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Can anyone suggest a suitable indoor cage for Slipper?

Sarah1989

Sarah1989

Warren Veteran
Hi :wave:

Im looking to buy Slipper a bigger cage. When I got Slipper, I bought the biggest cage I could find at pets at home, but since discovering this forum, I've realised it's just not big enough for her :oops:

She's an indoor bunny, but when I work at home I've been putting her outside in the garden so she can play. However a) winter is coming and b) that's only two days a week. I was beginning to think I could leave her out all day while I was at work as the garden is bunny proof, but she proved me wrong yesterday by scaling our 4ft fence and getting into next doors garden and then roaming the block whilst me and my neighbour tried to catch her :shock: I got her back, but she won't be going outside any more after this.

I have recently bought a run for my two baby mini lion lops as I don't want them in the garden until they're fully grown and been vaccinated. But I don't feel Slipper would like the run putting up in the kitchen and going in it after free ranging in the garden and also it's fabric and I don't want her to chew it or damage it for Badger and Blackberry.

I've had a look on pets at home website for suitable indoor cages for her, but the biggest one I could find is the one I've got Badger and Blueberry in and I think she could do with something bigger as she's a bigger rabbit than they are - she's a dwarf lop x lionhead, weighing about 3kg.

I live in a rented house and my landlord has very kindly allowed me to have her even though he'd previously told the agency I rent off he didn't want pet rabbits unless they were outside. So I really can't take the mickey and allow her to free range.

Can anyone suggest a suitable cage, or website where they have bought a suitable cage for theirs? Money is a little tight (as it is for everyone), so whilst it would be nice if it weren't prohibitively expensive, I obviously want the best for my guys so if necessary I could save up for a few weeks/months.
 
I also forgot to mention, I wouldn't be adverse to a wooden hutch type thing if it were flat on the floor as I could then put Badger & Blueberry's cage on top of it. They all live in my living room so it would be good if they were stackable otherwise I won't have enough floorspace to get in the room and my OH will kill me.
 
You cant get hutches big enough to shut them in so why not just have puppy pens and litter trays? Then Slipper could have a little hidey box to retire to if he felt like some peace.

How would Badger and Blueberry (who look gorgeous, from pics on another thread) be able to get to their run if their cage was on top of another one? I guess you could use a ramp if it wasnt too steep and had sides on.

The indoor housing sticky has loads of brilliant ideas. Good luck. Its great that the landlord has let you have 3 rabbits. :wave:
 
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I have the liberta 150 (although mine had plastic shelves that I don't use, not wire ones I wouldn't use without a cover) for the boys, but they either have the whole living room or a puppy pen (or two) attached. If you're worried about Slipper jumping out of the pen I use an old duvet cover as a pen roof, can add eyelets and elastic to attach it.

Either way free ranging in the garden isn't suitable for anybun in Sheffield due to the number of foxes, plus the falcons we've got going on. When the camera was up on the church by the uni they had a falcon and her babies. I'm fairly sure I didn't want to see what she fed them one time... My buns only go out with a harness on now, or some form of cover and being watched :roll:
 
tulsi said:
You cant get hutches big enough to shut them in so why not just have puppy pens and litter trays? Then Slipper could have a little hidey box to retire to if he felt like some peace.

How would Badger and Blueberry (who look gorgeous, from pics on another thread) be able to get to their run if their cage was on top of another one? I guess you could use a ramp if it wasnt too steep and had sides on.

The indoor housing sticky has loads of brilliant ideas. Good luck. Its great that the landlord has let you have 3 rabbits. :wave:
Click to expand...

I put the run up and carry them to it and leave them there, then take them back to their cage at feeding time. I try and have them in their run as often as I can. Fortunately, they're very small so they can run around their cage and can stand up on their hind legs with lots of space between their heads and the roof so they're not headbutting it.

I've not come across puppy pens before, but I will investigate those. Slipper is just learning to use a litter tray again. He was litter trained once, but one days decided he wanted to dig in it and throw it around like a toy. I spent weeks trying to get him back in the habit, but he refused and eventually I gave up. Then when he was at bunny camp in August whilst I was on holiday, they managed to litter train him and so far (touch wood) he's stayed litter trained with me. He was neutered in early August so I think that has also helped.

Yeah, my landlord is great, my house is fantastic and so improved from this awful tiny flat I was living in after I split with my ex before I got back on my feet and get this place. He also allowed me to have the snakes as well, but he doesn't know about Badger and Blueberry yet. I feel bad that I didn't say something, but I'm selling most of my snakes now (I really loved them, but after Dexter died, I lost all interest as let's be honest, they're not affectionate like Dexy was and I tried to get it back, but I haven't so I'm letting them go to nice people who will provide them the care and attention they deserve rather than me hanging on hoping my enthusiasm comes back) so I'm hoping he won't mind 3 bunnies and a handful of snakes rather than one bunny and 20-30 snakes :lol: Plus my intention was to get another bunny as a friend for Slipper to keep her company whilst I'm out and hopefully stop her stamping around in the middle of the night and possibly annoying the neighbours.

I have had a look at the housing sticky before, but it looked like a mish mash of cages stuck together with tubes all over the place and or converted wooden cabinets? Is that the kind of thing you mean?
 
RavenMoon said:
I have the liberta 150 (although mine had plastic shelves that I don't use, not wire ones I wouldn't use without a cover) for the boys, but they either have the whole living room or a puppy pen (or two) attached. If you're worried about Slipper jumping out of the pen I use an old duvet cover as a pen roof, can add eyelets and elastic to attach it.

Either way free ranging in the garden isn't suitable for anybun in Sheffield due to the number of foxes, plus the falcons we've got going on. When the camera was up on the church by the uni they had a falcon and her babies. I'm fairly sure I didn't want to see what she fed them one time... My buns only go out with a harness on now, or some form of cover and being watched :roll:
Click to expand...

Yes, she would definitely jump out. If she can scale a 4ft fence, she can hop out of a pen no problem. I'd forgotten how good she was at jumping. She jumped up the wall in the garden at the house where me and my ex lived before we split and I had to chase her around the garden then as it wasn't bunny proofed. We had a patio area where we put the buns and they were all fine except for Slipper jumping over the wall. It wasn't as high as this fence though so I didn't really think she could do it, clever bunny. I don't know whether to be proud of her or tut at her :lol:

Apart from that, the garden is bunny proofed so I doubt a fox could get in, unless they jump fences too. Will have to ask my OH, he used to be a gamekeeper and so knows a lot about stuff like that (hence his aversion to bunnies, he has never seen them as pets until he met me.) But I didn't know about the falcons. I would have thought Slipper would be too big for a falcon, but I don't really know anything about them and obviously I don't want to risk her being carried off by one.

Where did you get the liberta 150 from? I'd like to have a look at it
 
you could build a c+c minus the base. i use the grids to make fences etc and use cable ties so they can fold away. :wave:
 
Sarah1989 said:
Yes, she would definitely jump out. If she can scale a 4ft fence, she can hop out of a pen no problem. I'd forgotten how good she was at jumping. She jumped up the wall in the garden at the house where me and my ex lived before we split and I had to chase her around the garden then as it wasn't bunny proofed. We had a patio area where we put the buns and they were all fine except for Slipper jumping over the wall. It wasn't as high as this fence though so I didn't really think she could do it, clever bunny. I don't know whether to be proud of her or tut at her :lol:

Apart from that, the garden is bunny proofed so I doubt a fox could get in, unless they jump fences too. Will have to ask my OH, he used to be a gamekeeper and so knows a lot about stuff like that (hence his aversion to bunnies, he has never seen them as pets until he met me.) But I didn't know about the falcons. I would have thought Slipper would be too big for a falcon, but I don't really know anything about them and obviously I don't want to risk her being carried off by one.

Where did you get the liberta 150 from? I'd like to have a look at it
Click to expand...

It was cagesworld.co.uk actually, they look dodgy but you can PayPal and the service was good. Petplanet also have them, as I said they now have wire platforms so if used that you'd need to lay something on the wire. I'm guessing they changed from the plastic ones as the width required with the weight of buns on top caused it to bend.

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=813&pf_id=58415
http://www.cagesworld.co.uk/p/Liberta_Large_Indoor_Rabbit_Cage.htm

This is the pen we use. It has one part where you can unscrew a bar and it opens out fully, then we can cable tie the ends to the cage when we need them contained rather than free ranging (have to cut the ties when removing but they're dirt cheap). Ours is either the second tallest or the tallest, but the curved bits at the top are good for attaching a cover like I said.

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/runs_fencing/8_sided_runs/outback/95235

Unfortunately foxes will scale 6ft or more if they sense food :( and the Falcons can carry a lot of weight, as I said I saw it bring one back to the nest. My garden isn't appropriate for free ranging anyway, but I wouldn't even let them on the patio area with the entrance blocked off unless I could cover the whole area at the top too. It was definitely an eye opener watching that falcon camera, it should be back up next year if they choose to nest on st George's again.
 
Sarah1989 said:
Please excuse my ignorance, :oops: but what's a c+c?
Click to expand...

they're mesh storage cubes used mainly to build piggy cages. if you type in piggy c+c cage on google there will be lots of pics, and it's the mesh cube you would need to build a foldable pen :wave: they're really useful. i have one that i put up at night to block the tv and curtains so bisc can stay out all night without getting into trouble! then i fold it down in the day and store it under the settee.

bisc's main area is also made of mesh cubes aswell.

a puppy pen would also work well though :wave:
 
We have the ferplast 120 for Ash but she is free range so only uses it as the toilet and feeding hole really. We were going to get a friend for her so bought the rabbit 160 cage:

http://www.littlepetwarehouse.co.uk/rabbit-160cm-large-indoor-rabbit-guinea-cage-p-16532.html

Which is only marginally bigger than the liberta 150 but quite a bit more expensive. :? (and it's not going to be used now, shame you don't live nearby or you could have it!) I agree with the puppy pen idea, if you can't have her free range.

Sounds like you have a great landlord - when we rented I think the only reason ours allowed us to have Ash was because we told them that she doesn't have any incisors so doesn't chew anything (which is true btw). :lol:
 
ashbunny said:
We have the ferplast 120 for Ash but she is free range so only uses it as the toilet and feeding hole really. We were going to get a friend for her so bought the rabbit 160 cage:

http://www.littlepetwarehouse.co.uk/rabbit-160cm-large-indoor-rabbit-guinea-cage-p-16532.html

Which is only marginally bigger than the liberta 150 but quite a bit more expensive. :? (and it's not going to be used now, shame you don't live nearby or you could have it!) I agree with the puppy pen idea, if you can't have her free range.

Sounds like you have a great landlord - when we rented I think the only reason ours allowed us to have Ash was because we told them that she doesn't have any incisors so doesn't chew anything (which is true btw). :lol:
Click to expand...

That last part is asking for trouble, don't make her get her claws out!
It was written all over our forms that we had 3 rabbits, we were accepted and they did a check on the house because they hadn't done one in a while and they were checking the one above anyway. The landlord got the letting agency to send a letter stating he was surprised to see the buns, but he would allow us to keep them... We're convinced he must have just not read the forms :roll:
 
ashbunny said:
We have the ferplast 120 for Ash but she is free range so only uses it as the toilet and feeding hole really. We were going to get a friend for her so bought the rabbit 160 cage:

http://www.littlepetwarehouse.co.uk/rabbit-160cm-large-indoor-rabbit-guinea-cage-p-16532.html

Which is only marginally bigger than the liberta 150 but quite a bit more expensive. :? (and it's not going to be used now, shame you don't live nearby or you could have it!) I agree with the puppy pen idea, if you can't have her free range.

Sounds like you have a great landlord - when we rented I think the only reason ours allowed us to have Ash was because we told them that she doesn't have any incisors so doesn't chew anything (which is true btw). :lol:
Click to expand...

That looks pretty similar to the one I bought for Badger and Blueberry. I can't remember what model is is though, it's by Ferplast and was £80 from pets at home. I can't remember what Slipper's is, it's also a Ferplast one, but was purchased in December 2011 and was only 36 hours after losing Dexter so I was in a bit of daze and on autopilot so I can't really remember anything. All I remember about that evening when my ex told me to pick a new bunny was being handed Slipper and she was really thick and fluffy then as a baby and it felt like I was cuddling Dexter so I just burst into tears and that's all I recall.

Yes, he's fantastic, I didn't have Slipper with me when I signed up for the house (long story, she stayed with my ex when we split) but when my ex saw on facebook I was moving to a bigger house, he asked if I wanted her back and I said I did, as my snakes were allowed I never thought it would be a problem, but when I went to pick the keys up from the agency, they said something which made me think I should fess up and they said he'd said no bunnies because they make a mess and smell or something, but she called him and he said it was fine so long as there were no more as it wasn't noah's ark. So now I am a bit worried about the fact I've bought two more, but as I already said I've been selling some snakes so as the pet count is going down, I'm hoping he won't mind. Plus we get on really well, I said he could bring his children to see the snakes as they were really interested and I have quite a few which are all different colours and patterns and not usually seen to people outside of the snake keeping world so they seemed quite interested and were also taken with Slipper. I couldn't let them hold him as it wouldn't have been good for landlord/tenant relations if my bunny attacked his children, but they stroked him and it seemed to go well.

I am definitely going to investigate the puppy pen idea as well as compare that cage with the one for Badger and Blueberry and also the C+C cage. I do have another theory which could be good is an old wooden snake viv I had when I had Dolce. It's 6ft long and I guestimate 3 ft tall and 2ft wide. It would take some work, but I'm wondering if it were possible to convert that into something for her. It would be the best solution I think as otherwise I need to get rid of it and it's fiendishly heavy so I'm not sure how we'd go on with that. My OH says it could be done, but doesn't know what to do about the floor to make it so she can't dig her way out or it go manky or something if it gets wet if he pees on it. He is litter trained (until he decides he doesn't want to be :roll:) any suggestions what I could do with it? I suppose I should get some pictures of it up here so you know what I'm on about.
 
That looks pretty similar to the one I bought for Badger and Blueberry. I can't remember what model is is though, it's by Ferplast and was £80 from pets at home.
Click to expand...

Going by price I'm guessing its the 120. I have a tiny nethie in one at the moment as a hospital cage and to be honest I'm not sure its really big enough if they are confined for any length of time.

The easies thing to do would be to look at adding a puppy pen to make the space larger. If you want something with a lid, how about joining two dog crates together?

Is it a tradional wooden viv? If so you could lino the floor and use litter trays? you'd need to mesh the front though as I don't think the glass would give enough ventilation for a bunny.
 
Amy104 said:
Is it a tradional wooden viv? If so you could lino the floor and use litter trays? you'd need to mesh the front though as I don't think the glass would give enough ventilation for a bunny.
Click to expand...

Yes it is, but I no longer have the glass and I would never keep a bunny behind glass anyway so I would mesh the front up anyway. We were just confused about what best for the floor, but Lino in an excellent idea!!! Especially if she stays litter trained this time.

I'm just on the pets at home website now and yes it is a 120 that Badger & Blueberry are in. I thought it was huge and they looked lost in it :oops: there's a 140 on the site as well which is claimed to be suitable for 2 buns and so has two of everything with it. But I quite like the idea of using the old viv with some modifications as that's a lot bigger (I'm assuming) than this 140. Slipper just have the 100 then, I feel even worse for her now :( it is marked as suitable for dwarf rabbits, but a dwarf lol isn't really a dwarf. Must stop forgetting that!! :oops:

I'm definitely going to check out all other suggestions as well though, I really don't want my poor bunnies to be squashed and unhappy :(
 
elmoandfern said:
A little off topic, but is slipper a boy or a girl? I'm confused :lol:
Click to expand...

Sorry, Slipper is a boy. However, when we bought him, he was sold as a girl and I just can't get out of the habit of referring to him as her/she etc. So sometimes I remember to say he, but usually I slip up and say she. She's too pretty to be a boy anyway :lol:
 
Sarah1989 said:
Sorry, Slipper is a boy. However, when we bought him, he was sold as a girl and I just can't get out of the habit of referring to him as her/she etc. So sometimes I remember to say he, but usually I slip up and say she. She's too pretty to be a boy anyway :lol:
Click to expand...

:lol: understandable! I thought I was missing something :oops:
 
Doughnut is in a flat wooden hutch and I have attached a play pen to it. I cut a hole out of the side so she can go in and out. She's only in this while I'm at work, otherwise she is out and about. From next week once I get her nails clipped, since she digs at the door and takes the gloss off, I'm going to let her free range in the lounger/diner the whole time. I think you should try and give as much space as possible.
 
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