How to Build a Basic Rabbit Cage
Datetime:2012-12-29 Hits:
How to Build a Basic Rabbit Cage
Keeping a rabbit as a pet can be an enjoyable experience, but allowing the rabbit to run free about your home or yard can be both messy and at times traumatic to the rabbit. A rabbit cage serves as a nest for your rabbit, a place of safety to retreat to when the urge to roam has left. While complicated rabbit cages can be purchased from pet supply stores, you can build a basic rabbit cage constructed primarily of wire with a few tools. Building your own gives you the freedom to create a cage of any size, although a basic cage sized 30 by 26 inches should be large enough for most single rabbits.
Instructions
1 Cut the woven wire using the wire cutters for use as the cage body. Cut the 16-gauge woven wire to 30 inches by 36 inches to serve as the floor of the rabbit cage. Cut two pieces of the 14-gauge wire, the first section 30 inches by 36 inches to serve as the top of the cage, and the second section 18 inches by 132 inches to form the walls of the cage.
2 Place the 132-inch length of wire onto a flat, edged surface and use the edge of the surface to bend the wire to create the sides of the cage. Measure a point on the wire that's 36 inches from the end of the piece. Bend the wire downward at a 90-degree angle. Measure 30 inches from the bend and make a second 90-degree downward fold in the wire. Measure an additional 36 inches, and create the third downward fold, leaving a final 30-inch piece. The result is a four-sided rectangle that can serve as the sides of the cage.
3 Connect the two loose 18-inch ends of the bent cage pieces together using the hog rings. Place the hog rings into the hog ring pliers and mount a ring into the loose cage ends to form a secure connection every 4 inches.
4 Set the completed cage side rectangle onto a flat surface. Connect the woven floor wire to the completed side cage piece using the hog rings, placing a ring every 4 inches around the perimeter of the cage. Flip the cage over and connect the top wire piece using the 4-inch hog ring intervals around the perimeter of the cage. Flip the cage over again so that the bottom of the cage sits on the flat surface, creating a six-sided rectangular cube ready for the creation of the door.
5 Cut the door opening into one of the 36-inch sides of the cage. Measure a point about 2 inches from the left side of the 36-inch cage panel and cut a cage door measuring 13 inches wide and positioned 2 inches from both the top and bottom of the cage.
6 Cut a door for the cage from the 14-gauge wire, measuring 15 inches wide by 16 inches high. Place the door against the cut opening so that it overlaps the opening by 1 inch in all directions. Connect the door to the cage on the left side of the opening where the door meets the cage using the hog rings placed every 4 inches along the joint. Test the door, making sure it swings smoothly open and closed along the hog-ring hinges.
7 Place the ready-made door latch onto the right side of the door, following the latch manufacturer's installation instructions. Purchase the cage latch from a pet supply store.
8 Cut a 2-inch high by 8-inch wide feeder hole on the same side as you cut the door opening, starting 2 inches from the right side of the wire panel edge and 2 inches from the bottom of the cage. Attach a feeder purchased from a pet supply store through this opening.
