasted J-clips!!!
 
hi Yes

I have expanded wire on several of my cages.

you look to have the OLD style. The OLD style is great, the new... well...unless you have rabbits with big feet or at least the size of your average holland lop I wouldn't bother with.

But the cages you pictured look like my old cages with the flat expanded steel base. I LOVE those cages. I can put anything into them.

The new stuff that I made Biscuits cage out of? well...that I don't love so much and I'll be removing it off one set of cages I put it on. I love it for Biscuit's cage as she is litter trained so the box can set right on the ground, so I've no issues with it for her littles. I'll be making another like it for the guinea pigs/winter housing for the lad's pet rabbit.

The problem with the new stuff....it's slightly rounded which causes slippage. The old stuff is completely flat on both sides.

The new stuff I can put does in that the kits aren't out of the box yet. Anything older I remove and will put anywhere other than in those cages.

The old stuff.. can't say just how much I love it. My polish do excellently on it.

__________ Sat Jun 01, 2013 1:17 pm __________

I should mention.... you don't attach the expanded metal with J-clips. You use "c-rings" I think they are called.
 
See, I'd rather keep the bottoms that are there. It seems sturdier, less likely to bend. Less work, but that's just a bonus.

How do I tell if it is the old style rather than the new style? Just if they are rounded? Some of mine seems rounded, some doesn't. I think they all need a good scrub to know for sure.

Maybe I'll just have to try and see if it works for me. The other cage wire is bought, and I will just use "throw away" rabbits that don't matter.
 
the pictures you have posted look "old style" to me. Just give 'em a try. They will probably be just fine for you.
 
Ah yes... C-rings and I are well aquainted... Stupid pain in the butt things, lol.

I have all the patches cut, dividers removed, any salvagable pieces of wire salvaged. Now to get the j-clip pliers(probably sacralidge, but I am going to have to go with the tsc ones for now), and get someone to collect all this scrap wire.<br /><br />__________ Sat Jun 01, 2013 5:55 pm __________<br /><br />Made my dad take me to get the pliers. Also rabbit food, as I was just about out. Will patch up one of the units and try it ytomorrow with various ages of rabbits to see if I need to replave the bottom wire
 

Latest posts

Back
Top