How to make a cage for a decorative rabbit yourself
Keeping rabbits in an apartment or in your own house has its own characteristics. In many ways, they are related to where the pet will live, eat and walk. It is necessary to equip the animal with its own corner, where it will be comfortable to stay awake and relax. It is for these purposes that you will need a cage for a decorative rabbit.
DIY decorative rabbit cage
You can buy the cages at the pet store or make your own. Having decided to build a house for the animal with your own hands, you should know what materials to get and how to make it most correctly.
What should be a cage for a decorative rabbit?
Bunny cages sold in specialty stores are not cheap. The only way out is to start making a home for your pet yourself. But without proper knowledge about how big it should be and from what materials it should be made, it is impractical to do this. In addition, the constructed cage should not take up a lot of space in the premises of an apartment or house. It should be convenient for a person to approach the animal, feed it and clean the cage.
Decorative rabbits are fragile and delicate animals. It is necessary to provide them with the most thorough care so that these pets are not disturbed by health problems, developmental problems, etc. In many ways, such care depends on the main habitat of the eared, therefore, a cage for decorative rabbits is made precisely for their convenience. So, special attention should be paid to the floor of the house. It is best to use a plastic pallet. Metal lattice surfaces can harm the animal, injure its paws. Plus, you'll need soft bedding.
Keeping decorative rabbits at home without a designated area is impossible. In addition, the arrangement of a separate house with everything necessary allows you to maintain order in the home. The fact is that most of the animals have an animal instinct to mark their territory, as well as to relieve themselves outside their habitat. In their own home, they are clean and can even restrain themselves for hours. But as soon as they get out into the open, they leave traces everywhere. This is the reason why a novice breeder needs to teach a pet to walk in a litter box, in addition to building a cage. In addition, these 2 devices are easy to connect together so that the animal can go about his business when it is convenient for him.
More about sizes
If the cage for a new pet is expensive, there is no need to give up. Making your own home for an eared is easy and even fun.
And the first thing a breeder will face when planning a cage for decorative rabbits is the correct size.Whether or not it is worth keeping a furry in a small cage depends largely on whether it has enough room to move around. The minimum size, according to all norms, should be 4 times the size of the animal itself. If your home has a lot of free space, it doesn't matter. A large cage or even an aviary can be a reason to find a mate for your pet.
Bunny cages are often made to specific standards. The simplest and most popular do-it-yourself cell models have the following sizes:
- 100 cm long and 50 cm wide;
- 100 cm long and 60 cm wide;
- 80 cm long and 60 cm wide.
We must not forget about the height of the structure most suitable for the animal.
The top floor should be located at a height that can allow the animal to stand on its hind legs. In addition, some breeders prefer keeping their pets in two-story cages. Whether it is worth making such a house for a rabbit is determined by the owner himself. A multi-tiered structure must also have a length, width and height suitable for free movement.
It is also important that even the largest size of the house for a decorative rabbit will not replace its freedom of movement across the expanses of the apartment, therefore it is necessary to release the animal into the wild for several hours a day. If this is not done, decorative rabbits begin to get sick, they show signs of obesity and the activity of internal organs is disrupted, and this is a direct path to death.
A few tips from experienced breeders
When building cages for decorative rabbits, it is necessary to take into account the advice of already experienced owners of such pets. The fact is that ignorance of the characteristics of the animals themselves can lead to serious problems in the future. Therefore, deciding to create a house for a pet on your own, you should take into account the fact that:
- Bunny rabbits move only on a flat, flat floor with litter. These animals do not have pads on their paws, like other pets. Without them, it will be inconvenient for the rabbit to move along the trellis, or some uneven surfaces. In addition, the softness of the bottom of the house avoids inflammation of the animal's limbs.
- The cage must not be dyed or coated with any other synthetic toxic substances. We must not forget that these pets love to chew on everything. And such a human error may even cost the life of an animal.
- Only durable materials should be chosen for the construction of the cage. The reason is the same: animals gnaw everything that comes their way.
If the newly-made rabbit owner has any doubts about the design features of the pet house or any other questions, you should go to the store with ready-made cages. You don't need to buy anything. The fact is that specialized products for the eared ones are made in accordance with all standards. Having studied several models, it is easy to embody their semblance to yourself from those materials that are on the farm.
If on your own it does not work out what you want, do not give up. The Internet has a large number of tutorials and tips from experienced breeders on how to build a home for your own pet. It remains only to prepare everything you need and follow the step-by-step instructions.
What you need to build a house for decorative rabbits
At the time of the start of construction, a person should have the most important thing - a drawing of the future structure. If there is one, you should start looking for the necessary materials. For these purposes you will need:
- plywood sheets;
- wooden beam;
- metal mesh;
- awnings (hinges) for the future door;
- linoleum or other litter option.
It is equally important to prepare the tools:
- hammer;
- nails;
- self-tapping screws;
- screwdriver or screwdriver;
- scissors for metal;
- saw on wood.
For construction, you will also need a construction tape or a sewing centimeter in order to correctly calculate the required dimensions of the future structure.Having prepared everything you need, you should start assembling the frame of the future cell. But, before that, you should make the markup. How many centimeters in length, height and width the house for the animal will be depends on the chosen model of the structure.
Some breeders may have questions about which bedding is best for the animals. Decorative rabbits are sensitive to any material. But often what is convenient for them brings unnecessary trouble to the person. Pets feel good on a floor covered with newspapers or natural fabrics. Some breeders prefer to sprinkle sawdust on the floor in the cage, but such materials carry a lot of debris around the apartment. There is no ideal option, everyone chooses for himself what he likes best.
Making a house for decorative rabbits
Building a cage for decorative rabbits is not a difficult, difficult task. Anyone who has at least a little bit of ordinary tools can cope with it: a hammer, a saw and a screwdriver. A pet cage is made like this:
- The frame of the future crawl house is constructed from the pre-prepared bars. All wooden elements are fastened together with self-tapping screws.
- The floor is cut from a sheet of plywood according to the specified dimensions and nailed to the bottom of the finished frame.
- The frame is covered with a metal mesh. Its edge is fixed from one of the corners of the structure with nails.
- On one side of the house, a place is selected for the door. Sheds are screwed to the wooden frame, to which the door leaf itself must later be screwed.
- The door frame is assembled, which is covered with a mesh. It should be hung on its hinges and checked for correct operation.
- The roof is being made. It is best to make it removable, which will facilitate easy access for feeding the rabbit, as well as cleaning his house.
After all these steps have been completed, you should proceed to another important part of construction: to equip the pet's future place of residence with everything you need. Proper maintenance of a rabbit requires a person to perform several actions that are important for the life of the animal. The owner of the eared one should provide him with comfort when eating, resting, and also on trips "according to need", therefore, a feeder, a drinking bowl and a tray should be installed in the made house.
It is equally important to find a suitable place for the house. It is better to install it on the floor so that the eagle can go out for a walk on its own. In addition, in this place the air must move freely, forming the necessary ventilation. At the same time, drafts should be avoided. Animals are very susceptible to living conditions and from any such human error can be injured or sick.
Another popular option for building a rabbit house
Decorative rabbits love space, and it is important for their owner to provide them with it. In search of a solution to the problem of where to find a suitable corner for these animals, some things and pieces of furniture that have not been used for their intended purpose for a long time can help. One of these is a wooden table. If somewhere in the country, in a pantry or in a shed there is this unnecessary item, he should be given a second life.
The novice breeder was lucky if he managed to get a rectangular or square table with four legs. Its structure already has the necessary wooden supports, which will serve as a frame for the structure, as well as a cover (tabletop). The only thing left for a person is:
- Strengthen the structure of the future house with the missing wooden lintels. The bar is screwed to the table legs with self-tapping screws.
- Screw the awnings for the future door to the table leg.
- Cover the structure with a mesh.
It is not necessary to round the table with a net. If the pet's house is located against a wall, one side of it can be sheathed with boards or plywood. The same actions are carried out with the doorway.Each pet owner can choose a convenient and economical version of the model of the future structure.
A table cage has many advantages. One of them is ease of cleaning. In order to clean the floor in the house, you just need to move it. And if linoleum is used as the basis of the litter, it will also be easy to get out from under the table to wash and dry in the sun.