Building an outside hutch

[snap]

Yep, so nobody in America feels like building a big enough cage because people are stupid here and buy whatever is on sale. And little rabbits.

Therefore I have modified some plans I found and am building my own. It is...not going smoothly but it's getting there. XD

Obviously I cannot change materials anymore, so I'm just hoping none of it is bad.

But, we've run into some snags. I know wire needs to go on the inside so the buns won't chew the wood and we need a new cage, but how am I supposed to go about doing this? The cage is, in total, 5h x 8w x 3l(yeah, it's huge) so we can't just turn it any which way we please whenever we feel like.

Also, so far we've only put wire on the front, because the doors ended up too big and we need to do some trimming so we can latch it, but we've just been using staples. Will that hold or is there a better way to keep wire on? These are 12 pound rabbits, but I've leaned on the wire and it stays put.

On the topic of wire, anyone have a good way to cut it? We had already made about 4 trips to the store that day so we used little wire cutters and cut every wire for three feet. It's hard. :[

Aaaand, lastly what angle is recommended for roofs? I would think 45 or so but I want to make sure before we go and ((attempt to)) trim the frame to put on the roof.

Sorry for the long post, I just don't want runaway/wet/injured rabbits.

 

[PepnFluff]

Is your wood treated? Is that the reason for having the wire on the inside? Cause if it's not I'd just put it on the outside, rabbits do chew but none of my rabbits (including a chew-a-holic) have ever done any considerably damage to the frame of the hut. For the securing of the wire I'd use U nails, they look exactly like a U and I've found are more secure than staples. 45 degrees sounds like a good angle, make sure the roof slopes away from the hutch do the rain etc doesn't wash over the front. Hopethis all helps And we'd love to see pictures once done

For cutting thewire, wire snippers are about it unless you have someone with like a laser something cutter like my Dad who kindly offered when I was on my last sheet to cut it laserly - I'd snipped 6 sheets before this haha.

 

[snap]

Well it's pressure treated, but I've given both my rabbits untreated blocks of wood, little four inches of 2 x 4s, about two months ago and they're pretty well chewed up. So we're just doing it as a precaution against them chewing through the frame. XD
I'll go find some U nails then. 8D

Thank you for the help! I'll definitely try to post pictures if we ever finish((which hopefully we will, as we need the current cage for more rabbits in January! XD)), but it will probably quite ugly by then as we are awful at building. XD

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Depending on the spaces in the wire mesh, your buns may still be able to access the pressure treated wood (could be quite dangerous health-wise). I would probably nail untreated wood or a metal cover over any pressure treated wood that could possibly accessible by buns.

Nate just looked over my shoulder, and said that shed roofs should be no less than 35 degrees in general, but that it depends on the height of the building.
Here is a handy dandy roof pitch calculator
http://roofgenius.com/roofpitch.htm

Can't wait to see the finished results!!!

 

[snap]

The mesh is all .5 x .5 inch...And they're about 12 pound bunnies so I don't think they can chew through it?
I was told pressure treated wood was okay. :x

And I'm pretty sure the roof is somewhere around 40-50 degrees.

Is there anything I can do to test if the mesh will hold up, besides putting the rabbits on it? I don't want to build the whole cage then have the mesh not be able to hold them.

 

[delstu]

snap wrote:

The mesh is all .5 x .5 inch...And they're about 12 pound bunnies so I don't think they can chew through it?
I was told pressure treated wood was okay. :x

And I'm pretty sure the roof is somewhere around 40-50 degrees.

Is there anything I can do to test if the mesh will hold up, besides putting the rabbits on it? I don't want to build the whole cage then have the mesh not be able to hold them.

What guage wire is used in the mesh? If it is as thin as chicken wire some predators can tear through it. 14 guage galvanized wire is recommended. You can use 1X1 for the sides and top, .5X1 for the floor.

I use diagonal cutters for cutting wire. I tried sheet metal snips but like the diagonal cutters best. Electrician's pliers also work but it can be more difficult to access a small area.

Rabbits should never chew on treated lumber as the chemicals can be toxic to them.

 

[snap]

delstu- I'm pretty sure it's 14 gauge, and galvanized. We also don't have any sizes besides .5x.5 and 2x1 anywhere around here. I checked three stores.

Okay. I was unaware of chemicals. :x We'll cover up exposed areas with something...probably some metal plates.

 

[delstu]

Hi snap
those sizes should be OK - .5X.5 for the floor and 2X1 for everything else sounds good. If quantities dictate you could even use the .5X.5 for sides or top.

The only reason for using the larger sized openings is cost of materials.

 

[snap]

delstu- We actually went back for more mesh yesterday and the mesh isn't 2x1 it's more like 3x2 which I wouldn't feel safe using.


Thanks for all your help you guys, the bunnies and I appreciate it. n_n And for those of you who wanted to see the finished thing, here is a picture(with my very happy rabbits).

Cage!