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Forum HABITATS AND TOYS Fitting x-pen, etc. into room decor

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    • joli
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        Hi everyone! Been lurking for a while and finally decided to create an account, as I need some help. 

        I have a very spoiled Rex, Charlie. He was free range in my apartment, but I recently moved back in with my parents for the time being. They don’t want him all over the house, and anyway there is way too much stuff for him to get into. So he stays in my bedroom and I usually let him explore the rest of the upstairs supervised. He has free range of my room for the most part, but I have a very large x pen to put him in when no one is home. It’s set up so he has an area of 6 ft. by 4 ft.

        Now, initially, living at home was going to be very temporary, but things are rough and at the moment I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get us out of there. So I didn’t care when I set up the x-pen that it took almost an entire wall of the room, or that the rest of the room has been taken over by playhouses, tunnels, toys, and of course, hay, or that I had to block off his chew spots with not-so-attractive wire cubes. For all intents and purposes, this room is Charlie’s room, and I’m just renting out a bed and a bookshelf 

        Now it’s starting to frustrate me a bit. The whole room is a cluttered mess of bunny things. Obviously I don’t want to take away his huge pen and houses and toys, because 1. I want him to have a happy, spoiled existence, and 2. if I did, my books, baseboards, and carpet would be fair game. I’d love for him to have his own room, or be free range, but that’s not possible right now.

        I really just need some ideas on how to mesh his things with my decor and maybe.. compact some stuff so I have either room for more furniture, or just some open space so the room doesn’t look so cluttered. 

        Any suggestions or pics anyone can offer are much appreciated. Thanks!


      • Sarita
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          LOL – I totally understand what you mean – rabbits can really take over and pens are not terribly attractive are they!

          How exactly do you have the pen configured…is it in the square shape which would be 4 x 4 – you mention a 4 x 7 area…


        • MoxieMeadows
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            I can’t have a free range bun, we have other animals, and WAY too much stuff for her to get into. She has my entire large bedroom to herself during the day, though she’s always supervised when out.

            I kinda just keep most of her stuff pressed up against my wall and keep my floor swept clean. I have kinda just accepted the fact that my room isn’t going to look like other teens’ rooms. My room is going to be filled with cages, xpens, cardboard castles that I make for my bun, toys, runs, tunnels, hay, and bunny food. And if people don’t like that, you don’t like my rabbit, and If you don’t like my rabbit, you don’t like me!

            I guess I don’t have many tips for blending stuff in with your theme….


          • joli
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              Posted By Sarita on 5/08/2014 10:40 AM

              LOL – I totally understand what you mean – rabbits can really take over and pens are not terribly attractive are they!

              How exactly do you have the pen configured…is it in the square shape which would be 4 x 4 – you mention a 4 x 7 area…

              Oops, meant to write 4 x 6! I bought extra panels so there are 10 panels total and it’s in a rectangle shape – 3 24″ panels on the long sides, 2 24″ on the short sides. It’s set up against one of the short walls of the room.


            • Sarita
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                Is he trustworthy enough to be left out full-time in your bedroom and maybe get a baby gate across your door and leave the door open? That way you could completely take out the pen and just place his litter box, toys and other stuff in with your stuff….


              • joli
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                  Posted By Sarita on 5/08/2014 11:49 AM

                  Is he trustworthy enough to be left out full-time in your bedroom and maybe get a baby gate across your door and leave the door open? That way you could completely take out the pen and just place his litter box, toys and other stuff in with your stuff….

                  I’m too nervous to do that. It was different in my apartment, I had the baseboards covered, wires completely hidden, etc., and when he was left alone I would close the bedroom and bathroom doors and gate off the kitchen so he was just in the living room, where I was positive everything was bunny-proofed. Plus he had no interest in chewing the carpet or furniture there, for some reason he’s obsessed with pulling out the carpet fibers in my room now – he even made a bald patch when I tried to leave him alone for a couple hours 

                  I think I just need to take everything out of the room and start rearranging from scratch 


                • Darwin
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                    I am in a similar situation right now, and when I needed to use an xpen, what worked best for me was a lofted bed! It is about 3? feet off the ground, and the bunny x-pen fit underneath perfectly. That way, I could dedicate the whole space under the bed to the bunnies, and it didn’t feel like the room was being completely cluttered by a giant fence… Not sure if getting a lofted bed frame is an option for you at the moment, but if it is, I would highly recommend trying one!

                    Here is a picture of the current space: http://instagram.com/p/lJSu8hPxLC/ unfortunately I no longer use the x pen, so you can’t see exactly how it fit in, but the rest of the space is the same as it was when I used the x pen. The pen went right around the rug and stayed within the edges of the bed. Directly above this photo is my mattress.

                    ETA: Actually, I didn’t realize, I had this picture: http://instagram.com/p/jOWAuGPxPJ/  you can kind of see here how the pen set up worked under the bed


                  • Sarita
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                      That is a cool idea Darwin and your rabbits are adorable! Is there a ladder for you to get to your bed?

                      I think just taking it all out and starting over is a good idea unless you can do the cool loft bed like Darwin.


                    • Deleted User
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                        Forget the bunny – I want a cool loft bed like Darwin! But even with a ladder, I don’t think I’d make it up into bed…. sigh! Love it Darwin!


                      • Beka27
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                          First off, that is very kind of your parents allowing you to stay there. Times are tough for lots of people, but you really just have to be thankful for what you have and the fact that you have loved ones that can help… Sadly, some are not that fortunate.

                          The xpen is obviously very important right now. You need to protect your stuff and your parents home, and protect your bunny from accidentally getting into something he shouldn’t. Have you considered removing the two extra panels? A 4×4 square is still a respectable amount of space, and might help you not feel so suffocated.

                          Regarding the random toys and stuff… This is tough. Lol! Does he play with everything everyday? Can you store some things elsewhere (maybe a corner of the basement?) and cycle through the toys, take out the current ones/bring up new ones, one a week?


                        • KytKattin
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                            I like Beka’s recommendation. I find my cat (not a rabbit, but whatever) really enjoys when I rotate things through. All of a sudden they seem “new” again. My girl is currently set up in an ex-pen that is “L” shaped. We have a pretty small house, and it being 4×4 would just take up too much space at the moment. That leaves her with 12 sqft, which isn’t great, but it isn’t terrible either. She is a senior bunny though. If she were younger, I would take the back half and build up with NIC cubes to create some sort of tower for her to climb up in. Still though, 12 sqft should be adequate for him if he is only in there while you are away, and it would help give you some of your room back!


                          • jerseygirl
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                              You could reduce pen size but add an upper level and roof to make it more interesting for him. Then you could stack his play stuff on top and just put it out for when he’s out if the pen.
                              Stackable boxes and collapsible tunnels (like the Tunnel Haven) won’t take up as much space when packed away either.

                              Or narrower L-shape pen set up in a corner.

                              I love the idea of loft bed. I considered using bed risers when my rabbit was going through a marking phase.


                            • jerseygirl
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                                Example of pen converted to condo style habitat.
                                 photo image_zps9223d0ff.jpg

                                I also like this idea. A bed set up on 4 sets of drawers.
                                 photo C8173B64-82DE-44EE-96F0-3052ABA313F2-4464-0000056BEF530826_zps200e7296.jpg

                                This has fabric covering the spaces between but basically you get a cross pattern thorough fare under the bed. Would be a hidey house/bunny haven in there. ; )
                                Plus there’s lots of bun-proofed storage with the drawers.


                              • KytKattin
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                                  Wow Jerseygirl, I am so inspired by the first one! I have some spare tall panels from shortening my dogs’ ex-pen and could replace the 4 panels at the back of her cage to make an open-faced second story with a ramp. I kept trying to figure out how I was going to use NICs to build a second level for a senior bunny that doesn’t like to jump, but this would look and work so much better! My only question is how they secured the second floor to the pen? I will probably just use dowels, but I love how it just looks like it is floating!


                                • jerseygirl
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                                    Kytkattin, the photo is from a pretty old bb thread. They had a series of pictures. I have couple more but ill see if can link you to the thread because that showed it really well I think.

                                    ETA: https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/108637/Default.aspx
                                    She explains toward end of thread how some long screws in the frame of the floor extend out to rest on the pens horizontal bars.


                                  • KytKattin
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                                      Thank you so much for finding this Jerseygirl! Sorry for the slow response, I have had a long week. I definitely want to look into making Eclipse’s space bigger in a vertical way because she doesn’t seem to like coming out much here, and 12 sqft doesn’t seem like much space.

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                                  Forum HABITATS AND TOYS Fitting x-pen, etc. into room decor