C&C cage.. questions

[Taboo]

I was curious about how to make a C&C cage for rabbits. For 1-2 small breeds of rabbits, how many grids would you need? If its tall, does it still need to be 6ft long? Because I've seen C&C cages for rabbits and they don't look 6 ft long (though I'm not that good at judging size from pics) so I was thinking maybe thats an exception for C&C or something.

Like is this the right size? Ed and Beth Brey: Bunny Cage

[Silverbeat]

Those are great instructions. I wouldn't use coroplast with bunnies because they will likely chew/ingest it, causing health problems. I have a similar cage, just bigger and sloppier.
That would be an okay size for a bunny that size. Depending on how many hours a day it gets outside of its cage.
It doesn't need to be 6ft long if it is tall, though it is best to make it as long as possible. For two small-breed rabbits [<5lbs] I would recommend a 2 wide, 4 long, 3 high cage. At least.

[crazywiggy]

Actually I disagree... I feel that generally speaking "lofts" should not count towards the minimum sq footage.
Don't get me wrong - rabbits love having upper levels / shelves to jump on etc. but they are still fundamentally ground dwelling animals.

With guinea pigs, people always say that 2x3 is the minimum so that the pigs can properly run laps and popcorn.

Personally, I feel the same way about rabbits - their cage should be large enough to run laps and do binkies. As rabbits are that much larger than pigs, with a much longer gait (ie take bigger steps) they do need much more room.

A 2x5 c+c cage gives about 13.5 sq foot, so this would be fine for a pair of rabbits but this is the smallest floor space I would go for.

[Silverbeat]

In my experience [with dozens of fosters and a handful of residentials], rabbits don't really exercise/run/binky in their cages, unless they get little/no out-of-cage time. In fact, I find that they get more exercise in a tall/multi-level cage than a long/single-level cage.
I count additional levels as part of the cage's area, but the rule for the base remanis the same: twice the width of the rabbit [usually 2-3 grids], four times the length of the rabbit [usually 4-5 grids], and tall enough for the rabbit to fully stand [usually 1.5-2 grids].

[kotin]

Taboo: it's fine to use coroplast but you'd have to put the cage within the borders of the coroplast if your bun is a chewer, i.e. the coroplast walls would be outside the cage. One of my buns loves to chew plastic so I did that. When she gets play time outside the cage, she'll run over to chew the edges so you'll have to watch you bun when he/she is out.

[Taboo]

Yeah, I'm not going to use coroplast. I just find it unnecessary, even for guinea pigs.

The rabbit/rabbits (I hope to get him a friend) will be getting a lot of time out (mostly in the cage when I can't watch him) so I think I will do 2 wide, 4 long, 3 wide or something similar. Yeah, my rabbits never really run around when in their cages. They save that for when they're out of their cage. :P

[Myspoiltpiggies]

Originally Posted by thief

Those are great instructions. I wouldn't use coroplast with bunnies because they will likely chew/ingest it, causing health problems. I have a similar cage, just bigger and sloppier.
That would be an okay size for a bunny that size. Depending on how many hours a day it gets outside of its cage.
It doesn't need to be 6ft long if it is tall, though it is best to make it as long as possible. For two small-breed rabbits [<5lbs] I would recommend a 2 wide, 4 long, 3 high cage. At least.

You know there is something you can get to stop animals chewing coroplast. I use paper slide binders.

[kotin]

Originally Posted by Myspoiltpiggies

You know there is something you can get to stop animals chewing coroplast. I use paper slide binders.

How do they work? Isn't it made out of plastic...wouldn't the rabbits chew it?

[Taboo]

Not all rabbits chew. Mine don't usually. Except Izzy will chew if he's out of pellets and he likes chewing cardboard and newspaper and Jack chewed my head phones cord once.

[kotin]

oh darn...you got me all excited because I thought there was some way that you used the slide binders to prevent chewing =P

[Taboo]

Maybe they don't chew the slide binders, I've never used them, I was just making a guess there.

[Taboo]

Can you make levels out of cubes? Because in that link I posted the person made levels for the rabbit out of wooden boards it looks like.

[Silverbeat]

You can make levels out of grids, but depending on how your cage opens, it's almost always better to make levels out of plywood.

[Taboo]

For me it might be easier to use grids.. maybe..I don't, I'll have to see.