Rabbit Cage Plans:
Build Your Own All-Wire Cage

OR:
Pet Rabbit Living Spaces, our e-book for pet rabbit owners, is available for immediate download.

Pet Rabbit Living Spaces includes tons of illustrations for building this all-wire cage, various other cage dimensions, and many more options for pet hutches, cages, even a run and a pen. It is priced at a ridiculously low $5.99. (That's because we want to help rabbit owners, not gouge them.)

Pet Rabbit Living Spaces

DIY Livestock Rabbit Housing for Meat & Show Rabbits provides ideas, plans and fully illustrated directions for housing methods well-suited to livestock rabbits. These are the methods used at Aurora Rex Rabbit Ranch. Plus we offer reviews of other rabbit housing options.

DIY Livestock Rabbit Housing may still be available at the introductory price of $6.49. (Regularly priced at a still-unbelievably low $7.49.)

Free Rabbit Cage Plans

Tools required are few:
1) Needlenose pliers
2) J clip plyers
3) Wire cutters
4) J clip removers
5) A couple sawhorses, for ease of working (or workbench or...)

Materials:

• 1 inch by 2 inch by 3 feet wire - 14 gauge, approximately a 10 foot length.
  
  
• 1/2 inch by 1 inch by 3 feet wire - 16 gauge, 2 1/2 foot length. (14 gauge is better if you can find it...I use 16 gauge)

• 1 pound of J clips, a few are pictured (you'll probably use less than a pound)

• 1 Door latch (pictured)
  
  
• 12" J-Feeder. See picture of finished cage. You can also use a crock for food. For a 9 pound doe and her kits, a crock would have to be large, unless you feed twice a day.
  
  
• Water crock. Or better, an automatic watering system. The one pictured to the right was made by Edstrom.

Rabbit Cage Plans:

1) If you purchased 2 1/2 feet of 3 foot cage floor wire, this piece is ready as is. If you purchased enough for several cages, then cut a 30 inch x 36 inch piece. Cut the protruding wires flush for this and all wire pieces.

2) Cut the 1" x 2" inch wire to size:

-1 piece: 36" x 18" for the cage front
-1 piece: 30" x 36" for the cage top
-2 pieces: 36" x 18" for the cage sides
-1 piece: 24" x 18" for the cage back
-1 piece: 13" x 14" for a door

Notes:

• If you cut a 24 inch length of wire for the back, you'll have enough left over to use for the door, with very little waste.
• 6" of cage side wire will wrap to the back, reducing the amount of wire needed for the back panel to just 24 inches.

4) Bend 6" of the side panels around a 2x4 or sawhorse, so that the final lengthwise measurement of the piece is 30" x 18". The extra, still-attached 6" length will wrap around and become part of the back of the cage. We wanted rabbit cage plans that save time by not having to cut wire, and that eliminate wire waste.

5) Attach the side panels to the floor with J-clips, as shown. You can also use hog rings if you have them, and hog ring plyers. I've always used J-clips. I attach them roughly every 2" or 2 1/2".

6) Attach the back panel using J-clips. Because you've wrapped wire from the sides, the back panel is only 24 inches wide. There, you've saved money!

7) Attach the front panel using J-clips.

8) Attach the top panel using J-clips. You could substitute hog rings for the J-clips in the rabbit cage plans. In that case, you'd also need hog ring pliers.

9) Locate where you'll place the door, and cut a 12" x 12" hole in the front panel. Allow 2" of cage wire at the bottom and 4" at the top. If you're right handed, you might find it easier to reach into the cage if the door opening is placed towards the right of the cage. (Left side if left-handed.) Leave about 6", however, to the right of the door, so you can attach a water valve or a hay feeder.

10) Position the door over the opening so the 14" length is top-to-bottom and the 13" length is side-to-side. Overlap the top and bottom by 1" each. You won't need any overlap on the side you attach to, leaving 1" overlap on the side that opens. Be sure you allow at least a 12" - 14" length of cage-front intact, in case you decide to use a J-feeder. (They'll cut down on your rabbit care time, because you won't have to open the door of every rabbit cage to feed, but they're definitely not essential--crocks work just fine, or other container that won't easily tip over.)

11) Attach the rabbit cage door with J-clips: Two at the very top bumping each other (to help keep the door positioned without sagging), a couple in the middle, and one or two clips at the bottom.

12) Attach the latch to the door with J-Clips. I use a closure called a "wire latch," and I get it from Morton Jones (www.mortonjones.com) for 50 cents apiece. You can find a number of other great latching systems as well, should you prefer.

13) If you decide to use J-feeders, now is the time to cut a 12" x 2" hole in the front of the cage, 2 inches off the floor. The feeder will hang on the outside of the cage, and deliver the feed to the rabbit (and bunnies) on the inside.

Congratulations. In an hour or less, you followed these rabbit cage plans and made your own homemade rabbit cage.

Pet Rabbit Living Spaces

DIY Livestock Rabbit Housing

Not everyone feels like building their own rabbit cages.

The Resources page will link you to various rabbit cage manufacturers.
The same firms also sell a complete array of rabbit supplies and toys.

Even easier:
Explore lots of commercial cages for sale. Some are wire rabbit cages, some are wooden rabbit cages. Some are big, some are best for small rabbits. And some come as a complete package - all you'll need to get started is the bunny.

If there's any other way we can help you get set up for raising rabbits, just
let us know. We're happy to help.

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