Building Rabbit Hutches - A How To Guide

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     Building a comfortable and clean rabbit hutch is your main priority when caring or breeding rabbits. It is advisable to prepare their shelters first before you bring them home. In this article, you will learn some easy and useful tips on building rabbit hutches from scratch.

A ready-made shelter from a pet store costs around $100. You could also make personalized rabbit hutches if you want to save money. The second option actually sounds better since you will be able to ensure the quality of the shelter and you can make some adjustments based on your preferences for your pets.

Here are the tools that you should prepare:

1. Pliers
2. Wire cutters
3. Regular screwdriver
4. Hammer
5. 3-inch nails
6. Straight edge
7. Measuring tape
8. 1-inch nails

Materials:

1. 2 door hinges
2. 24" by 96" length of chicken wire
3. Hook and eye latching device for the doors
4. 24" by 72" by ? 2 sheets plywood
5. 2"x4's, 8"in length, 8
6. Two 1"x 2" boards that are 6" long

Here are the steps in building the frame:

1. You should decide how big the cage you will build. The materials mentioned here are good to house 2-3 rabbits comfortably. If you are preparing a hutch for only one rabbit then you might want to consider smaller dimensions. The important thing is you keep the pets comfortable with the space of the shelter.

2. You should now construct the frame for the cage using 2" x 4" boards. Cut 4 boards into 48" long and 8 boards to 24" long. Join one 48" and 24' boards to form an L-shape.

3. The 24" board shall be in the inside part of the final frame. Nail the end of the 24" board into the last 2" of the 48" board.

4. Then attach the second 24" piece to the last of 2" of the 48"piece. This will now form an elongated U-shape.

5. The result will be a rectangular shape on both sides as well as from top and bottom. The ends will form 2" square.

6. After finishing the frame, you should now attach the legs. Turn the cage upside down and nail the 48" long 2"x 4" to the comers of the 2"x4" frame. You should make sure that the legs are equal so that it stands on the ground evenly.

7. For final changes, you could paint the hutch but make sure that it is already dry when you put the rabbits inside. You can also add different accessories and toys for the rabbit. Make sure to place food and water basins too.

These are the steps in creating a do-it-yourself hutch for your pet rabbit. It is best to check how your rabbit is doing inside the cage to know if they are comfortable or not. When you see signs of irritability in the rabbit then you might want to consider having some retouches to provide better shelter for them.

David Neil Warren enjoys writing for The Rabbit Hutch Shop which sells rabbit hutch and rabbit hutches as well as a host of additional products.

David Neil Warren enjoys writing for The Rabbit Hutch Shop which sells rabbit hutch and rabbit hutches as well as a host of additional products. http://www.the-rabbit-hutch-shop.com/rabbit-hutches.html http://www.the-rabbit-hutch-shop.com/rabbit-hutches.html