How to Convert a Dog Crate into a Rabbit Cage?

Rabbits are very easy to keep as pets. They require only a few things in their cage. Why you purchase, a rabbit is a common concern where the new pet will live. You can easily purchase their cages from online stores or convert any cage or create them into a rabbit cage.

So the question arises how to convert a dog crate into a rabbit cage? There are a few necessary changes that you need to make with the dog crate. A dog crate is better than a rabbit cage because it is more spacious, and you can make certain changes to it. The primary thing you need to change is the flooring of the dog crate to make it adjustable for filling in the hay. For a large crate, you can add some storeys using wood or metal pieces.

Stepwise process of dog crate conversion

The process of converting a dog crate into a rabbit cage is very easy. You need a few things for this process. These include a dog crate, washers and bolts, wooden pegs, screws, tiles, wood glue and tile sticking glue, hammer, saw, and a drill.

Having a dog crate converted into you are rabbit cage is much easier and keeps than buying a new cage. Plus, the crate size is much bigger than the rabbit cages available in the market. The rabbits require more space for their physical activities; a dog crate is more suitable for this purpose.

Taking the measurements

The first and important step is to make appropriate measurements of the dog crate. You need to have an idea of the length and width for adding extra shelves and making it a multi-story cage for the rabbit.

But keep in mind that not to pile up the cage with many shelves. Maintain a proper distance between the shelves so that cleaning the cage is easier for you. Also, develop the rabbits never stick to a place love to jump around. So you must have essential space in the cage for their physical activities.

The placement of shelves is essential. You should cover the half area with the shelf and then skip the exact half corner over it. It would allow you to add more shelves and give extra space over the rabbits to move freely.

Rabbits can easily jump from one shelf to another, but it is good that you install ramps between the two shelves so that your rabbits do not get hurt.

Installing the baton

The next step is to attach the baton to the bottom area of the shelf. You should place them inside the cage before fitting them to get an idea of the correct size. A baton is required to maintain the balance of the shelves, so you need to fix the baton with every shelf of the cage.

You should fix the baton with the two corners of the shelf to balance and properly fix it inside the cage. Screws and bolts are needed to fix the baton perfectly in place with the shelf. Fix the shelves one by one and secure them tightly in the place.

For making the holes in the shelves to fix the bolts, you should make an idea of the bolt size and then drill the holes of the bolt size. It ensures that the shelves are not loosened. While you fix the shelves in the cage, make sure that the horizontal bar of the cage passes through the middle of the baton.

Installing the shelves

The third step is installing the shelves. In this cage conversion process, we would attach three shelves. Firstly we will attach the lower shelf just above the base as there is a cage door, so we need to be careful about it. Drill two holes in the base of the first shelf. It connects the shelf to the baton and the cage.

Then the process comes of attaching the second longer shelf. There we need to make four small holes in its base. The holes are evenly spaced in the area holding the wooden plank and baton together.

The third shelf is fixed on the top right or left corner of the cage. We drill three holes in its base. Keep in mind that the baton and shelf adjustments have now been made. First, we will secure the third shelf by placing the long washer and screwing it into the place using a spanner. Also, insert a bolt and fix it tightly in place.

By repeating the same process, we would fix the other two shelves in place.

Making a ramp

To make the cage secure and more proper, you need to install ramps between the shelves. With the two sides of the shelf, we attach the ramps by edging them to the baton. At the lower side of one shelf, fix the ramp with a baton and then plane it with the other side of the shelf.

If you are satisfied with the positioning of the ramp, then secure it in place with the help of screws. In the next step, we would attach the wooden dowels to the ramp. It gives easy accessibility for cleaning the ramp.

You should keep in check the width of the ramp. It should neither be too large nor too small. A smaller ramp would be unsafe, and a larger ramp will take up too much space for your cage.

Making the cage secure

Many people tie metallic wires around the dog crate to make it safe for the rabbits. But metallic wires can be dangerous if the rabbit chews on them. Similarly, if his head goes out of it, the wires are not secure as he would be able to move out of the cage.

So it is better that you use a rubber cable to tie around the cage. It would secure the rabbit from predator attacks, and he would not be able to move out himself. So this is how you can convert a dog crate into a rabbit cage.