A crazy year

So obviously I've been neglecting to update, but I feel I have a good excuse. I am about to graduate from college and I am planning my wedding which will take place exactly 3 days after my last class. Needless to say, my life is very busy.

The good news is that my fiance and I have found a nice little apartment which Umbra can run around. We move in in a couple of weeks which will be exciting but also time consuming.

I hope that once all of these major life changes have passed that I can again begin blogging frequently.

Until then I will give you an update on Umbra. She recently had her yearly check up and is in good health, although she could still stand to loose a few ounces. Umbra has also began to warm up to my fiance after nearly 3 years that I have had her. She now lets him pet her, but she also tries to eat his hair so he is scared of her now which is the silliest thing for a grown man to be afraid of.

Hope all is going well for all of you, and I hope that we can talk more again soon!

A belated Christmas/New Year's post

So it seems that all my recent posts come with an appolgy for lack of activity... so sorry... again.

I hope this post makes up for it. I thought I would share a little project I had been working on as a Christmas present to my grandparents and Regina (who still goes by Roger).

I made them a custom bunny condo. This was the first I have ever made so, it isn't perfect, but I'm proud nonetheless. Building a condo can be pricy (although not as much as some larger store-bought
cages) but it helped that many of the supplies I already had: plywood (which was left over from previous project and may have even originated from a dumpster), zip ties, power tools, screws, brackets and 1X1 wood strips. I used linoleum for the 1st floor and carpet squares for the second and for the ramp. I got these from Habitat for Humanity Restore, which like the thrift store for home improvement supplies. The only things I had to purchase full price were some additional brackets, wheels (so that my grandparents can move the condo easily) and spray adhesive for the linoleum. I scavenged some grids from Umbra's condo (since she doesn't stay in it) and purchased some more from Sears which happened to be on sale. I should mention that I had originally bought grids at target, but returned them on account that the spaces were too wide.

 

I made the condo 2 by 3 grids (I believe each grid is about 24 inches long). You may notice from the image about that I miscalculated  the length of the sides: they should have been a little bit longer so that they over lapped. For this reason I used brackets for added stability.

Wheels allow the condo to be moved with ease.

Unfortunately, at this point I began to slack off on documenting my process so the next image will be the finished product.

Regina/Roger investigate her new digs.

Ave you can see that I created a private room for Regina to hide in. The ramp was made by cutting down some closet shelving which we were not using. I zip-tied a strip of carpet to it for better traction. The second floor sits atop two 1x1 wood strips. Not visible in the photo, the strips have notches are cut into the underside at each end so that they sit snugly over the grid wires.

Although Regina seemed wary of the new cage (she is a shy bunny), my grandparents liked it, although they were shocked at its size. I do have a feeling however, that like Umbra, Regina will not end up being confined in the new condo. She spends most of her time having free run of a spare bedroom. A screen allows her to see what is going on in the house. She does like to climb up on a bookcase in the room where she likes to sample some literature.

After the final assembly Regina retired to her favorite corner and remained in bun-loaf mode the remainder of our visit. She was tired of all the hustle and bustle, and even refused treats from my grandma, which is just as well because she certainly has not lost any weight despite having more room for exercise.