No no no... not until NEXT week

[ladysown]

I"m out of nestboxes.

I have two does wanting them.

QUICK... what can I use as a nestbox. I cannot get into my garage where my wood is unless I do a thorough (as in should take me a week to do that) clean/tidy.

what can I use that will stand up to a pushy mini rex doe (big one who would wreck her cage if she could) and a brood sized Holland Lop?

THEY AREN"T DUE FOR Another 10 days!!!! ACK!!!!

 

[MaggieJ]

Do you have older kits that could manage with a cardboard box with a doorway cut into it? That might free up a couple of nest boxes. Plastic bins work in a pinch... dollar store dishpans, perhaps. Anchor anything lightweight so it doesn't tip easily. Oh, you can use wooden wine crates if your local LCBO will part with them.

 

[DevonW]

I've used those small Rubbermaid containers in a pinch, punched a hole in the sides and zip tied them to the cage so the doe wouldn't tip them. I've also used the bottom of a small pet carrier.

 

[Miss M]

Pearl's first nestbox was a cardboard box. But all of the suggestions given are good. Especially Devon's note about zip-tying lightweight boxes.

I think Maggie's suggestion of removing the nestbox from an older litter and giving them a cardboard box stuffed with hay, with a hole in it (big enough for Mom), is probably the simplest.

 

[ladysown]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think for tonight one doe gets a cardboard box... if she totally wrecks it.. then at least she has a ton of straw if needed. She's NOT due until next week so I"m not sure why she's so amped up.

Second doe has been given a rather well... less than nice box, that's in really rough shape that I found buried under the canoe (excellent place to toss things that you want to burn when there's tons of snow outside). BUT should satisfy her cravings for a box until I have a litter old enough to deal with not having a box... just not quite old enough yet that litter...

Crossing fingers that it's only early hormones....

 

[Miss M]

Crossing fingers that it's only early hormones....

It should be. Pearl and Squeak both go bonkers building nests when I give them hay at night for a good week and a half before they are due. Then they eat the hay, and are ready to build another one the next night!

 

[curlysue]

I have seen people use five gallon plastic buckets with the top cut off!for my dwarfs i often use boxes Ensure comes in.

 

[Anntann]

I've been finding that my does like a rubbermaid tub, turned upside down, with a hole cut out of it's side just big enough for them to get into. Nice, dark, and they can even sit up on top if they want to. Just make sure it's not a brand new one. (the new ones seem to emit some smells, which tells me they're emitting gasses)

My big angora doe was VERY happy with a dishpan. :roll: It's about 4inch high, 12x18ish HUGE nest, HUGE amount of fur pulled. HUGE kits inside. I draped fabric over that end of her cage so she felt "private". She's one of the few angoras that are in a cage..totally unused to other rabbits, and can't get used to a larger area..so..3'x4' with a tub.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Ann,
Do you have any issues with "splay leg"? Just curious, as those plastic dishpans sound like a good idea, but I was thinking that the surface is pretty slick...

I could cut the hole for the drop nest box and just put the dish pan down in the hole, if the lip was big enough to support the weight of nest with mom and babies....just a thought.

Shannon

My big angora doe was VERY happy with a dishpan. :roll: It's about 4inch high, 12x18ish HUGE nest, HUGE amount of fur pulled. HUGE kits inside. I draped fabric over that end of her cage so she felt "private". She's one of the few angoras that are in a cage..totally unused to other rabbits, and can't get used to a larger area..so..3'x4' with a tub.

 

[MaggieJ]

I think you would want to support it somehow, Shannon. Imagine the damage to the kits and mom if it went on through! But then I am a "belt AND suspenders" kind of person.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

I think you would want to support it somehow, Shannon. Imagine the damage to the kits and mom if it went on through! But then I am a "belt AND suspenders" kind of person.

Actually, if the 'pan' had a decent sized lip, and the plastic isn't too dried out, drill holes on the horizontal surface of the lip, and use the zip cable ties to hold the pan in place, or even some electric fence wire

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Actually, if the 'pan' had a decent sized lip, and the plastic isn't too dried out, drill holes on the horizontal surface of the lip, and use the zip cable ties to hold the pan in place, or even some electric fence wire

Or I could use the plastic dishpan instead of the wooden insert....go ahead and make the wire nest box, but large enough for the dishpan to fit down into. That way, I can remove the whole thing if I need to take the litter inside or whatever and the dishpan would be much easier to clean than a wooden box... options, options!

 

[MaggieJ]

I hate to keep throwing in objections, but if your area is humid, Shannon, you may not want to use plastic at all. It doesn't breathe and could foster moisture and bacterial buildup. I know some people using drop nests use wire and line with cardboard. If you do decide to try plastic, drilling some holes in the bottom might help... not sure.

 

[Anntann]

No splay leg. The tubs are covered with a LOT of hay and fur. You don't even get down to the plastic with your hand when you try to search around.

If I were using one with a doe that didn't nest like these 2 do, I'd put down a piece of thin plywood, or fiberboard cut to size first. Possibly even covered tightly with a towel. (I'd suggest just a towel in the bottom, but my does all go in and dig the towel/litterpan liner up into a pile in the corner)

eta: I, too, would use something as a support if I used a plastic as a drop nest. Plastic has a nasty habbit of just shattering or breaking when you bend it wrong. Just a pair of wires run from the bottom of the cage, under the pan, then up to the cage again. Or twines.

 

[Jessykah]

ladysown, my neighbour uses 2 cheap plastic litter boxes. Put one on top upside down. Drill holes in bottom, and holes in the lip on sides and end. Then put zip ties through the holes. When u need to open the box u would have to cut the zip ties on one side and the end though. Just make sure the litter pans are the ones with the one end sloping down a bit. This type of nestbox is probably a bit big though. I would prefer to make a wire nestbox and line with double layer of cardboard. Assuming of course u have extra wire and j clips u can find. Next time u go to the grocery store maybe u can find so e boxes to take home to have on hand? Good luck.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I hate to keep throwing in objections, but if your area is humid, Shannon, you may not want to use plastic at all. It doesn't breathe and could foster moisture and bacterial buildup. I know some people using drop nests use wire and line with cardboard. If you do decide to try plastic, drilling some holes in the bottom might help... not sure.

Maggie,

No, I really appreciate hearing others thoughts on this...here in the armpit of Texas :cowboy:, it is always humid :badmood: like 100% almost all the time....so maybe no on the plastic. I still think I will use maybe a wooden liner nest box with wire mesh bottom to drop down into the drop nest box. I just think I would want to be able to remove the whole nest without disturbing the kits too much at some point.