# Building Furniture cages soon.



## Mrs. PBJ (Mar 27, 2010)

Ok so in preparation for bonding and possible not bonding if that happens. 

I was looking at this thread
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=53357&forum_id=93&page=1


So I need some help. Sense my wonderful husband works at the prison I can get a cage build for almost free. 

I really like post 8 on page 1. 

So now I need some help.

What wood would I buy what are the demissions I should make it and should i leave the natural wood stain it what do you guys think?

It will be inside and each bun will get a section 2 bunnys. I will also have a drop put in the top so if they bond i can remove one panel and they get the whole thing.

What kind of wire do i need to buy?

I plan to make it about four feet high. and five feet in length the width I was thinking about 2 feet or should it be bigger? 

Storm is a netherland dwarf and Jessi os a holland lop

I know this thing is going to be huge but they need there space cause if they dont bond they will have separate run times.


Thanks in advance for the help this wont take place tell maybe august or sept


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## countrybuns (Mar 28, 2010)

The wire is called hardware cloth and you can buy it at a hardware store. I think it is a good idea and I know if my hubby saw that pic my NIC panels would dissapear lol. As far as the wood I would go with a naturally based paint or something non-toxic that will go with your decor. Good luck.


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## Mrs. PBJ (Mar 28, 2010)

countrybuns wrote:


> The wire is called hardware cloth and you can buy it at a hardware store. I think it is a good idea and I know if my hubby saw that pic my NIC panels would dissapear lol. As far as the wood I would go with a naturally based paint or something non-toxic that will go with your decor. Good luck.



What kind of wood would I buy. I have no idea we have to supply the supplies and pay the prisoner five bucks for a contract. So I was wondering what is the best wood to use?

Thank you for the information about the wire.

Kat


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## countrybuns (Mar 28, 2010)

No problem, pine would be what my hubby said to use. hope that helps.


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## bengal77 (Mar 28, 2010)

Pine will be the cheapest wood, but you can also find spruce and oak in most hardware stores. Honestly, you might have a better time finding an old cheap dresser and modifying it than building one from scratch. Do any of the prisoners have carpentering skills?


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## Mrs. PBJ (Mar 28, 2010)

bengal77 wrote:


> Pine will be the cheapest wood, but you can also find spruce and oak in most hardware stores. Honestly, you might have a better time finding an old cheap dresser and modifying it than building one from scratch. Do any of the prisoners have carpentering skills?



yes in the state of texas each prison has a specialty they train the prisoners we had a prisoner work on our car they do a real good job. It is kinda like a training program so they can find work when they leave prison. 

So yes Guards have dresser one guard had found a bedroom set that she wanted for like 3000 had it built for like 400 it was a exact replica. 

I have very little carpentry skills. Hubby has none I can build a book shelf. So to have a prisoner build it would be easier and I know it would be done right. They only do this for guards so if it not built right it will be reported. So they train them well. 

Will oak hold up better? I want this to last and look good. Does Oak come pre treated? 

I can see how much the wood and cover and paint will cost. Then look into converting a older dresser or something. How hard this would be for me to do and re paint and make sure nothing is toxic I have two wood chewers. so that is another advantage from scratch. I know what goes into it.


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## Korr_and_Sophie (Mar 28, 2010)

The trouble with a lot of wood from a hardware store is that is is probably treated with something that is not safe for rabbits to chew. 
On the inside, I would put stick on tiles (or something similar) to prevent them from chewing it and to save the wood from pee stains. You can get some that look like wood flooring or just use one that will match the rest. If you go by the cage in the post, white ones would probably look great. 
On the outside, use non toxic paint just in case. 
Any wire on the inside should have the edges covered to avoid injury. 
If you went with the style of the post you pointed to, the top could be for one bun, and the bottom for the other. A floor panel could be made to slide out if they do bond. For the bun in the top, a ramp could be used for run time so that bun could come and go.


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## aurora369 (Mar 29, 2010)

I am going to have my Uncle build me some nice furniture cages in the near future as well. So I have been thinking about this as well.

I am just going to have him build my cages out of MDF (medium density fiber) board. The inside I am going to fully line with lino, probably glued on to the pieces of wood after they are cut but before they are assembled together into the furniture. All edges will have to be covered with either corner edging or other metal edging that goes where carpet meets other flooring. 

My current cages have wooden bottoms covered in lino with edges protected by metal corner stripping. As long as there are no seams in the lino, the buns have been unable to pull it up. 

Here's a picture of what I have:


 

The windows I am going to make from hardware cloth or welded square meshing. Depends what I like and what is available. And around the windows I will also put the metal carpet edging to hide the poky ends of the mesh and keep them from chewing on the wood edges.

The outside I was just going to paint. You can get non-toxic paints if you think the buns are going to chew on the cage when they are outside of it.

I like the idea of a sliding removable panel as a separator. And the ramp for the top floor is a good idea too.

-Dawn


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## Mrs. PBJ (Mar 29, 2010)

Thank you everyone. 

I have emailed the picture of the thing to a friend who build to ask him how much wood. Yes me and hubby are doing a exact replica of the one in the picture. 

But I think our may be a bit bigger or smaller. Not sure. Its more basic then i thought it was. I could do it myself if I really needed to. But I am going to put their names on their cage.


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## hln917 (Mar 30, 2010)

Hi Kat~ our girl's"home" is similar to the one in the post, if you scroll down a bit you'll see the pictures. We were fortunate enough to find it on freecycle, this lady's father built it for her.The only thing we changed about the cage was the flooring, changed out the corner windows to Plexiglas (location where the litterpan is) and switched thebottom door to a rampso they can come in and out on their own.

Hubby *promised* :biggrin2:me he will build the same one for Baci this summer. Luckily for me, he's good with woodworking. The unit is actually 2 pieces which is great when you have to move it, like we just did from downstairs to upstairs. If you're not in a hurry, hopefully I can get him started in May and I'll let you know all the dimension of the wood we're using. Otherwise I can measure the dimension of current cage now if you need the info asap, let me know.


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## Mrs. PBJ (Mar 30, 2010)

Well this is on hold I have to get another pet giant ASAP. My Landlord found out Storm is not caged and she is not happy. No big I can get one today but hubby said we have to wait a little longer for this now.

Its in my lease that they are supposed to be caged but I have been getting away with it. 

Not any more so I have to go buy a pet giant today from my local mom and pop store.


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## irishbunny (Mar 30, 2010)

Kind of off topic, but my Dad is currently building me a furniture type cage for my room for the guinea pigs, it is turning out really cool, and will look nice and not ''cagey'' in my bed room 

Can't wait till it's done!


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## Mrs. PBJ (Mar 30, 2010)

irishbunny wrote:


> Kind of off topic, but my Dad is currently building me a furniture type cage for my room for the guinea pigs, it is turning out really cool, and will look nice and not ''cagey'' in my bed room
> 
> Can't wait till it's done!



We need picture when you get a chance please.


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## irishbunny (Mar 30, 2010)

Mrs. PBJ wrote:


> irishbunny wrote:
> 
> 
> > Kind of off topic, but my Dad is currently building me a furniture type cage for my room for the guinea pigs, it is turning out really cool, and will look nice and not ''cagey'' in my bed room
> ...



Yup, no problem 
It would make a great rabbit cage too, with a few modifications


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## Luluznewz (Apr 5, 2010)

Haha, I saw that "cage" as well, and I've been trying to rope one of the men in my life into building it for me. I would go at it myself but there is NO way it would end up looking presentable, or even be safe. 

That last time I built anything was a birdhouse in my 8th grade woodshop class...I think I got a B. 

Good luck on your project. When it finally gets finished I may pick your brain for details on how the project went.


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## Mrs. PBJ (Apr 5, 2010)

Luluznewz wrote:


> Haha, I saw that "cage" as well, and I've been trying to rope one of the men in my life into building it for me. I would go at it myself but there is NO way it would end up looking presentable, or even be safe.
> 
> That last time I built anything was a birdhouse in my 8th grade woodshop class...I think I got a B.
> 
> Good luck on your project. When it finally gets finished I may pick your brain for details on how the project went.



As much as I want to. I wont be able to do it I just had to buy a second cage. So this project is on hold for a while.


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## irishbunny (Apr 6, 2010)

Here is my guinea pig furniture cage, just got them in there today 

Obviously it would have to have some changes to make it a good guinea pig cage, but might help someone with a design. It was all built from scratch, we didn't buy a set of shelves or anything which made it way cheaper


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## bearbop (Apr 6, 2010)

that is reallyc


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## irishbunny (Apr 10, 2010)




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## hln917 (Apr 10, 2010)

Very nice Grace! I like the idea of the extra shelf on the bottom for their supplies. Quick question~are their doors on the side that opens to clean the cage?


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## Mrs. PBJ (Apr 10, 2010)

Do they try to climb the glass? It looks like their is a space between the glass and the above shelf.


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## irishbunny (Apr 10, 2010)

It's actually not glass it's perspex, it's plastic  The perspex on the front slides out so I can get into to take them out or clean them. I can fit my arm over the perspex though to feed them. Nope, they never try and climb it, guinea pigs aren't good climbers at all. The will put up their paws and look over the top when I am coming with food but they can't get out.

To make it suitable for rabbits, you could use perspex but you would have to make it so they can't fit out the gap between the shelves and the perspex. None of my bunnies could fit out the gap between the shelves and the perspex in my cage. I'd also only make it two levels, instead of three if you wanted to have a storage shelf. Cage would also need to be a little wider. Ramps and ramp holes would have to be made bigger as well.


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