Advice from those experienced in making DIY enclosures?

[Critterfan87]

So, the area I'm thinking of making a bunny's has room for a hutch, which I'll need to secure the rabbit in because of my other animals, at least until I know how everyone gets along. There is room for a pen/run around the cage that it will have access to at least part of the day. Because a fair amount of time will be spent secured, I want to maximize the allotted space for the cage, as big and usable as possible. Initially I was looking at commercial hutches/chicken coops because they look nice but I can't find one that makes use of the space, they are either too big or too small and none are higher than two levels. I want to use mostly solid flooring between levels to give best use of the different stories and reduce the risk of falling, which rules out the taller multi level commercial metal ferret type cages, that also don't align with the dimensions I'm working with anyway.

So now I'm thinking of making my own, probably somewhat similar to the one pictured but I've never made anything like that before. What is a good space between levels? Are the storage cubes sturdy enough for 3 or 4 levels? Anyone have good tips for making levels that don't require a saw or too many tools? Anything else you can think of that I should know?

The size of the cage can be 7' long by 3' wide and as tall as 6 1/2', is that a reasonable size for one bun, of the smaller breeds?
Thanks for any replies!

 

[Kirsty T]

Hi I made my enclosure from herras fencing purchased through fb marketplace. We burried the stabilising blocks and meshed over the ground and sides. Area is approx 6x3 mtr. Hutch sits in one corner

 

[Skip&Piper]

My hubby built ours, it’s 4’ wide and 12’ long. I’ll post a couple pics below. It’s still a work in progress, we hope to add some more complete levels but they are not 100% with litter training yet so I need all the floor easy to access! It was fairly simple (keep in mind hubby did the hard work, so it seemed really easy to me, haha!)

I like this better than the NIC cubes (though I’ve never tried those) just because I can actually get inside here for cleaning and it gives room for a lot of height between levels.




It’s also easy to split, which we had to do when we found out our sisters were actually brother and sister!

 

[Imbrium]

Best deal I know of on the grids for the cage style you linked is at Sears (found in the garage shelving area); I believe it's 23 grids for around $21.99, or it was a couple years ago. You can buy a sheet of coroplast (4'x8') at Home Depot as flooring (Lowe's does not sell it that I've seen), which requires only a $1 box cutter (or exacto knife) to cut. Larger condos need a little reinforcement, especially around door areas and underneath upper floors (if using coroplast rather than plywood or something) to prevent sagging. This can be done with hardwood dowels (not soft, in case of chewing) bought at the hardware store and secured with zip-ties. You can buy a bag of 1000 4'' zipties at Home Depot, which is by far the best value they offer on them and is more than enough to get the job done.

I have built the following size/shape condos over the years (all dimensions are in grids): 2x3x5, 2x4x5, 3x3x5 and 3x6x4. The first three were 3 levels and the last one is 2. At *least* one level needs to be 2 grids high. For cleaning purposes (as someone 5'3''), I have found the best arrangement is to have the bottom floor be 2 grids high and the middle/upper levels to be 1.5 grids high (1 grid high for middle level/2 for top didn't leave much space to wedge into the middle one for cleaning). Top floor cleaning is mostly done with a shop vac that can reach to the back (if you buy one, do yourself a favor and get one with a 2.5 inch hose!).

 

[Critterfan87]

Can I see some pictures on how the doors for these type of cages are setup?

 

[Blue eyes]

Can I see some pictures on how the doors for these type of cages are setup?

Are you asking about the doors on the grid (cube shelves) cages?

 

[Critterfan87]

Yeah. I've decided on the shelving units to buy and have a general layout and how to go about it in mind but I'm having a hard time picturing hinges (most use zip ties for that?) and latches for making doors. I'm a very visual learner and can't find good pictures online to look at.

 

[Blue eyes]

The photo you posted above is the cage I made. I used 2 zip ties for the hinge side of each door. [I also had a door on the 2nd level on the right side which isn't apparent in the photo.]

At first I used large binder clips to hold the doors shut. This worked for one rabbit. But when I got a 2nd rabbit, he was able to push his way through. I then switched to the kind of hook shown in 2nd photo below.

 

[Critterfan87]

The panels I've about decided on are 14" x 14" x 14" and seem extra sturdy. Did some math and measuring today and looks like I can do two panels wide, 24 inches, by 6 panels high, 84 inches, by 6 panels long, 84 inches. Almost could have done 7 panels long but that's 3 inches too far unfortunately.

 

[Blue eyes]

You'll want to plan in several doors to be sure you can access all parts of the cage. Just consider the location of the doors as some structural support is lost where there are doors.

 

[Critterfan87]

Ugh, 28 inches wide, I can actually count.

 

[Imbrium]

Wooden dowels can be strategically zip-tied to parts of the cage that need extra support [Edit: places like Home Depot have both hardwood and softwood dowels - make sure to use the HARD wood dowels if they're in a location where a rabbit might have an opportunity to chew on it]. I usually make doors 2 grids wide x 2 grids high so I can get my shoulders in there easily to clean and use carabiners (cheap ones can be had at Walmart or Dollar Tree for about $1) to clip the doors shut (zipties on the hinge side). The second style of clip that Blue eyes linked would work equally well.