Making a cage for a domestic rabbit with your own hands
Decorative rabbits have become favorite pets. Plush appearance, kindness and quick-wittedness, variety of colors and hypoallergenicity have created a good reputation for these animals. However, keeping them in apartments is impossible without special cages, which you can buy at any pet store or make yourself.
Decorative rabbits need proper nutrition, a warm room, no drafts and direct sunlight, and a clean and spacious cage. The rabbit cage should be cleaned regularly - this is the key to the health of the animal, because many harmful microbes multiply in a dirty litter and an overcrowded toilet. Daily care in addition to feeding and drinking includes brushing the fur.
Rabbits are quite freedom-loving animals and many breeders advise using the cage only as a shelter, for sleeping and feeding. Otherwise, they provide the animal with the opportunity to move around the apartment. With this content, the rabbit will spend several hours a day in the cage, move a lot and feel quite comfortable.
Constant living even in a very large cage without walking will negatively affect the emotional state of the rabbit and lead to many diseases.
It is worth remembering that rabbits are social animals and several pets can be kept in one cage. However, it should be borne in mind that males can be aggressive in the fight for females and territory. If it is not possible to castrate the male, it is better to keep the adults in different cages, but close to each other. A pair of rabbits can live peacefully together if the male is castrated.
Cell location
The bunny cage should not stand close to heating appliances or under air conditioners. The place where the cage is located must be protected from drafts. It is also unacceptable to place the cage in direct sunlight. The best place is a bright one, located in the room opposite the window. In the warm season, the cage with the animal can be taken out onto the balcony or loggia. In this case, it is worth placing the rabbit's dwelling in a well-shaded place to avoid overheating and death of the animal.
Do not place the cage on an unglazed balcony - rabbits are very sensitive to drafts and temperature changes.
Cage dimensions
The size of the cage for decorative rabbits depends on the size of the animal and the possibility of it being outside its shelter. For an animal that spends 4-6 hours at liberty at knocks, the minimum cage size is 45 by 80 cm.If the rabbit is restricted in walking, then the size of its dwelling is increased to a minimum of 55 by 100 cm with a height of 40 cm.
Cell selection
When choosing a home for your pet, it is worth remembering that it must be safe and convenient, both for the pet and for cleaning. Safety is the absence of sharp corners, cuts or elements about which the animal can be injured. Drinking bowls and feeders should also be rounded. It is better to choose the bottom of the cage from a mesh with a fine section. The best option would be a cage, the walls and ceiling of which are made of metal rods. You should not buy painted options - they look more attractive, but the habit of rabbits to gnaw everything can play a cruel joke and having “tried it on the tooth” his new home, the rabbit may well be poisoned with paint.
A house made of durable organic glass is not the best choice.
Such housing guarantees cleanliness around the cage, but does not have proper ventilation and on hot days the animal can get overheated, get sick or even die.
Shelter, feeders and bedding
Proper organization of a new rabbit house should include the presence of a toilet, shelter, feeders and drinkers. An automatic drinker will keep the water fresh and protect it from dust, fluff, and feed particles. There should be two feeders - one of them is a deep bowl for compound feed and delicacies. Grass, lettuce, hay and vegetables are placed in another feeder, in the form of a tray or manger. Hay or straw can be used as bedding, large sawdust is also suitable. Some breeders use soft bath rugs or corrugated cardboard as bedding.
It is necessary to install a wooden house in the cage, which will serve as a reliable shelter for the rabbit. Instead of a house, you can place a box - the animal can improve it to its taste by making additional doors or windows. Better to train your rabbit to use a litter box, this will make cleaning your home easier. It is forbidden to use litter for cat litters - the rabbit will gnaw on the absorbent granules and cause serious poisoning. The bottom of the tray is covered with paper, on top of which sawdust or shavings are poured.
Self-made cage
Making a cage for a rabbit with your own hands is not difficult, and freedom of action allows you to create a unique and interesting home for your pet, safe and suitable for the size and temperament of the animal.
Materials for making
- Blueprints,
- Nails and hammer
- Plywood,
- Self-tapping screws,
- Tin sheet, thickness 0.2
- Mesh section,
- File and scissors
Drawings can be done independently, or you can find a ready-made version. The cage can be in one or two tiers. Construction starts from the floor. For this, a sheet of plywood is cut to size. The dimensions are considered optimal - 90x60x50 cm for one adult animal. A tin sheet of the same size is placed on the plywood. You can do without it, but with the tin on the floor, cleaning the cage will be much easier. Next, the plywood for the walls is cut. If the pet house is supposed to be in two tiers, then the side wall and the back are made of plywood, and the rest are made of mesh. Everything is fastened together with nails and to the floor - with self-tapping screws. The door is made of mesh and slats, about 30 by 30 cm in size. The second tier is made of plywood and is attached to the first with self-tapping screws. A ladder made of wooden slats and plywood should be at least 15 cm wide. And the first tier is attached to feeders and drinkers, which can be bought at a pet store, on the second tier - a shelter for a pet.
Do not cover the walls of the rabbit house with varnishes or paint. The substances they contain can be dangerous for the life of the animal!
Another option for making a cage involves using an old wooden table. Wooden frames are attached to the legs with a metal mesh stretched over them. It is important to clean all the attachment points of the mesh - there should be no sharp corners, protruding screws or other parts. A plywood sheet is installed in place of the back wall. The hinges and door are attached to the front of the frame. The space can also be split into two or even three tiers, if dimensions permit, by installing ladders and mesh floors between the tiers. Any non-slippery material is laid on the bottom. Feeders and a tray are placed on the first tier, a house on the second.