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Bar biting and dog crates!

Vegan_Bunny

Warren Veteran
I've posted this here because it is both housing and behaviour advice. Sorry if it's in the wrong place!

I have decided to rip out my built-in, 3 story cage and bin it, my bunnies are banned out of in for eating the wall, stripping the paint and chewing the lino but mainly because Fiver bar bites like crazy and has sore hocks which I thought were being made worse by running up and down carpeted ramps. I have had to shut the door and block off ALL access to the mesh so that he can't bite the mesh, they are both free range in my bedroom now so it is sat there not being used.
I have decided to get a dog crate to replace it so that they have a "base" and I can shut them in when I am doing any cleaning or D.I.Y etc, I am also going away for a week later this year and need something portable for them to go into when they go to my friend's.

I just wanted to know what size most people use for 2 medium sized buns? I was thinking about the 48" one, would this be big enough for them to spend a week in? They will get some free range time during the day but my friend has 3 of her own to think about and my bunnies are rather a handful so I don't want her to have to worry about them coming out of their cage for hours at a time. It will only be for a week but I'm a bit of a worrier since this will be the first time Fiver will have been caged for any length of time for well over 2 years.
Another question is do anybody's bunnies ever bar bite the dog crates? I was hoping that with the bars being thicker, Fiver may not get his teeth hooked onto the bars to make the racket that he does on his current cage. I don't want to fork out £40-£50 only to have to remove it from the room because Fiver won't stop bar biting it. :roll:

If anybody has any suggestions on how to stop him from bar biting or suggestions for other indoor, portable cages that he wouldn't be able to do that to I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you!!
 
In my experience the only way to stop bar biting and rattling is to remove the bars altogether. Ie, proof a room. Mini would rattle the bars on a dog crate even though the door was open. No size dog crate is going to big enough for a week without an attached pen and/or lots of exercise time.
 
Poppy has a 48 inch one and she is just one rabbit... But even one rabbit can make a hell of a racket :evil: she had an attached puppy pen so around 8ft x 4ft of space over night but she was unhappy. She chewed the bars so much I was worried about her already awful teeth! So now she has run of the room and the dog crate is always open with her litter tray, box, food and water in there :) The bar width makes no difference, and because they fold up, the whole thing rattles :evil:

I don't think 48inch dog crate would be big enough at all for 2 rabs, maybe if there was another level and an attached pen though :D
 
my set up is the 48" cart with a medium sized pen you can get pens for cheap on ebay
DSC04772.jpg


they have lots of toys and stuff in their usually but i was cleanng out at the time of the photo lol
 
I believe my friend has a plan to attach a pen to the front but they will only be able to be out in it with supervision because I know for a fact both will be able to jump about 4ft high at least! I plan to put in a shelf and they will have plenty of attention. I trust my friend completely with my bunnies and in fact all bunnies!
Is there anything bigger that I can get that will be easily transportable or is a dog crate the only option I have?
The problem with him bar biting is that he does it even with access in and out of it, he just does it for the hell of it. I feel guilty because they will be in her room and I know he will bar bite when he is shut in it but obviously throughout the night they can't have access to the pen.
Bloody rabbits!
 
I believe my friend has a plan to attach a pen to the front but they will only be able to be out in it with supervision because I know for a fact both will be able to jump about 4ft high at least! I plan to put in a shelf and they will have plenty of attention. I trust my friend completely with my bunnies and in fact all bunnies!
Is there anything bigger that I can get that will be easily transportable or is a dog crate the only option I have?
The problem with him bar biting is that he does it even with access in and out of it, he just does it for the hell of it. I feel guilty because they will be in her room and I know he will bar bite when he is shut in it but obviously throughout the night they can't have access to the pen.
Bloody rabbits!


I have mesh over the top to stop them jumping out see my photo in my last post they cant get out and it means they have 24hour accesss and dont need supervising
 
He is free range in my bedroom with a dig box, endless amounts of hay, tubes, toys, balls, willow sticks, forage and another bunny. :lol: So I don't think there is anything more I can do to stop him bar biting. I have had a long think about it and I think he will also bar bite the dog crate if it is in my bedroom (even when he isn't in it).
I have emailed TuckerBunnies Boarding to see if it would be a better idea to board them there. Their indoor setup seems quite good, I am worried that my friend will find it difficult to look after my 2 terrors and I would feel really awful if Fiver bar bit all week and if either of them bit her (they can be aggressive). I think even with a large pen attached to the dog crate he would still bar bite.

She recommended Tuckerbunnies to me and I know other people have been pleased with boarding their bunnies with them. I would feel better if they went to someone who actually boards bunnies for a living, at least they are getting paid to deal with difficult bunnies. :lol:

Bloody rabbits! Does anybody else have such difficult bunnies? :lol:
 
He is free range in my bedroom with a dig box, endless amounts of hay, tubes, toys, balls, willow sticks, forage and another bunny. :lol: So I don't think there is anything more I can do to stop him bar biting. I have had a long think about it and I think he will also bar bite the dog crate if it is in my bedroom (even when he isn't in it).
I have emailed TuckerBunnies Boarding to see if it would be a better idea to board them there. Their indoor setup seems quite good, I am worried that my friend will find it difficult to look after my 2 terrors and I would feel really awful if Fiver bar bit all week and if either of them bit her (they can be aggressive). I think even with a large pen attached to the dog crate he would still bar bite.

She recommended Tuckerbunnies to me and I know other people have been pleased with boarding their bunnies with them. I would feel better if they went to someone who actually boards bunnies for a living, at least they are getting paid to deal with difficult bunnies. :lol:

Bloody rabbits! Does anybody else have such difficult bunnies? :lol:

ah :lol::lol:
well yuri is a bit of a diva and rubs people the wrong way sometimes by getting bittey, thumpy and grunty >_<
 
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