New Pens for Indoor Living

Defiance checking out her new pad

My rabbits live inside. It's just how it is for me right now.  But inside living has its downsides.  There's constant cleaning, vaccuuming, and dusting.  I work hard to keep wool off of everything...often just one step ahead of my DH. I race to deftly pluck that stray wool strand off the back of his beloved Ohio State jacket as he heads to the car in the morning.  Crisis averted :)

Hershey in her new 2'x4' pen.  

I don't mind the cleaning...mostly.  But there is one thing that constantly plagues me:  My wire cages are ugly.  Practical, functional, superior in design...yes.  Decorative....no.  I don't know why it bothers me, but I want to have it all: beauty and function.  And my wire cages just weren't cutting it. After a ream of crumpled up papers landed in the recycle bin, I finally came up with an idea that my DH would build and I can live with.


So here it is:  2' x 4' bunny living with upgraded wire floor addition and open sky light (to compensate for the days my rheumatoid arthritis decides it doesn't want to open rabbit doors).  The base is painted with low-tox milk paint and tiled base keeps stray urine from contacting the wood. Two 24"x24" trays slide underneath for easy cleaning.  Wheeled legs make rearranging easy.  The wire cage just lifts off for easy cleaning. The entire ensemble wheels easily down the hall and out the back door for cleaning...unlike those unweildy 30"x36" cages.  These new pens have an increased floor space of 72 square inches compared to my roomiest cages (30"x36").


I should mention that our work has been months in progress. These cages are version 2.0. The first version had solid floors and was a stinky urine wet wool disaster...immediately scratched. I'm sure that two months from now my DH will hear those dreaded words from me..."Hey, Honey! How about if we....?"  That is how I am.  I prefer to think of myself as forward progressive, but those actually living with me may think differently. Either way,  I am so thankful that he is always willing to try whatever crazy idea I have.  Such patience is hard to find.

    

Rabbit Pen Prototype

Well it only took about six weeks, but we finally have a bunny pen sketch.  DH started construction on the base already.  Yippee!

I just need to decide on finish for the base. Although wood is not the best product to use in rabbit cage construction, we decided to make an exception as this is only the prototype and it is a more economical option.   Cage construction has been slowed down by the el-cheapo j-clip pliers we bought at Tractor Supply.  Nothing against TSC, the pliers are meant for small fix 'em ups, not huge cage construction.  We should have ordered heavy duty pliers online, but to be honest, DH moved much quicker than anticipated.  I was unprepared...
happy, but unprepared. BUNNYRABBIT.com is on vacation this week, so I'll have to figure something else out.

So construction will continue once I have some better pliers onhand.  For now, I just have to figure out how to protect the base.  Paint is the first step.  Just have to work out the details with the rest.