Advice on building an indoor pen/home

[litation]

Hi I currently have 2 indoor rabbits (Penny and Sheldon) and want to build something for them so they have plenty of space when they aren't out of the pen/cage. Currently I've made a pen out of the shelving cubes that works and gives them enough room that I don't feel cruel if we are away for a day or two and my housemates can't let them out. Here is a picture of what they are currently living in (It had just been cleaned so there's no hay in with them but have no fear they get a load which is one of the issues which I'll highlight bellow)
www.litation.co.uk/Test/cage.jpg (img tag doesn't seem to want to let me insert it)

So that cage is display cubes with lino on the floor to make it easy to clean it used to have a second level that they could hop up to however Penny likes to chew EVERYTHING and thus the flooring got eaten and I was worried about them walking on mesh that they would get their feet stuck in so I removed it until I could work something out. Penny also moves the entire cage as it has no floor and is pretty light so I didn't feel happy with using wood to make a second layer in case it fell (often the cage will travel and end up next to my bed which is on the floor...id like to think its because she just wants to be near me but I know its because it gets her to the end of the lino and she can then chew/rip it up and get through to the carpet!

My problems at the moment are
- Size/shape are limited by the size of the cubes
- No real floor/side meaning all hay/sawdust/little brown round bunny presents end up all over the room when they get kicked/push out
- The floor just gets chewed
- limited number of toys etc.. because its only one level and I want them to have plenty of space.

current pros
- easy to move/rebuild the cage when needed
- easy to let them out
- easy to clean
- easy to reach in and give them some TLC


So my plan is thus, build a cage out of wood meaning I can make it a little wider and longer as I won't be limited by the size of the cubes and I can then also put a lip/side on it that allows me to put loads of hay sawdust in so they can dig/push/tidy without it getting everywhere (including into my bed!!) I really just want to eliminate my problems and keep the pros

I have though about just making a base/lip out of wood to solve most of the issues but then I cant really make a good second level for it.

So at this stage my main two questions are

What type of wood to use?
Is there a way to treat wood that's not harmful to the bunnies so that if they pee on it it won't cause it to rot or cause illness?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Zoobec]

You could use plywood, and stick Lino to it to protect it :thumb:

 

[larndridge]

I use kiln dried pine for bunny constructions because my understanding is that it's safe for them to eat and Spice has a nibbling addiction. Not sure about treating it - my bunny area is also shelving squares, but it has a lino covered wood bottom with a wooden lip for exactly the reasons you described. The lino means that the wood never gets anything directly on it, and they have a big plastic litter tray anyway.