Wood for outdoor cage

[BunnyBusiness]

Today I got the storage grids for making a cage, since there is no room in their current room for 2 appropriate sized cages I thought of putting one outside, I really don't have anywhere else to keep them having ratter dogs in the house also. I plan on making a raised hutch, using wood, storage grids and some flooring for the cage.
I know the wood used for rabbit cages can't be treated, so what untreated wood or what natural treatment options do your recommend? I also plan on making a roof above the the hutch to minimize water contact and that way reduce the rot.

Another thing I was wondering is if I should make 2 closed rooms to keep it comfortable and safe against the temperature changes, I know that all hutches have 1 room for the rabbit, but having in mind good ways to help keep warm or cool by trapping or allowing the air escape, such as one that's raised up to keep warm air from escaping and a lowered one with a frozen water bottle on warm days. Or would 1 just be fine?

 

[Blue eyes]

Don't know if you've seen this before, but I like to post it as a good example of an outdoor cage/pen. It's not fancy (and it's not mine) but it might get your creative juices flowing.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXKe5tuw47A"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXKe5tuw47A[/ame]

 

[UFCreel]

You can use treated wood. The only thing that you need to do is make sure all your wire is on the inside of the cage so they can not chew on any of it.

 

[BunnyBusiness]

Wow that's a nice hutch, I would've done something like that but we recently sprayed our yard with tick treatment and wouldn't want it to get sick. I'll use treated in that case. Now he is a teenage rabbit in his prime so what flooring is recommend for a raised hutch? He does use his litterbox but only for peeing and poops in it twice until doing it all over the cage.

 

[BunnyBusiness]

I forgot to add a crucial problem, now our neighborhood has a lot of dogs, I understand that rabbits get frightened easily and can die of a heart attack, especially with thunderstorms, although during these I would bring him indoors. Now for the dogs barking would he be fine as long as he has a safe hiding spot with sound insulation? For our dogs I will just fence off the hutch to keep them at a safe distance and train them to ignore it

 

[Blue eyes]

Now he is a teenage rabbit in his prime so what flooring is recommend for a raised hutch? He does use his litterbox but only for peeing and poops in it twice until doing it all over the cage.

If he's hormonal, he may not litter train. Once he's fixed, he'll probably litter train easily.

Are you planning on bonding these two? If so, it makes things infinitely easier to first bond them and place them in the new hutch together-- so that the first time either of them go in the hutch, it is at the same time and together. No territory issues that way.

 

[BunnyBusiness]

Not really, I plan on having the lop spayed but the male lionhead will be for breeding, although I'm starting to doubt if he is a she

 

[UFCreel]

Use 1/2 inch x 1 inch wire for the floor. I have dogs and they don't bother the rabbits. Although they do greet them in the morning. Never once lost a rabbit to thunder storms. If worried build a box with the same wire for the floor of it. Just not out of treated wood. They will chew on it. It will give the rabbit a place to hide out in so to speak.

 

[BunnyBusiness]

Alright thanks for the suggestions. Good to know that you haven't lost any I was concerned because in my area they hit fairly close last time it hit across the street

 

[majorv]

We used to have a hutch outside. The flooring was 1/2"x1/2" grid wire. I also had a tile or something else in there that was solid, for them to sit on. The wire needs to be a heavier gauge wire to support the rabbit. If the rabbit is fixed and potty trained you could have a floor that partly wire and part solid.