What can I do with this space? Need some good ideas to sell it to OH!

Ok.. So once Niles & his lady friend are bonded (hopefully!!), I would love to move them to some new digs where they can start their lives together. We've had Niles' cage for a few years now & it's got his scent, plus probably Frasier's embedded in there too! Yum! Lol.

So I've been thinking about my options. I've considered just leaving the cage as is & try to disinfect it as well as I can. I've considered a double tiered cage, but can't find anything that's big enough.. They're all around 100-120cm Then I just had a thought! Our lounge is set up in such a way that we have a couch down the side, and nearest the window we have a row of things.. Starting with a large fish tank, then another part of the couch, and then the rodent housing (Shelving with hamster & gerbils on). I was thinking if I take out that second part of the couch, it leaves a space of around 4.5x3ft, which can then be opened up to the whole lounge when we're home. But what could I do.. And will having them so close to the gerbils be a problem? They do often kick out their carefresh. Would that & possible gerbil poo be problematic for the buns?

Anyway.. SO I have a potential space of 4.5x3ft available to me. What can I do? I've got to make it sound amazing before putting it across to OH as he's normally pretty closed to most new ideas. I've got a plan to start by telling him that he'll get his kitchen back! Haha. So I'm thinking possibly a cage with a run surrounding it? Maybe put some lino down & a litter tray.. That kind of thing? I've seen some photos on here of similar set ups, but can't find them now.. Off to have another look in a sec. But I really like those types of set up. Plus it'd be easy to clean & Niles is usually pretty good when it comes to toileting. He won't go in the lounge at all! Frasier was a ****** for it & pee'd & pooped everywhere! Lol.

I think with a bit of planning, I could make this work for us & it'll be so much easier for them to play outside of the cage as it'll just be a case of opening up the run & there you go. OH doesn't like to get Niles out when he's home alone as Niles can be a bit feisty & has given OH a fair few scratches!

I would love ideas & opinions!

(Just thought about moving the rodents upstairs, in which case we'd be able to extend the space to around 6x3ft)

ETA - Also, will it be terribly stressful for Niles to move from his old cage into this new one? :/

You could find a cupboard to match your decor and turn it into an indoor hutch style cage - that way you'd also have the top to put things on. Or just use a pen and have a box in it for hiding.

Tamsin said:

You could find a cupboard to match your decor and turn it into an indoor hutch style cage - that way you'd also have the top to put things on. Or just use a pen and have a box in it for hiding.

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I'm not really DIY minded. Lol. I'd probably end up injuring someone!

I've got a puppy play pen already .. What sort of size cage would be best suited in there? Could I go for a small one or is bigger still better? I guess it'd just be a glorified toilet & possibly bedroom for them.. Maybe I could not put one in at all & use trays for toilets? What do other people do? Is a cage/crate necessary?

We've just ordered this: http://www.rabbitat-toys.co.uk/houses.html with the slight adaptation of having a flat roof as I know they'll want to sit on it.
Ours free range downstairs and have separate litter trays anyway so this is purely a place to hide away. I'm also getting a hay bar.

Do they need to be confined? If not, I'd probably just put a coffee table or similar in the space with a litter tray under it. They will probably like to sit on it.
Do you have a photo of the space?

esupi said:

Do they need to be confined? If not, I'd probably just put a coffee table or similar in the space with a litter tray under it. They will probably like to sit on it.
Do you have a photo of the space?

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Our litter trays are under two very cheap plain coffee tables with carpet tile stuck to the top (as they were slippy laminate). They form a perfect binky springboard on each end of the sofa!

esupi said:

Do they need to be confined? If not, I'd probably just put a coffee table or similar in the space with a litter tray under it. They will probably like to sit on it.
Do you have a photo of the space?

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Yes because we have a dog. Lol. I've just measured up the space & I could put an 80cm cage in there with some woodshavings & hay in it & then they'd still have 5ft to play in.. Or would an 80cm cage just be too small? I'm not really sure how most people do these setups, lol. I've seen a few with dog crates, which are obviously smaller than the cages.

A cage is a bit of a waste of space in a pen, all you need is some sort of cover ie solid sides (which a cage won't give you anyway). Have a look at the wooden sleeping/hiding boxes sold for outdoors.

This is where is gets kinda silly.. Lol. Niles is funny in the sense that he won't go for a wee or pop outside of his cage. He won't even eat! So I'm thinking that if I put a cage in the run then he will realise that it's ok. But if he doesn't then he still has somewhere to go. My biggest worry is that he just thinks I've put him in his run & am punishing him. I'm so worried that he won't like it & he'll just pull at the bars like he does when I'm cleaning him out :/ Don't know what I'll do.. I guess if that happens they'll have to go back into the big cage. It'll be a shame though because 6x3ft is better than 5x2.5ft. I'm never going to find an actual cage to fit that size!

I'm confused! I thought the space was 4.5 x 3 ft, not 6 x 3 ft. If it's 6 x 3 ft you could easily enclose that with puppy panels, but I guess it needs a top too with you having the dog. What about an outdoor run?

esupi said:

I'm confused! I thought the space was 4.5 x 3 ft, not 6 x 3 ft. If it's 6 x 3 ft you could easily enclose that with puppy panels, but I guess it needs a top too with you having the dog. What about an outdoor run?

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Sorry, it was.. But my OH have me the ok to move the rodents upstairs which opens it up to 6x3ft be got a puppy pen that I'll put all across there, but then I need a cage or something inside for Niles to use as a toilet. I've tried putting trays down for him in the lounge before & he's just tipped them up.. Not actually gone toilet in them. Same for hay filled boxes. He's a nightmare! What do you mean by puppy panels? I could use an outdoor run, but I don't want it too enclosed. One with a lift off top would be good. Can't see Niles hopping out tbh. x

Manor pet housing have some lovely wood/perspex indoor panels that look fab for indoor accomodation. I love the full perspex ones as you'd have full view of the buns.

Puppy panels are puppy pens (i think). The panels on puppy pens can come un done so you can make the area bigger/smaller or to open it out and use as a guard I think maybe you should try and train him not to go for toilet in the cage and just have the pen around the bunny area ( you could buy an other pen and connect the two if need be). And put a couple of trays. Have you tries taking the top off the cage and just having the base?

Amy104 said:

Manor pet housing have some lovely wood/perspex indoor panels that look fab for indoor accomodation. I love the full perspex ones as you'd have full view of the buns.

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Ooh, I've seen them! I've already decided I'm gonna save for some of their panels! They're lovely

Atm I already have a playpen so that's what I'll use for now. I guess I could try putting Niles down with the base of his cage & see if he will still go toilet in it without the top on.

I'm not sure what the best thing to do is.. I really want it to work out that Niles & Daphne bond, then move them into their new digs.. But I'm scared all that stress might be too much & cause one of them to go into stasis. Or that they won't be happy in their new space.. What if Niles doesn't realise all that space is for them to play in? What if they just huddle in a corner? Am I worrying without reason? :/

Eta - I don't know what to do with the rest of the space! I'm thinking maybe a house that they can jump on & hide in.. But other than that I don't know. Niles isn't big on toys & Daphne won't have any teeth! Niles isn't massively bothered about hay or treats, he just eats a little hay & his nuggets. I don't know how to entertain him with all that room. Lol x

I have an idea.. What if I set Niles up in this for now & put the new bunny in his old cage to see how he gets on with the setup? I'm really considering a dog crate with some plastic edges & a house inside or a child's table for him to hop onto. And possibly some plastic sides so I can put woodshavings in there. That way I'll know how Niles will cope & new bunny will get used to his smell before bonding. Or does that sound like a massively bad idea? :/