# Does this sound big enough??



## Jayme (Apr 6, 2013)

So I have a young female mini rex/lionhead mix, Clover, and I feel that her cage fits her now, but since she's probably only around 8-10 weeks old, she'll get bigger. I want to make her cage out of a dog kennel, the dimensions are 36"L x 24"W x 25"H, does that sound large enough? She gets plenty of time out of her kennel. Also, if I give her a friend, would that be too much in that cage, even if they get out a good amount?


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## thetwobunnies (Apr 7, 2013)

Eh seems a little small... I have a holland lop and he used to live in an XL dog crate (I think yours is large or medium sized?) with a second shelf, and I eventually got him an xpen because the dog pen was too small even with time outside. Definitely not enough room for 2. Personally, I think that a rabbit's cage should be as big as possible despite how much time they get outside of their cage.


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## agnesthelion (Apr 7, 2013)

That is way too small even for one rabbit.

If you are making a cage look into NIC cages. (neat idea cube) The cubes can be bought inexpensively at office stores, kmart, target, sears etc. Than you can fasten them together with zip ties.

Here is a model of my NIC cage. (purple 3 level one on the front page) Granted I bought mine but this gives you an idea of what they look like and for size comparison. You can also do a search on this forum for cages to get an idea as well.

http://wonderlandcages.com/WONDERLAND_CAGES_GUINEA_PIG.html


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## Imbrium (Apr 7, 2013)

cage info:
http://breyfamily.net/bunnycage.html
http://www.guineapigcages.com/cubes.htm (shows how to do coroplast floors if you'd rather use that than plywood)
best deal on grids for the cages: http://www.sears.com/stor-floor-sta...p-00913332000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

here's my condo:


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## Jayme (Apr 7, 2013)

Well what I hope to do is eventually put an x-pen around the outside of her cage, so she can get out whenever she wants. But due to current money and space issues, a dog kennel like I described is probably about as big as I cen get for another year or so. That cage would still be much bigger than the one she has now.


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## bigjake (Apr 7, 2013)

I am gonna chime in, even though I know most of you will disagree. 36x24 is plenty big enough for your rabbit ESPECIALLY since you are giving it so much free time outside the cage. your rabbit(based on the breeds) should not reach more than 3.5lbs. your giving it plenty of space to roam. that is 1.6 square feet per lb. it will be just fine. my $.02


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## Jayme (Apr 7, 2013)

Thanks!


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## JBun (Apr 7, 2013)

You could also ziptie a shelf in there to add a little more space, and rabbits usually like having a shelf to hop up on.


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## Jayme (Apr 7, 2013)

What do you use to build the shelf?


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## Imbrium (Apr 7, 2013)

fwiw, a basic 4 grids long x 2 grids wide x 2 grids tall NIC condo with a partial second level can be made for under $60


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## Watermelons (Apr 7, 2013)

I would definatly agree that its on the small side. Even those 4ft rabbit cages sold in pet stores are too small. 
I believe the general rule for house bunnys is they should be able to fully hop 3 times in the length of their cage. not this little boing boing shuffle strides, but a full bunny hop.

I think you're okay for now. It wont be enough room for 2 for sure, dont forget to think if the 2 buns dont get along and before you bond them you will need 2 seperate cages.

Shelf can be made of many things, those wire laundry shelves you find at Home Depot/dollar stores, a piece of plywood, honestly whatever you want it to be so long as its sturdy, and not likely to be chewed. But if its a slotted shelf with holes (not solid) you will want to put something on it to make it solid.


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## Watermelons (Apr 7, 2013)

Imbrium said:


> fwiw, a basic 4 grids long x 2 grids wide x 2 grids tall NIC condo with a partial second level can be made for under $60


 
You may have to change your estimates  I saw 4-6pack nic grids at the dollar store for $2 anic:


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## bigjake (Apr 7, 2013)

JBun said:


> You could also ziptie a shelf in there to add a little more space, and rabbits usually like having a shelf to hop up on.



you can add a piece of shelving, cut down to size, grid shelving would work better, zip tie to the edges of the cage.


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## Jayme (Apr 7, 2013)

I'll keep her cage to use for bonding later on, but due to money and space issues I'm probably going to go with that dog kennel and add a shelf and maybe an x-pen later on


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## Imbrium (Apr 7, 2013)

Watermelons said:


> You may have to change your estimates  I saw 4-6pack nic grids at the dollar store for $2 anic:



what dollar store is this?? 

the cheapest I've EVER heard of is at Sears, which varies between $17.99 and $21.00 for six cubes - I'd love to know which dollar store chain has a great deal like that!

just to make sure, they're the ones where all the holes in the grids are the same size, right? (target has the stupid ones that have a bigger hole instead of four small ones in the middle of some of the grids)... and they're about 14''x14''?


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## JBun (Apr 7, 2013)

I don't know where you are located, but if you have a home improvement store, you can just use a piece of plywood, like 1/2 inch. 3/8 may also work depending on how heavy your rabbit is(or will be grown up). If you don't have a saw, many home improvement stores will cut it to size for you. You would also need holes drilled in it to ziptie it to the cage. If you don't have a drill, the home improvement store may do that for you too. In the 2013 cages thread, you can see how dixiedoodle has done it with her cage. The wire shelving would also work, and cutting it to size. If you don't have heavy duty wire cutters, bolt cutters, or hack saw, the store may cut it for you.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f69/2013-cages-youve-made-73877/index2.html


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## Watermelons (Apr 7, 2013)

Imbrium said:


> what dollar store is this??
> 
> the cheapest I've EVER heard of is at Sears, which varies between $17.99 and $21.00 for six cubes - I'd love to know which dollar store chain has a great deal like that!
> 
> just to make sure, they're the ones where all the holes in the grids are the same size, right? (target has the stupid ones that have a bigger hole instead of four small ones in the middle of some of the grids)... and they're about 14''x14''?


 
Small holes, normal sized grids 
They definatly dont look as strong as the normal ones we buy, but for that price I should have bought some LOL
But there were packs of big ones as well just to trick you up.
Sadly its Dollarama which you guys dont have down in the US. Maybe i'll buy em out and ship them all south of the border at double the cost!!! bahahaha. Haven't seen them at DollarGiant/DollarTree yet, dollarama up here is the same idea as those guys but they do have some other items they price at 2 and 3 $ as they carry more stuff, and better quality stuff then the other guys.


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## Imbrium (Apr 7, 2013)

Watermelons said:


> Sadly its Dollarama which you guys dont have down in the US.



well that's just mean! what a tease! >.>

oh, and you realize it'd cost like $45 to ship a box of grids to the US, right?  (based on Sears saying that their grids, which come 6 to a box, weigh 16.8 lbs)


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## Watermelons (Apr 7, 2013)

I dont know how this works, but USPS has like $10-$12 options if i brought a stack of grids accross the border and shipped them there  "online price" how do I ship an item like that online... oh dear haha


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## Imbrium (Apr 7, 2013)

if they're the normal 14''x14''ish grids, they wouldn't fit in any of the flat rate boxes and shipping for a 16.8 lb package would be $34 or more  (USPS is NOT the way to ship packages with any dimension longer than 12'' (not counting the couple of flat rate boxes they have that exceed that on one dimension), nor are they a good way to go with heavy packages unless you can get the item(s) into a flat rate box... they're leaps and bounds better than fedex/ups for packages under a few pounds and no bigger than 12''x12''x12'' though!)


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