Dog kennel/shelter/house for rabbit?

I'm getting excited for you...but just a warning - your life will never be the same again:lol:! In a good way of course:thumb:

You will always find the puppy pen useful - we have 3 now, and I don't know how we managed without - really useful for keeping buns away from no-go areas.

And the thing is with buns - you can prepare all you like, they arrive and decide how THEY want things...so you just learn to adapt stuff to what bunster wants - it's all part of the process of becoming a bunny slave

@Captain Helen
I have been looking for carriers all week! I have no idea what sizes are 'okay'.
I guess one big enough for 2 is not gonna work for me. They are really expensive (the ones I have seen so far) and probably impossible for me to carry alone. I think I'd rather go for 2 smaller ones.

On a side note: Is 51 cm L x 33 cm W x 35 cm H (20in x 13in x 13.75in) big enough for 1?

@Fellie
Haha yes, I'm thinking of the worst and then it can only become better!

I'm already saving up lots of cardboard boxes and metro newspapers

Yeah, I haven't found one big enough for two. I struggle with carrying one giant Wilko's used to do a large plastic one that was a good price, I can't see it on their website now to check the size.

Dawson said:

@Captain Helen
I have been looking for carriers all week! I have no idea what sizes are 'okay'.
I guess one big enough for 2 is not gonna work for me. They are really expensive (the ones I have seen so far) and probably impossible for me to carry alone. I think I'd rather go for 2 smaller ones.

On a side note: Is 51 cm L x 33 cm W x 35 cm H (20in x 13in x 13.75in) big enough for 1?

@Fellie
Haha yes, I'm thinking of the worst and then it can only become better!

I'm already saving up lots of cardboard boxes and metro newspapers

Click to expand...

Hi Dawson

I wouldn't recommend two smaller carriers. I was advised for trips to the vets it is best for a pair (when you get your other bun) to be together so they can snuggle as going to the vets is very stressful. This is also good for their bond.

I posted the other day in another thread where someone was asking about carriers for two giant buns as I have recently purchased one that is more than big enough for my two French Lops with wheels. And £50 is an absolute bargain I thought (given that the smaller ferplast ones are like £30) It could also serve as a little (or rather big.haha) little den/hidey place (although my two just dig in it).

I don't think your size measurements are big enough for one-my two are both about 70cm long when they lie down stretched and they are a large breed not a giant breed. The length of your carrier wouldn't be long enough for a giant to lie flat if it wanted to.

Hope that's helped

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=5847&pf_id=61945

xxx


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you I had seen it before
The problem I have with 1 big one for 2 is that I am not sure if I could carry it around?
I know it has wheels but for example I'm not gonna roll it down the stairs :lol:

Oh I see, I didn't think of stairs! My vets is all on one level.

I am able to lift it to get it in and out of the car, it has two handles going up and down stairs may be tricky with the size of it though if you were on your own?

xxx


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't know about the vet because I have not found one yet
But I live in a flat and there's no lift.
I don't have a car, I guess I could call a taxi but if I'm going somewhere bit further away I'm dependent of buses/trains. It seemed to me that 2 separate would be easier to handle. I'm not gonna get the second bun until the first one is spayed and I managed to lend a cat carrier to pick the first one up. But she's gonna grow out of that soon.

I have one of these, my 4kg and 2kg pair of rabbits fit nicely in it with plenty of room to spare. Not sure on a giant but it is a big carrier, I would try and find one to keep 2 rabbits together. If I took Donny and Lola in separate carriers I think their bond would break, Lola tries to attack Donny when he goes back in the carrier after his turn on the vet table!

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?sbk=1&nav=SEARCH&itemId=111207983560

So 9 more days!!!
Time flies!


I bought that pink storage box online from argos went to pick it up and it was bigger than I expected :/
Is it too high? or can I use it with a bridge? I wanted to use it as a litterbox.
The throw comes from primark for 3 pound. 100% polyester, is that okay for rabbits?
I wanted to put it in the puppy pen but it seems fine in the dog crate..


The rug comes from Ebay and was 11 pound inclusive postage, was longer than the crate but slimmer, so it didn't fit in the crate.
I cut the cardbox from the crate in 2 and put it under the crate and on the carpet, above that I put the rug. To keep the rug in place I've put in a bit under the crate. I have ordered a second and bigger rug from the same seller because they were doing a 50% sale. Right now the whole area of the puppy pen is covered with cardbox, and on top of that I want to put the rugs. Hoping she wont chew them, what other ideas to protect the carpet :/
I have now attached the pen to the crate using cable ties (is this a bad idea?)

My boyfriend is complaining that the rabbit has more space than I do :lol: and finds it annoying that we have to get in the puppy pen and out to get to my bed. He says the rabbit is not here yet so why do you put it up? But I want to get used to this. It is not ideal but it is for a short time.


I bought this today in TK Maxx and it was for in the kitchen/bathroom but it looked perfect as a hayrack! i can hang it anywhere but above the litterbox seemed a good idea to me.

close up


I ordered the following and am waiting for it to arrive:

Dog Bowl 0.8 litre. Is this too big/small? Either want to use it for food or water


Salad rack


wicker bridge 50 cm x 30 cm


willow hay rack
Ingredients
Willow (54%), hay (41%), blossoms of marigold, hibiscus, camomile, cornflowers, roses, mallow, hops
Additives
Protein 12.5%, oils & fats 3.4%


Radiator bed, I know its not a cat, but it looks nice?

Okay so what am I still missing!?
I want to get another food/drink bowl and also a drink bottle for traveling/extra
I need to buy food, am thinking of science selective Junior???
and hay!
So far my temporary litterbox seems endless while trying to fill it with shredded newspaper, any other cheap and good alternatives?
I want to get toys as well of course. But want everything that I definitely need done withing now and 9 days
I went to pets at homes today but it was closed -.-

And also what do you guys think of what I have up until now?

Thank you for helping me out here

Also, the carrier in the first picture is from my colleague and I will use it to pick the rabbit up, but I am definitely thinking about buying one of those huge ones 2 people mentioned

Looking good A 32L storage box might be better, they're about £3, that one looks a bit tall but would be good to store food etc in, a 32L storage box would just be easier to fill and not take so much. I just line mine with newspaper and fill with hay, it's easy to roll up for cleaning out then. You'd want to make sure the paper wasn't being digested, especially being a baby (I think?), you want to make hay the most interesting and important thing for the rabbit.

Here's my indoor rabbits 32L storage box litter trays. Cleaned out daily and I use a puppy pad with them (pack of 30 from b&m for £5) and filled with hay.



Edit- I used cable ties on the crate/pen before Poppy was free range and they worked fine. And apart from putting the rugs down I don't think there is anything you can do to protect the carpet, but that should be enough. The rabbit might ignore carpet though.

I hope she's the kind of bunny that leaves the carpet alone *wishful thinking*
That's a quite nice setup!
I was thinking of doing it everyday as well but that is a lot of hay to throw away :/?
Problem with my box it looked reasonable online I even take a tape measure with me to work!
and yes 26 centimetre didn't look high at all, until I picked the box up at argos :/
I hope I can find something similar to yours cheap! I've come down to spending almost 400 pound on stuff for the rabbit (food+hay included) and have only 60 left for myself till the end of january

I use the expensive hay in the hay racks, like h4p and timothy hay, then the baled hay in litter trays. It costs me £5 a bale so it's easy for me to just put in the green bin etc. I used to use The Range's and asda's meadow hay in litter trays which worked well too, but then I found a horse supply shop. With the 32L storage box I would put a few pages of newspaper down then a few handfuls of the hay, just to cover the top as it was easier to spot clean, but now I get baled hay I just fill them. Those storage boxes are £4 in asda, £3.50 in Wilkos and £5 in The Range I think.

You could just use some newspaper then Fitch/auboise etc in the litter tray, then plenty of hay in hay racks, newspaper pieces aren't terribly absorbent and can smell pretty gross after a bit. I tried it as a digging box substrate once but the wee smell wasn't nice!

Are you getting a conti? You need the heaviest dog bowl you can find - the really heavy Mason & Cash one - because they can pick them up and throw them. Even that one they can move. For size, think of them as growing to the same size as a medium dog without the long legs. My contis are 7.5 kgs each - probably more now, as they are still growing. They weigh more than my cocker spaniel. They are really strong, and when my vets didn't want to take them upstairs for their spay in the metal dogcrate I'd brought them in, they put them into a plastic carrier and one of them thumped and broke the carrier. They could jump to the top of your dogcrate with ease, so I'd make sure there is something flat on top so they don't get their feet stuck.

Sam and Truffs said:

Are you getting a conti? You need the heaviest dog bowl you can find - the really heavy Mason & Cash one - because they can pick them up and throw them. Even that one they can move. For size, think of them as growing to the same size as a medium dog without the long legs. My contis are 7.5 kgs each - probably more now, as they are still growing. They weigh more than my cocker spaniel. They are really strong, and when my vets didn't want to take them upstairs for their spay in the metal dogcrate I'd brought them in, they put them into a plastic carrier and one of them thumped and broke the carrier. They could jump to the top of your dogcrate with ease, so I'd make sure there is something flat on top so they don't get their feet stuck.

Click to expand...

Yep, I have a small conti and she needs the largest dog bowl available, it's 25cm diameter I think!

I tried her with a large casserole dish... She could throw that even if it was full :shock::lol: lots of mopping up!

Sam and Truffs said:

Are you getting a conti? You need the heaviest dog bowl you can find - the really heavy Mason & Cash one - because they can pick them up and throw them. Even that one they can move. For size, think of them as growing to the same size as a medium dog without the long legs. My contis are 7.5 kgs each - probably more now, as they are still growing. They weigh more than my cocker spaniel. They are really strong, and when my vets didn't want to take them upstairs for their spay in the metal dogcrate I'd brought them in, they put them into a plastic carrier and one of them thumped and broke the carrier. They could jump to the top of your dogcrate with ease, so I'd make sure there is something flat on top so they don't get their feet stuck.

Click to expand...

Yes I'm getting a conti..
The one I ordered is a 0.8 liter ceramic dog bowl, so I hope it is "heavy".
I ordered from zooplus but apparently it comes from Germany, so sending it back is not really an option :/
Do they actually need a bowl for the food? Are the ones you can attach to a dog crate okay?
I do know the size of them :lol: We used to have a cocker spaniel and bring it to farm where there were loads of flemish giants and they were bigger, my poor dog was scared of them!
Ahh I did ask about the top of the dog crate, I will cover it up then I don't want her to get stuck of course.
Why didn't the vet want to take them upstairs in the metal dogcrate? I lend a plastic carrier to pick her up (she'll be 9 weeks then) but obviously have to buy something else for later on.

Dawson said:

Yes I'm getting a conti..
The one I ordered is a 0.8 liter ceramic dog bowl, so I hope it is "heavy".
I ordered from zooplus but apparently it comes from Germany, so sending it back is not really an option :/
Do they actually need a bowl for the food? Are the ones you can attach to a dog crate okay?
I do know the size of them :lol: We used to have a cocker spaniel and bring it to farm where there were loads of flemish giants and they were bigger, my poor dog was scared of them!
Ahh I did ask about the top of the dog crate, I will cover it up then I don't want her to get stuck of course.
Why didn't the vet want to take them upstairs in the metal dogcrate? I lend a plastic carrier to pick her up (she'll be 9 weeks then) but obviously have to buy something else for later on.

Click to expand...

The dogcrate was so heavy and bulky with them both in (thought they weighed slightly less then!), I guess that's why. I wasn't there by that point but they were very nice about it and didn't charge me. I can't carry the dogcrate on my own anymore with them both in it so I need something else, and I picked up something on Freecycle which is the same size roughly as the Ferplast Atlas 50 which was recommended to me on here as a good size for 2 contis. It's plastic though so am not sure if they will be able to break it! Luckily Nettle's eye got better and we stopped having to go to the vet every week.

That's looking great! Good idea for the hayrack. To protect the carpet you could have a look in carpet shops for an off cut of lino. I found a 12x3 piece for £10 (then my dad haggled it down to £8 ). Then put the rugs on top of that to make it less slippy. Lino might be nice and cool to lie on in the summer too.

How about a tunnel? The cardboard or hay covered ones are good for shredding. I don't think there are any big enough for a full grown conti, but she can enjoy it as a baby. Like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rosewood-Na...TF8&qid=1388311136&sr=8-1&keywords=hay+tunnel

Maybe a jingle ball or a willow ball? If you save the cardboard tubes from inside kitchen roll, stuff the ends with hay and put a bit of food in the middle for a cheap toy.

Sam and Truffs said:

The dogcrate was so heavy and bulky with them both in (thought they weighed slightly less then!), I guess that's why. I wasn't there by that point but they were very nice about it and didn't charge me. I can't carry the dogcrate on my own anymore with them both in it so I need something else, and I picked up something on Freecycle which is the same size roughly as the Ferplast Atlas 50 which was recommended to me on here as a good size for 2 contis. It's plastic though so am not sure if they will be able to break it! Luckily Nettle's eye got better and we stopped having to go to the vet every week.

Click to expand...

Well I have the dogcrate but there is no way I can pick that up alone :lol: I'll have to wait till I get paid end of january before I can buy a carrier. For now the plastic one from my colleague will have to do or a cardboard box. Its good they didn't charge you! It was their idea to put them in something else...

@Captain Helen

That's a great idea unfortunately I'm out of money at the moment so will have to wait till end of January for any additional things.
I wanted to buy a tunnel but didn't see any big enough, so I started looking at those for small children. I think that might be better..

I actually did buy 3 balls and I'm saving up the cardboard toilet tubes

Here's a picture of everything I bought up until now for the rabbit:

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/5588/vlza.png

+10 kg SS junior.

I'm out of money now, but if she eats more than 12 kg before the end of january I can make a stretch to buy more food and hay lol but no toys

I once got a load of lino from Freecycle.

That's probably enough toys and stuff for now. Great idea about using a child's play tunnel, I never thought of that. Just had a look on Amazon and they do them with play cubes and tents, perfect for big buns!

I don't know how much baby Contis eat, but 12kg should last a while!

So I finally got the carrier Emma suggested... I am super happy with it. But not got a clue on how I take this down the stairs xD here's a video with Chi-Chi in it: https://vimeo.com/101754487