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Transforming Dog Crate into Rabbit Cage? What size cage? etc

frankieb1928

Young Bun
I'm looking at getting a dog crate for my two Netherland Dwarf bunnies. What size crate would you recommend? How can I adapt it to make it a rabbit cage?
I was planning to attach my large pen to the cage for now but after some litter training/house training they will be house bunnies and only get put in the crate at bedtime.
 
The biggest size possible, I haven't done anything to adapt it though other than adding a shelf inside for my Nethie to jump on. You can always cover it with a blanket as well so that it acts like a hide out for them. Just add a litter tray to it and maybe some sort of matt (grass matts work well) and have an area for food/water bowls and that's all they really need inside the crate as you can add toys and other things to the run. :)
 
I've used a dog crate as temporary housing. I put an old pet carrier in there that doubled up as a place to hide and something to jump on. I also put in a litter tray, cardboard tubes and some toys, as well as a food bowl and a water bottle.

My crate had a metal floor and it moved around a little on the bottom of the crate which made a noise so I put a large piece of cardboard in under the tray.

I would recommend getting a 4ft XL crate. Anything less than 4ft long will be too small.
 
Even the largest dog crates are too small to shut rabbits in I'm afraid, at night they are still very active too. It would be best to rabbit proof the entire room and just let them free range, or if that is not possible they will need a puppy pen attaching on to the dog crate. The rwaf recommends a minimum of a 6ftx2ft hutch with a permanently attached run of 8ft x 6ft http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/ahutchisnotenough.htm
 
Hi, Ours was an extra extra large.. 48inch by 32inch!

But we never shut our bunnies in, it was constantly open so I'm not sure if you could always get some puppy panels to increase the space xx

Just to give you an idea on size;



 
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Even the largest dog crates are too small to shut rabbits in I'm afraid, at night they are still very active too. It would be best to rabbit proof the entire room and just let them free range, or if that is not possible they will need a puppy pen attaching on to the dog crate. The rwaf recommends a minimum of a 6ftx2ft hutch with a permanently attached run of 8ft x 6ft http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/ahutchisnotenough.htm

Yup :thumb:

Spend a night with a free range bunny or two and you'll soon realise how active they are!
 
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i'd also get the biggest you can find. to adapt it wouldn't take much - usually either putting lino in or a blanket and then some trays and toys etc. i'd still keep the pen attached at night though as otherwise it would be too small for them to be shut away in for the night. then maybe remove the pen during the day and let them free range :)
 
The biggest size possible, I haven't done anything to adapt it though other than adding a shelf inside for my Nethie to jump on. You can always cover it with a blanket as well so that it acts like a hide out for them. Just add a litter tray to it and maybe some sort of matt (grass matts work well) and have an area for food/water bowls and that's all they really need inside the crate as you can add toys and other things to the run. :)

Ok, how did you make a shelf for the crate? Sorry my DIY skills are really bad, my husband might be able to build a shelf. Thanks for the ideas.
 
I've used a dog crate as temporary housing. I put an old pet carrier in there that doubled up as a place to hide and something to jump on. I also put in a litter tray, cardboard tubes and some toys, as well as a food bowl and a water bottle.

My crate had a metal floor and it moved around a little on the bottom of the crate which made a noise so I put a large piece of cardboard in under the tray.

I would recommend getting a 4ft XL crate. Anything less than 4ft long will be too small.

I like the idea of putting a pet carrier in there, I'm sure they would love that. I have seen crates that are 48" so that should work they will have a large pen attached too that they can use all the time as well.
 
Even the largest dog crates are too small to shut rabbits in I'm afraid, at night they are still very active too. It would be best to rabbit proof the entire room and just let them free range, or if that is not possible they will need a puppy pen attaching on to the dog crate. The rwaf recommends a minimum of a 6ftx2ft hutch with a permanently attached run of 8ft x 6ft http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/ahutchisnotenough.htm

Sorry I meant when they go in the crate at night the door would still be left open so they could access the play pen as well. If they are okay to be left out during the night then that defiantly would be a much better option for me. I thought they had to be placed back in their cage for the night as that's what a friend of mine use to do with her bunnies.
 
Hi, Ours was an extra extra large.. 48inch by 32inch!

But we never shut our bunnies in, it was constantly open so I'm not sure if you could always get some puppy panels to increase the space xx

Just to give you an idea on size;





You cage set up look just like what I would want to do. Are your rabbits okay being out during the night and when you are not there? I assumed they had to be put away when out or at night as that's what my friend use to do with hers. Do they try to chew furniture, walls etc? If you have any advise on rabbit proofing room that would be great. Thanks
 
i'd also get the biggest you can find. to adapt it wouldn't take much - usually either putting lino in or a blanket and then some trays and toys etc. i'd still keep the pen attached at night though as otherwise it would be too small for them to be shut away in for the night. then maybe remove the pen during the day and let them free range :)

Yeah I was planning on leaving it on but after hearing other peoples set up I would love to rabbit proof the sitting room so they can have full roam day and night :)
 
i'd also get the biggest you can find. to adapt it wouldn't take much - usually either putting lino in or a blanket and then some trays and toys etc. i'd still keep the pen attached at night though as otherwise it would be too small for them to be shut away in for the night. then maybe remove the pen during the day and let them free range :)

Yeah I was planning on leaving it on but after hearing other peoples set up I would love to rabbit proof the sitting room so they can have full roam day and night :) was
 
You cage set up look just like what I would want to do. Are your rabbits okay being out during the night and when you are not there? I assumed they had to be put away when out or at night as that's what my friend use to do with hers. Do they try to chew furniture, walls etc? If you have any advise on rabbit proofing room that would be great. Thanks

Aww that's great, yeah actually I've been really lucky.. I had my bunnies since they were babies and always had them out so they got used to their surroundings & no never chewed my furniture apart from a window sill. I would defo recommend covering up any wires.. And being honest I don't know what others will say, but I've always found out that rabbits want to get into the spaces you want to keep them out of! For instance, I have floor length curtains, never touched, but when I wedged my shoe behind our sofa to prevent them going down the back, they would do anything to dig their way down the tight squeeze & chew my shoe! Lol! But as soon as I removed the shoe & they knew it was open again, ran down a couple of times & then they didn't bother ever again!

Rabbit proofing can include covering them up or using puppy panels, all depends on the lay out of your room & what your bunnies are like? Have they ever had interest in carpet? Or corners etc? I personally believe if they have lots of toys like tunnels etc they don't get bored. I think it's when they are bored they get destructive.

With my bunnies, every time I saw them trying to squeeze so where or looking like they were going to chew, I would either clap my hands or touch them on the bum & they soon learnt. Bunnies are very clever little animals & soon learn things very quickly!

At night, mine had the run of the house, & I never heard a peep.. They would always settle down the only downside was come sunrise they would be in the bedroom running around as they wanted their breakfast! Lol! Xx
 
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Ok, how did you make a shelf for the crate? Sorry my DIY skills are really bad, my husband might be able to build a shelf. Thanks for the ideas.
I brought a couple of small corner shelves online however you can make shelves with bunny safe wooden boards, dowels (don't know how to spell it [emoji38] ) and super glue or nails. I do believe that there are lots of tutorials on the internet on making shelves for inside rabbit runs so they should be more help than me. [emoji23]
 
Ok, how did you make a shelf for the crate? Sorry my DIY skills are really bad, my husband might be able to build a shelf. Thanks for the ideas.

We have an indoor dog cage puppy pen combination, the shelf is supported by two battens and there is a stool to jump up. We ([emoji1] ) used tongue and groove floor boards for the shelf and base
Hubby based our design on the ideas on that rabbit house website ( sorry I can't do links yet)

The bunnies are never shut in the dog cage
 
Yeah I was planning on leaving it on but after hearing other peoples set up I would love to rabbit proof the sitting room so they can have full roam day and night :)

bisc is free range in our lounge. c+c grids are really useful to block off areas. i just cable tie them so they fold up and down easily :)
 
Aww that's great, yeah actually I've been really lucky.. I had my bunnies since they were babies and always had them out so they got used to their surroundings & no never chewed my furniture apart from a window sill. I would defo recommend covering up any wires.. And being honest I don't know what others will say, but I've always found out that rabbits want to get into the spaces you want to keep them out of! For instance, I have floor length curtains, never touched, but when I wedged my shoe behind our sofa to prevent them going down the back, they would do anything to dig their way down the tight squeeze & chew my shoe! Lol! But as soon as I removed the shoe & they knew it was open again, ran down a couple of times & then they didn't bother ever again!

Rabbit proofing can include covering them up or using puppy panels, all depends on the lay out of your room & what your bunnies are like? Have they ever had interest in carpet? Or corners etc? I personally believe if they have lots of toys like tunnels etc they don't get bored. I think it's when they are bored they get destructive.

With my bunnies, every time I saw them trying to squeeze so where or looking like they were going to chew, I would either clap my hands or touch them on the bum & they soon learnt. Bunnies are very clever little animals & soon learn things very quickly!

At night, mine had the run of the house, & I never heard a peep.. They would always settle down the only downside was come sunrise they would be in the bedroom running around as they wanted their breakfast! Lol! Xx

Ok, that's good to know. Most wires are covered by furniture so they wont be able to get to them. It is just the wires behind the TV I will have to cover or block it off so they cant get to them. I see that very interesting I guess they must think if it is blocked of then there must be something interesting there haha. Our male does come out every evening while we are home, he hasn't shown any interest in carpet or furniture, he do give him a lot of toys to play with to stop him from getting bored and destroying things. Aww bless, really hope my rabbits are able to have roam of the room 24/7 even in the very large pen I have set up I still don't think they get enough room to exercise. Thank you so much for your advice.
 
Ok, that's good to know. Most wires are covered by furniture so they wont be able to get to them. It is just the wires behind the TV I will have to cover or block it off so they cant get to them. I see that very interesting I guess they must think if it is blocked of then there must be something interesting there haha. Our male does come out every evening while we are home, he hasn't shown any interest in carpet or furniture, he do give him a lot of toys to play with to stop him from getting bored and destroying things. Aww bless, really hope my rabbits are able to have roam of the room 24/7 even in the very large pen I have set up I still don't think they get enough room to exercise. Thank you so much for your advice.

Our female is only 12 weeks sp we have only had her about 3 weeks, he doesn't seem to be much a chewer so hopefully she will be fine too, also after neutering we are working on bonding them so hopefully that will go smoothly, been trolling the internet for loads of information and strategies about bonding.
 
I brought a couple of small corner shelves online however you can make shelves with bunny safe wooden boards, dowels (don't know how to spell it [emoji38] ) and super glue or nails. I do believe that there are lots of tutorials on the internet on making shelves for inside rabbit runs so they should be more help than me. [emoji23]

Oh right, good idea - I have had a look on ebay and amazon would the shelves normally used for chinchilla/degu cages work? Personally think the best option for me would be to buy some pre made shelves as my DIY skills are non existent haha.
 
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