Indoor Hutch
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angoralover
Well-Known Member
I found a website about how you can build a onestory woven wirerabbit hutch, but I couldn't find any infoabout building a two story woodenrabbit hutch, sorry.
http://petplace.netscape.com/Articles/artShow.asp?artID=3866
Hope the info helps! And welcome to the forum! Cassandra
http://petplace.netscape.com/Articles/artShow.asp?artID=3866
Hope the info helps! And welcome to the forum! Cassandra
angoralover
Well-Known Member
I finally found a website on how to build a single story wooden rabbit hutch:
http://bunnyrabbit.com/Newsletter/bunnyrabbitcom_articles/how_do_you_build_a_rabbit_hutch.htm
Hope that info helpstoo!Cassandra
http://bunnyrabbit.com/Newsletter/bunnyrabbitcom_articles/how_do_you_build_a_rabbit_hutch.htm
Hope that info helpstoo!Cassandra
Rowan
Well-Known Member
Hi Mike
If you're ok at carpentry and can't find a plan you could make your own.I'd never made a hutch - or had rabbits before -and I managed a four storey one (I was getting four rabbits). I madethe basic frame from 3x1 planedsoftwood and the back and thefloors from marine ply, but any decent ply is ok. I gotwiremeshfrom my local farmers supply, it came in handy sheets of2'x3'. Make sure the wire isn't too thin as otherwise the rabbits canchew through it. The ply I used throughout was 5/8ths of an inch thick,or to be confusing, just under 1cm. It doesn't need to be more, unlessof course you've got a giant breed .
For the frame I used 6 uprights, one for each corner and then onehalfway along the back and one halfway along the front. The halfwayones were to hold the doors in place and fix the blocks to to hold upthe floors. Round the base I put 4x1 to stop the rabbits kicking theirhay and stuff everywhere, round the outside of the uprights becausethat was easier, and then a rectangular frame at the topfastened between the uprights to make it more solid. I then screwed theback on, this could be a much lighter weight ply as it's mainly to holdit steady. Then I put the sides on, I stapled a strip of ply to each ofthe long sides of the wire mesh and fixed the ply to the side uprights,and the top horizontal, that was because I wanted the cagedepth to be wider than the 2' the mesh came in. Because itwas also higher than the 3' of the mesh I overlapped it, and cut offwhat I didn't need at the top then stapled the mesh to the tophorizontal.
I made the doors fit the whole front, opening from the sides, I hadfour of them, so that it could open completely to make cleaning mucheasier. I used 2x1 planed softwood, on that occasion I used halvingjoints but on my latest cage I'm just using the right dimensions andlong screws, and it doesn't look that different. I used the sheets ofwire mesh in their original size as a guide to the dimensions (yes it'sa big cage ) and stapled them onto the 2x1, then fixed hinges to thedoors, fairly solid ones but not expensive. To keep the doors shut Imade swivel latches with a screw fastening through the middle of asmallrectangle of wood that twists round so that when it'svertical the doors are free and when it's twisted to horizontal itholds the door shut. Any latch will do I just wanted one that was easyand cat proof.
The floors are held by small offcut blocksof the3x1 screwed to the frame at the heights I wanted them. I then cut thefloors - plywood again and finished with a non toxic waterbased mattvarnish to make cleaning much easier - to fit the space, so that I hadlittle cutouts for the frame but they rest on the offcutblocks. The ceiling is toughened glass to maiximise light,but it could be wood or mesh or whatever you want.
My cage goes from the floor up, but if you want it raised then juststart the floors, side etc from the height on the frame you want it,and if necessary put support struts lower down. I haven't givendimensions because I made my cage to fit a certain space, mixed with myguess of the necessary space my rabbits might eventually need. I err onthe generous side of these things as you can probably tell from thedetails. Originally it was built as a four storey dwelling that theycould run up and down all four floors of but at the moment due tohormones it's been adapted into 'flats'. It took two days to complete,but I'm not a carpenter and I was learning a lot as I went along, plusit's probably a lot bigger than the average cage. The most importantthing I found is to decide what I wanted and then to draw verycarefully exactly how it's going to work, ie how the frame's going tofit together, and exactly what the dimensions are BEFORE the tools areout, during is a much more frustrating process!
Outdoor cages usually have a covered over section but indoor ones don'tneed that. I would suggest you make it big enough to have somethinglike a cardboard box with holes cut in the sides inside the cage as itgives the rabbit somewhere to hide and something to chew. Making thedistance between floors as high as possible makes it much easier toclean as well as letting the rabbit stretch up to his/her full height,which is fun to watch as well as good for the rabbit. I put rampsbetween floors for the higher stretches.
I'd show you a photo but I still can't get pictures onto my computeryet. I know this is a very long answer, especially since I haven'tgiven you any pictures or diagrams, but I just wanted to show that it'spossible to have no experience of cages and still design one.
I hope it helps
Kate
If you're ok at carpentry and can't find a plan you could make your own
.I'd never made a hutch - or had rabbits before -and I managed a four storey one (I was getting four rabbits). I madethe basic frame from 3x1 planedsoftwood and the back and thefloors from marine ply, but any decent ply is ok. I gotwiremeshfrom my local farmers supply, it came in handy sheets of2'x3'. Make sure the wire isn't too thin as otherwise the rabbits canchew through it. The ply I used throughout was 5/8ths of an inch thick,or to be confusing, just under 1cm. It doesn't need to be more, unlessof course you've got a giant breed .For the frame I used 6 uprights, one for each corner and then onehalfway along the back and one halfway along the front. The halfwayones were to hold the doors in place and fix the blocks to to hold upthe floors. Round the base I put 4x1 to stop the rabbits kicking theirhay and stuff everywhere, round the outside of the uprights becausethat was easier, and then a rectangular frame at the topfastened between the uprights to make it more solid. I then screwed theback on, this could be a much lighter weight ply as it's mainly to holdit steady. Then I put the sides on, I stapled a strip of ply to each ofthe long sides of the wire mesh and fixed the ply to the side uprights,and the top horizontal, that was because I wanted the cagedepth to be wider than the 2' the mesh came in. Because itwas also higher than the 3' of the mesh I overlapped it, and cut offwhat I didn't need at the top then stapled the mesh to the tophorizontal.
I made the doors fit the whole front, opening from the sides, I hadfour of them, so that it could open completely to make cleaning mucheasier. I used 2x1 planed softwood, on that occasion I used halvingjoints but on my latest cage I'm just using the right dimensions andlong screws, and it doesn't look that different. I used the sheets ofwire mesh in their original size as a guide to the dimensions (yes it'sa big cage ) and stapled them onto the 2x1, then fixed hinges to thedoors, fairly solid ones but not expensive. To keep the doors shut Imade swivel latches with a screw fastening through the middle of asmallrectangle of wood that twists round so that when it'svertical the doors are free and when it's twisted to horizontal itholds the door shut. Any latch will do I just wanted one that was easyand cat proof.
The floors are held by small offcut blocksof the3x1 screwed to the frame at the heights I wanted them. I then cut thefloors - plywood again and finished with a non toxic waterbased mattvarnish to make cleaning much easier - to fit the space, so that I hadlittle cutouts for the frame but they rest on the offcutblocks. The ceiling is toughened glass to maiximise light,but it could be wood or mesh or whatever you want.
My cage goes from the floor up, but if you want it raised then juststart the floors, side etc from the height on the frame you want it,and if necessary put support struts lower down. I haven't givendimensions because I made my cage to fit a certain space, mixed with myguess of the necessary space my rabbits might eventually need. I err onthe generous side of these things as you can probably tell from thedetails. Originally it was built as a four storey dwelling that theycould run up and down all four floors of but at the moment due tohormones it's been adapted into 'flats'. It took two days to complete,but I'm not a carpenter and I was learning a lot as I went along, plusit's probably a lot bigger than the average cage. The most importantthing I found is to decide what I wanted and then to draw verycarefully exactly how it's going to work, ie how the frame's going tofit together, and exactly what the dimensions are BEFORE the tools areout, during is a much more frustrating process!
Outdoor cages usually have a covered over section but indoor ones don'tneed that. I would suggest you make it big enough to have somethinglike a cardboard box with holes cut in the sides inside the cage as itgives the rabbit somewhere to hide and something to chew. Making thedistance between floors as high as possible makes it much easier toclean as well as letting the rabbit stretch up to his/her full height,which is fun to watch as well as good for the rabbit. I put rampsbetween floors for the higher stretches.
I'd show you a photo but I still can't get pictures onto my computeryet. I know this is a very long answer, especially since I haven'tgiven you any pictures or diagrams, but I just wanted to show that it'spossible to have no experience of cages and still design one.
I hope it helps
Kate
