Dog crate for a rabbit house?

[ArdenBunny]

Has anybody transformed a dog crate into an indoor habbit hutch/house/cage before? The reason I am asking is that I have actually been wanting to downsize my sable sheltie's crate. He is VERY oversized for a sheltie, but the crate I bought is too big for him. So I am thinking about buying him a two door crate (if you have dogs and don't own a two door crate you don't know what you are missing :biggrin and using the bigger one for a rabbit home. It's very spacious, even for him. He weighs almost 30 pounds, and he has more than enough room. I'm too lazy to get up to go measure it, but it's big enough for a large collie.



Any ideas on how to go about fixing it up to make it rabbit ready?

 

[Revverress]

I use large dog crates as cages for the majority of my bunnies, and I always advise them as a good alternative to overpriced pet store cages.

To make a dog crate "rabbit ready", just treat it as a regular bunny cage. Add a litter box, hay rack, toys, etc. You can even attach an exercise pen to the open door to add more running space if you'd like. Some of my cages have extra shelves made of zip-tied NIC cubes added as well, since dog crates offer plenty of height space. The major downside to using dog crates is that hay, fur, and litter can get kicked out easily, so invest in a good shop vac or prepare to do a lot of sweeping. A pet buyer once added plexiglass "siding" to the inside of the cage to keep hay in, so that may work as well. The plastic bottom of crates is easy to clean and sweep, and the bunnies do well hoping on the flooring. I love my dog crate cage set-up! :biggrin2:

 

[JimD]

Very little needs to be done, if anything at all.

I know a lot of owners that use crates. The only modification/addition that I've seen added is a wire bottom that sits above the tray.

If the bun is litter trained, no wire bottom is needed. Just put their litter pan in with them.

If the bun is NOT litter trained, you have a few options......
~ put in a wire bottom
~ fill the tray with bedding/litter and change it when soiled
~ litter train the bun


:biggrin:

 

[ArdenBunny]

I'll take the last option, thanks - litter train the bun. :biggrin: What kind of wire is best to use until the bunny IS litter trained, though?

 

[toyabrooke]

I use a collapsable dog crate for Horatio's house. It comes with a pull put tray at the bottom, so I lined that with a big piece of Lino and taped it down at the sides. I never need to take out the tray because I just sweet up all the hay etc. whenever I clean him. Some mess will go down the sides of the cage, but I save that cleaning for apartment inspections

 

[JimD]

ArdenBunny wrote:

What kind of wire is best to use until the bunny IS litter trained, though?

Most home improvement stores like Home Depot orLowes carry wire mesh called "hardware cloth".
It's a galvanized wire mesh screening usually made with 1/2" openings.
A commom manufacturer is Yardgard.
You might have to build a wood frame and/or supports depending on how big it needs to be.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=202515236&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=202515236&cm_mmc=shopping%2d%5f%2dgooglebase%2d%5f%2dD22X%2d%5f%2d202515236

 

[dimples1967]

Just make sure the bun can't fit through the wires! Mine did!! Is he head goes through, so does the butt!!!

 

[yannikin]

We built a dettachable 2nd floor - that REALLY makes a difference as it doubles the size of the livable enclosure.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yannikin/7018176529/in/photostream

 

[ArdenBunny]

Do you find it difficult to clean the crate since it only has one door? That is one of my concerns using a dog crate. When I go to clean my dog's crate every now and then I find it hard to clean the opposite end of the crate, because I have to crawl inside the crate to clean it since I can't reach!

 

[TinksMama]

I used to use my dog's old crates for bunny cages. I had to switch out the tray for a horse stall mat because my dogs chewed up the trays. They'll hopefully be getting NIC condos when I get them back from traveling.

 

[bunnychild]

1. Clean it!

2. is it wood or plastic or metal?

 

[ArdenBunny]

All of my dog crates are metal.

 

[bunnychild]

measure the gaps between the wire make sure they cant squeeze through

 

[ArdenBunny]

I've been thinking about that, too. :shock: I'm starting to rethink my idea and go in a different direction for my rabbit's house. I'd never forgive myself if it got it's head caught in between the gap. I don't think an adult bunny could, but it might be just slightly big enough of a gap so thata smaller rabbit/bunny could. I'm thinking I should go on the side of caution and find a different crate/cage than what I have now.

 

[Toady]

I have a 4 foot long dog crate for my English Angora baby bun, she's now 16 weeks old but has had it since I brought her home at 8 weeks and she's never tried to stick her head through the bars (not that I think it would fit in there).

It's easy to clean as I cable tied 1/2 inch mesh just above the tray and have newspaper and paper litter which absorbs anything that misses the litter trays, although it is a bit heavy to move around I'm glad I don't need to do that too much. And I agree about it been easier to clean with 2 doors

 

[fuzz16]

I put plastic tablecloth under yhe crate, yhen put cardboard on the sides to act as a urine guard until they were fixed and litter trained. Their duuuuper nice for a bun cage and you can add a level also. And pretty cheap for a bun cage, and can be useful for a long time

 

[yannikin]

Ardenbunny-

I did 2 things with the cage that made it incredibly easy to clean-
1) replaced the stock pan with chloroplast that had 3 inch high sides. Thus; any hay, hair, litter that got kicked out would easily be contained in there
2) I bought a plant caster with wheels from home depot for like $5.99 and zip tied it to the bottom.

Therefore I can wheel the cage around whenever I clean. I don't go thru the door - since it's collapse able, I can wheel it near the door and open the front and top of the cage. No reaching or back breaking needed.

Good luck and let me know if that helps!,