| If you'd like to have an outdoor rabbit hutch for your | | | | wooden frame of 2 x 4 or even 1 x 2 lumber. For |
| pet bunny but you're not quite yet ready to invest in | | | | the walls you'll most likely want to use exterior |
| a commercially available hutch, there is a way you | | | | plywood, attached to the frame. If you have the |
| can customize an indoor cage to do "double duty". | | | | skills you can top the wooden shell with an A frame |
| The basic idea is simple: use the wire structure of the | | | | style roof. A simpler alternative is to extend the |
| indoor cage as an internal metal skeleton over which | | | | framing lumber on one side higher than the other and |
| you will create a wooden outdoor rabbit hutch. | | | | then attach a sheet of plywood to create a slanted, |
| Some indoor cages come with wheels for easy | | | | shed style roof. Regardless of which you use, you |
| portability and if you live in a single story home with | | | | can shingle the roof for better protection and |
| only a few stairs, the cage/hutch can easily go back | | | | beauty, although it will add to the weight of the |
| and forth between the indoors and outdoors. | | | | hutch if your plan calls for mounted handles to pick |
| Depending on how you convert the cage, it's also | | | | the hutch up and move it. For a lighter alternative, |
| possible to add handles to the cage/hutch roof, | | | | you can cover the roof with sheet plastic. |
| allowing you to pick it up and carry it back and forth, | | | | The floors of both indoor rabbit cages and door |
| provided of course it doesn't weigh too much. | | | | cages are made of welded wire, and in the case of |
| You'll have to have some basic carpentry skills to do | | | | rabbit cages, with drop pans underneath. Some dog |
| this, but if it is an idea that appeals to you, you can | | | | cages don't have drop pans, and in either case, your |
| also select a wire dog cage for the conversion. Wire | | | | cage/hutch will be resting on the ground so the drop |
| dog cages have the distinct advantage of being | | | | pan can be eliminated when outdoors. Cleaning then is |
| much taller, allowing a truly skilled person to create a | | | | a simple matter of moving the cage and collecting |
| second floor living quarters for that precious pet. | | | | the rabbit's droppings. |
| While no dog cages come with wheels, wheel caster | | | | Welded wire is generally spaced so wide that it can |
| assemblies can be attached to the bottom of the | | | | provide a painful surface for some rabbits to walk on. |
| cage. How would you start? | | | | You can either install a narrow mesh wire, like |
| First, check the Internet or your local pet supply | | | | hardware cloth, directly over the existing wire, or you |
| center to see examples of commercially available | | | | can cover a portion of the floor with wood or plastic. |
| wooden rabbit hutches for outdoor use. All you're | | | | Avoid a continuous solid wood floor as rabbit urine |
| looking for here is ideas. Visualize your final design | | | | may soak into the wood and begin producing |
| and then sketch out the details of each step on | | | | ammonia like fumes over time. This is a tough |
| paper. | | | | project, but you'll be proud of your creative result if |
| The first step will be to enclose the wire cage with a | | | | you decide to do it. |