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Princess Blackie's

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Neat Ideas Cubes © Condo Website

My name is Princess Blackie. I am an 8 year old house bunny. I am a jet black Mini-Lop and weigh 6.8lbs. My mommy slave says I act just like a princess and demand to be treated like one. I am a very active and playful bunny. I love to run, jump, climb, chew, dig, and rearrange my (and mommy's) stuff. I like to shred cardboard and I must say that I am pretty good at it!! You should see what I can do to a cardboard box...it looks just like a piece of swiss cheese when I am finished with it. I can be a love and snuggle bunny too!! I love to have my forhead and face groomed and kissed by my mommy. When she does this my teeth chatter and my whole body melts into the floor. I like to receive most of the kisses, but on occasion I will shower mommy with kisses too! Mommy and I play a nose rub/kisses exchange game...I stick my nose in mommy's face and then lower my chin to the floor to tell mommy I want to play, she rubs my nose with her nose and then sticks her nose under mine...I lick her once or twice if I feel like it and then nuzzle my nose back under hers...and so on and so on.

What I love: Apple stick twigs and leaves, craisins, papaya, banana, frosted mini-wheats, fruit, bagel chips, American Pet Diner's Timothy Hay, playing outside on the deck, laying on air conditioning vents, being spoiled by my grandma, my mommy, kisses on my nose and face, having my ears and cheeks rubbed, shredding cardboard boxes, playing with my towels and stuffed animals... and last, but definitely not least, Prince Tulip (my cyber date to the Halloween Ball)!! ***** What I don't like: Scary shadows, being picked up or held, people sneaking up on me, and being disturbed when I'm trying to get my beauty sleep.

I'm a very good girl...most of the time. I use my litter box and keep my paws and teeth to my own stuff. Recently, I've become a tough bunny in training. I've decided to do some redecorating in my mommy and daddy's new house. (They are newlyweds, you know.) I shortened the phone cord and trimmed the carpeting in the corners for them. Needless to say, they didn't appreciate all of my hard work. When I try to be a tough bunny, I'm grounded to my bedroom (which isn't all that bad.it's very large, has two condos, and lots of boxes for me to play in). But, when I'm a good girl, I get the run of the entire house (3 whole floors.Yipee)!!!! I think I've learned my lesson and I'm going to try a lot harder to be a good girl all of the time.

Mommy, daddy, and grandma used to say that I was afraid of everything, even my shadow...yet, I was never afraid of the vacumn cleaner, telephone, answering machine, blow dryer, stereo, TV, loud toys, bells, and airplanes flying directly overtop of our house (we live minutes from the airport). They could never figure me out. Once they found their brains and realized I was deaf....it all made sense!!

Mommy thinks I am an extremely intelligent and well trained bunny. Even though I can't hear, I've learned to respond to mommy's handle signals. I think Mommy is pretty smart too!! She has learned how to act and "talk" like a bunny and give me treats when I ask for them (I, of course, was her teacher). She also invented and built me the very first Neat Ideas Cubes © Condo (NIC condo). Read below to find out how she did it!!

Princess Blackie's

Neat Ideas Cubes © Condo

I was walking through Office Max one day and spotted boxes of "Neat Idea Cubes" (made by Fellowes --1-800-945-4545). Immediately, a light bulb went off in my head, "Hey, I bet I can use these to make a condo for Blackie." I had no idea how I was going to do it at the time, but I was certain I would be able to figure it out. So I bought two boxes of them, took them home, and started working.

I ended up building Blackie an extremely large bunny condo(42"long x 28"wide x 42"tall) using 3 boxes of "Neat Idea Cubes" (NIC). I found these cubes at Office Max. (Similar storage cube systems can also be found at Sam's Club, Costco, WalMart, and Target). I paid approx. 14.99 dollars per box. Each box contains 17 14" grids and 20 connectors. I only used the 14" grids. The grids are coated with black paint. This paint is bunny safe (I already called Fellowes to check). To connect the grids I used nylon cable ties (which can be found in any electrical department) and double sided Velcro (it works, believe it or not)!!!!. I used 42 total grids for the frame...6 grids for the bottom, top, and sides and 9 grids for the front and back.

I connected each and every grid on all sides, except for the middle front grid (I only connected this grid at the bottom) because this is used as the door. Prior to attaching the top half of the cage, to the bottom half, I put in a 42" x 28" piece of Plexiglas (approx. 13.00 dollars). Then I put a 42" x 28" piece of carpet on top of the Plexiglas (my bunny is litter trained). Finally, I used 9 additional grids to create 3 lofts inside the house (I carpeted the lofts as well). I used double sided Velcro to connect the loft-grids to the frame-grids (so they can be easily removed and/or moved around inside). The Velcro worked great!!!! I used 1 1/4" dowel rods (approx. $4.00 each) to add extra support under the lofts and the top of the house. I slid the dowel rods through the grid holes, just underneath the lofts. The dowel rods support the lofts/3 levels. So the dowel rods kinda 'go through' her house. The dowel rods stick out slightly on both sides of the house.

Cages similar to the one I just described sell for at least 200.00 dollars and up. Blackie's NIC condo cost approximately 75.00 dollars to build (and I still have many grids/materials left to add on). The possibilities are endless with these Neat Idea Cubes. If the sides of this house are removed the rest of the house easily collapses...which makes it easily portable!!!!

A smaller NIC rabbit condo (28"long x 28"wide x 28"long) can also be built with these cubes.