'Your cage is too small'...'Don't tell me how to raise my pets!'..anyone else?

I never bothered replying, because there's just no reasoning with some people. I just needed to vent really because it was so rude! I'm still kinda hoping what I said echoes a little, and she'll at least let the rabbit free-range more often or something.

While we're moaning about half-bothered pet owners, a girl I used to really look up to is also advocating buying from rabbit breeders on a social network. Is breeding rabbits as bad a breeding pigs? I assume it is, but don't want to have a word with her until I have the facts.

@Princess_Piggie ~ I made the thread and I figured it couldn't hurt to ask you never know My only concern with making this cage myself is how to do the top... like... I NEED it covered, so I'm not entirely sure that I can manage that on my own xD I'm not THAT creative, and I would prefer it be a top somewhat like the one the stores have cause I like the idea that you can see through the top plus I sware sometimes I have OCD about stuff like that LOL

@Amalee ohhhh thank you for those links o.o I need to talk to hubby about that... but I'm worried like I said about doing the top, also... like... I want the upper level I just think the idea is so cute, what could i use for a ramp? I'm not sure what the website uses for their ramp is it coroplast?

@MommaOfFour I think it really comes down to ... At this time I don't know if we'd have the funds to build our own - and when we DO have the funds we'll have enough to just get the big cage I was eyeing on the website. It's not that I'm being lazy about it, its just more of a money issue at the moment what with bills, tax returns, and god help me our car has been messing up too (horrible timing) I would like to experiment though and make my own cage, I'm just not sure If I have that kinda artistic skill lol especially since I really (reallllly) want a loft!

And you've got a potential grid donation already! I love this site you know. Everyone's always so willing to help a fellow piggie lover out.

For a lid closet shelving is usually suggested as it's more sturdy, and I'm gonna bring @Traysea in on this as our resident cage queen I don't think she's on right now, but I'm sure when she does get on she'll give you tonnes of great advice on cage making. She honestly does magic with her cage!

I just listed hubby all of the things listed for the cage, I totaled it all up, said we could get 3 of the grid packs from bed bath and beyond and it comes with free shipping if you do that, we have a home depot not far from our house we could pick up the coroplast there, essentially I could build that entire cage that is on the website for under 200 dollars vs the 400 we would have ended up spending (that includes the table I was going to put the cage on) maybe, just maybe, we can get this even faster than before due to the price difference

Also... I might go ahead and set up my gofundme page again cause it sounds a lot more doable than asking for people to donate to a cage that costs 400 dollars LOL

@Princess_Piggies ohhh I'm so glad I came here, people are SO helpful on this website!!! I talked to hubby about paying shipping for whatever donations we do possibly get, I'm feeling a lot more hopeful for our babies to get a big home sooner <3 and how much would you say a closet shelving cover would go? I haven't really heard of em so I'm not entirely sure lol I was just going to do some kind of grid top somehow since I wanted a loft cover but still trying to figure out how exactly I would do the ramp!

this is so exciting xD

Yes, Princess Piggie, I see this type of response frequently with rabbit owners. People can be so defensive, especially when they think they got 'such a nice cage.' I think embarrassment is one of the main reasons. Inwardly they are embarrassed, but rather than admit it, they stubbornly try to justify their cage decision.

I have found that sometimes it is easier to suggest a good rabbit care site/link -- one that has the proper care information. That way the person doesn't feel like they are being 'corrected' by you, but will see it coming from a neutral source. Something more along the lines of "oh, congratulations on your new bunny. How cute! I recently stumbled across a really cool site all about bunnies. Maybe you'd like it too." This way she has no idea that you see what she is doing wrong. Then she (hopefully) can decide to make the changes because she is the one who figured it out.

Gandalf said:

Yes, Princess Piggie, I see this type of response frequently with rabbit owners. People can be so defensive, especially when they think they got 'such a nice cage.' I think embarrassment is one of the main reasons. Inwardly they are embarrassed, but rather than admit it, they stubbornly try to justify their cage decision.

I have found that sometimes it is easier to suggest a good rabbit care site/link -- one that has the proper care information. That way the person doesn't feel like they are being 'corrected' by you, but will see it coming from a neutral source. Something more along the lines of "oh, congratulations on your new bunny. How cute! I recently stumbled across a really cool site all about bunnies. Maybe you'd like it too." This way she has no idea that you see what she is doing wrong. Then she (hopefully) can decide to make the changes because she is the one who figured it out.

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Great idea! I just don't understand it though. I've never owned a rabbit and I'm still somehow more knowledgeable on their care than half the people I know of that own them. An ex family friend has their rabbit in their back garden in a pretty much open hutch, I couldn't see any bedding or hiding area's and the rabbit was just sitting still, in front of the opening, looking like it had accepted that it wasn't going to live very long. It made me so sad that I actually couldn't face going back to their house and obviously, after me trying to give them some advice, they weren't very interested in friendship any more either. Do you know much about the rabbit breeding circle etc? I'm just curious if it's as bad as the guinea pig breeding circle, whether or not it's worth directing someone to a rabbit forum for advocating breeding?

Jumping in...

My cat can easily reach her arm thru the grids of the piggies cage. Although she looks big in this photo she is really only about 11lbs.


I have had to get pretty creative with how to block her from reaching them. (Another reason I put the plexiglass in the front of the cage).

As for the lid, Closet shelving looks much nicer and is much sturdier. You cable tie them in the middle and then cable tie the rear shelf to the back. FYI, my cat can reach her arm in the closet shelves as well, so for that I covered it with clear vinyl but I am probably going to try lining the closet shelf lid and side grids with window screen for more airflow.

Closet shelf lid:

@Traysea oh my god your cat is BEAUTIFUL I wanna cuddle her lol thats a rather cute albeit naughty pic lol

Well the reason I was thinking of doing grids instead of the closet shelving for the top (even though I love how that looks) is I am obsessed with the idea of a second level... I know its terrible and they don't NEED it, but i just think its so cute and I really want to do it, but I'm not sure how i can do a second level AND the closet shelving like that? I have no way to cut the shelving to size.

BUT the ideas to put something on top of the grids to keep paws from reaching in is a great idea, or even just up the side, my boy teddy bear is very curious about the piggies, which is only natural I assume lol but I want to be sure little paws don't go swiping at little piggies so those ideas are fantastic, I love the plexiglass idea in particular since it'd make it possible to still see the piggies well - on the up side, teddy bear, or any of the other cats for that matter, wont be around the piggies unsupervised so that could help too

Thanks. For closet shelving you can cut it at home or ask at the store if they will cut it to size for you. Then you just cut it to whatever size you need to cover the cage area and the rest would go to cover the loft. I think you can use bolt cutters to cut the shelving, my husband used a grinder for ours but he said a hack saw would work too. Someone else might have better/cheaper ideas on how to cut the shelving.

As for a grid lid, you need to overlap several grids to make it sturdy but you will still need a support bar in the middle so it doesn't collapse into the cage... especially where the lid meets the loft walls.

@Traysea Ohhhh ok thank you, if I did a grid top what would I do about the support bar? I'm not sure what I should put there or anything. I know I saw something like that in the cage cover I saw on the website.

Bolt cutters are inexpensive and that's not a bad idea either, I will talk to hubby and see which idea he prefers I'm just so excited that all of this is coming together for us lol

I use wonder bars from the cage store run across the cage to hold up my lid but I have young kids so they are mostly there for them. For just the cats you probably only need 1 wonder bar. You can also use a strip of wood (from home depot), or a cut down wood broom handle, or dowel. Anything that will fit thru the grid hole or that can be whittled down to make it fit. You might also need to put a stopper on the end so the support doesn't slip back out. @pinky suggests using a little eye hole screw screwed into the end of the wood.


Another thought... if you did your loft patio height you wouldn't need the extra grids or to deal with the multiple cuts for the lid. I wouldn't recommend doing it in 2x2 size though since it limits viewing of your piggies. Here are some photos of my cage in it's various configuration and support ideas:

Cage store wonder bars (white bars) 7.95 each.


Closed lid 2x4 with patio (not loft height)


Support brackets:


Support Bars:


Support Bar wit eyehole stopper:

Princess_Piggie said:

Great idea! I just don't understand it though. I've never owned a rabbit and I'm still somehow more knowledgeable on their care than half the people I know of that own them. An ex family friend has their rabbit in their back garden in a pretty much open hutch, I couldn't see any bedding or hiding area's and the rabbit was just sitting still, in front of the opening, looking like it had accepted that it wasn't going to live very long. It made me so sad that I actually couldn't face going back to their house and obviously, after me trying to give them some advice, they weren't very interested in friendship any more either. Do you know much about the rabbit breeding circle etc? I'm just curious if it's as bad as the guinea pig breeding circle, whether or not it's worth directing someone to a rabbit forum for advocating breeding?

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Funny, there are two separate conversations going on this thread....

Anyway, I don't know much about the guinea pig breeding circle so I can't compare. I do know that among rabbit breeders there is a big distinction between the backyard breeders and the serious breeders who are legitimately breeding to improve a particular breed. The rabbit forum I'm on allows rabbit breeders on the site too to discuss show standards, etc.

It's the novices that are a problem breeding pet store rabbits or mixed breed rabbits . So those that advocate "buying from a breeder" can conjure up different pictures - do they mean legitimate breeder or are they aware of how many backyard, novice breeders are out there? I think that what often happens is that those advocating buying from a breeder are doing so because it's a better alternative to a pet store. They may never have considered that there are rabbit rescues. Unfortunately, too many assume that any "rescue" pet was turned in because there was something 'wrong' with it. They don't understand that this simply isn't the case with rabbits (except on very, very rare occasion).

Personally, I feel that there is no particular advantage to getting a "pure breed" if one is only interested in a family pet. There are so many rabbit rescues out there that are usually at full capacity. I'd always recommend a rescue as a first choice.

BTW, that rabbit forum I'm on also advocates bunny rescues even though there are breeders on there too.

Whew, that was a bit longer than I intended. Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

Don't worry about how long it is, it was a very insightful and useful 2 cents haha!

Princess_Piggie said:

@MommaOfFour exactly! There's a major difference between refusing to accept advise or change, and knowing where you're going wrong and actively trying to change it.

@Kiyisha try posting a thread somewhere on here for cheap, unwanted grids in your area. I've seen quite a few users post that they have grids left over and want to offload them on to someone who needs them, it's worth a shot at least!

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Another good idea for those with left over products is to just make a cage if they have enough and give it to those with a too small cage. I did that, even included two sets of uhaul and fleece liners.