New Cage Adventure - Ladysown please read!

[AnnClaire]

BH, if you have the expanded metal that has been polished, then it is not harmful to rabbit feets ... so, adding resting boards/mats of some sort will work for the babies ... they will learn how to walk on the expanded metal, but have the safety of the resting board/mat. However, I had a buckling in a cage with expanded metal and somehow, while he was laying and relaxing, his hock slipped through a hole and he freaked out!

So, for the cages where there will be babies, you still might want to consider flooring with standard flooring wire just to give the babies more "turf" to walk on.

When I built my frames for the cages, I knew that the flooring wire available in my town was 16 gauge, and I was going to be putting Silver Foxes in them, so I steepled cattle panel (4" x 4" 8ga steel) for the cage support. It works wonderfully to support the bottom of the cage with the heavy SFs in there! And, poop either falls past, or is easily cleaned off with a wire brush

 

[Bad Habit]

Yeah, I'll probably buy a roll of floor wire, and put it under the other flooring.

Getting closer and closer to being done though!!

I think I am going to have 8 cages that are 24x32, and then 2 runs that are 48x32

 

[Miss M]

:clap:

 

[AmysMacdog]

Thats awesome! Its always great to have extra cages handy......until the rabbitosis (sp?) bug goes around again!

 

[Bad Habit]

I doubt rabbitosis will hit again. I've tried other breeds, and found the bucks to be entirely too buckish for my liking... Especially the lops. Might be a little bitter because the lop buck I have now sprayed me in the face a couple days ago.

We have had some serious issues with dogs coming into the yard lately, though, so I am hoping I can talk my dad into letting me use the back room. I tried once, and he said no. But I have more valuable rabbits now, and did technically buy these cages for outside. We've had three separate dogs in the yard in the past week... One knocked my bunny waste tubs over. One dented the cages I am currently working on(I got most of them bent back into some form of normal shape). And then today, one came into the yard, and Chuck attacked it.

 

[AmysMacdog]

Oow Sorry to hear your having dog issues. I hope your bunnies will stay safe. Do you know who the dogs belong to?

 

[Bad Habit]

Where I am living, I am surrounded by apartments. Two are houses converted, and two are actual apartment buildings. The dog today is owned by the guy who owns the house next to mine. He never puts his dog on the leash, and it often wanders up into my yard. I kept waiting for him to shout at me because Chuck bit his dog, but I immediately told my dad about it, and then called the police and reported it. The other two dogs live in the apartment house behind mine, one's a lab(which is the one who bashed up my cages and left a GIANT poop in my yard that they then tried to say came from my 15lb minimutt), the other's a pitbull cross. I don't know who owns them, if they live there or were just visiting dogs. All three were off lead when they came into my yard. It's really starting to make me angry, not just because I worry about moving the buns out, but also because it's getting the dog all stressed out, and he's been misbehaving because of it. I know this is why he's forgetting his training, but I still have to give him trouble for it.

__________ Fri May 24, 2013 11:44 pm __________

Two more dividers to take out, and the cages I am using will be ready for patching!!

Bad picture of the floor wire.

The cage that was all dinted up by the neighbourdog.<br /><br />__________ Sat May 25, 2013 8:56 pm __________<br /><br />Okay, so my mom has agreed to take me to TSC on Monday morning.

What wire do I want to use for flooring? 1"x1/2" GAW? Or hardware cloth? Those are my choices, according to the TSC website.

 

[AmysMacdog]

Hi BH, 1/2 x 1 GAW wire is best. Hardware cloth isn't as strong and doesn't last near as long as the 1/2 x 1 GAW.

 

[Marinea]

You're getting there BH, as I knew you would. Can't wait to see finished pictures.

And I agree with Amy on the 1/2 x 1 wire. I picked up a roll yesterday for my doe cage.

 

[Bad Habit]

Lol lots more work to do still. I think I've picked out the spot to put the cages. Tomorrow I get to go and get the j-clips and accessories. I've got all the dividers removed from the cages I'm using. I still need to cut the patches to fix the holes, and do the actual patching. Then I have to clean the area the buns are going. Figure out the best way to install the cages there - I'm going to have to build a free standing structure of some sort. And a waste disposal system, thinking the slant board dealie that some people use. Will need more information for both of those.

But by the end of it... 8 outdoor cages. To go with the 7 I already have indoors. I will have to find a "test rabbit" to put out in them, make sure they're secure and nothing gets into them. THEN... I get to stock them!!!!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Yeah, I'll probably buy a roll of floor wire, and put it under the other flooring.

I would remove the existing floor wire for multiple reasons:

1. Having two layers will collect more fur and debris and be difficult to keep sanitary.

2. There is always the potential that the wire will sag, creating a hazard for tiny bunny feet.

3. That expanded metal can be utilized as baby saver wire or to build MORE cages.

As for the dog problem, TSC sells livestock hot wire systems- I can guarantee if a dog gets zapped by that, it will think twice about going near the rabbits ever again.

 

[Bad Habit]

And the 1" x 1/2" will be fine for wee little baby feet?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Yes. In fact it might be better for the wee ones. My Rex babies stick their feet through the wire all the time. It is probably most dangerous when they get a bit older and there is less clearance between their feet and the wire.

Out of all of my litters, I have only had a kit get its foot stuck once, and had to cut the wire.

 

[Bad Habit]

As far as using the expanded metal for more cages, I have no way to cut it. Plus all the cages in the world won't do me any good when I don't really have a good place to put them, lol!

I guess it's not really that much more work to remove the other metal and replace it with new flooring, rather than just adding a second layer.

The cages themselves don't need baby saver wire, as they were made with 1x1 wire, and I've never seen even the tiniest of baby lionheads be small enough to escape out through that!

Now, who'd like to teach me about poop disposal systems, and the best way to build a free standing structure to hang the cages from?

 

[starshotbandit]

TSC sells 30inX10ft 1/2X1 for 21.99 and Lowes sells it for 16.99.HomeRig brand at TSC is cheep stuff and I hate their Jclips. I have to bend each one so it will clamp down right and not fold bacward. Personally I have steped on expandid mettle and it hurts my feet

 

[Bad Habit]

Well, I bought the cage wire at TSC. Regular price 32.99, but on sale for 24.74. Two rolls, which should do the 4 cages I intend to hang. They didn't have any of the j-clip pliers, but I showed my mom the picture and she said that wire crimping pliers should work as well. I have those here, so intend to try them... Only it rained all day today so I got nothing accomplished.

 

[Big Tom]

The j-clip pliers from TSC are junk and will bend the first time you use them. I used mine for a cage I needed to get done quickly and had to use channel locks on every j-clip to tighten them completely. I ended up ordering a pair from Bass. It was only 3 dollars more and worked much better.

 

[SatinsRule]

My dad helped me take apart some cages. He used something called a "rotozip" to remove the j-clips.

I used pliers with an angled head. Very very small, out of an electronics repair kit, that I could wiggle into the j-clip. Something like this.

:yeahthat:

Get a good set of j-clip pliers (they'll be used far more than once, trust me on that one) a good set of c-ring pliers, and a good set of diagonal wire cutters. Heavy duty is good, and your hands and joints will thank you for it.

If you go cheap on any of the above, you'll turn into Fred G. Sanford telling everyone about your "arthuritis" when every muscle and joint in your hands and arms are stiff and it hurts to do even the most menial tasks.

Also, going with 1" x 1" on the floor wire is a BAD idea. It's not about the babies being able to get out. It's more about the injured legs and backs which will cost you the rabbits that your operation is depending upon. For side wire? Yeah, go for it, but 1" x 1/2" on the floor is ideal.

 

[Bad Habit]

I never said the floor wire was 1x1, it is currently stretched steel, but is being switched to 1 x 1/2. The walls are 1x1, so I don't know that I'd have to put in baby saver wire.

 

[SatinsRule]

I never said the floor wire was 1x1, it is currently stretched steel, but is being switched to 1 x 1/2. The walls are 1x1, so I don't know that I'd have to put in baby saver wire.

Ah. Okay, my bad.