That’s neat! So does the whole front open up like a cabinet? And what did you use for the floors?

That sounds like a good idea. The glue/adhesive won’t hurt them? I’m just so nervous about them chewing on stuff and getting sick.

Okay, my husband said if we were going to do that then we might as well use laminate shelving. He seems to think there is some sort of sealer we could use on natural wood that would be safe, but I have never heard of such a thing. He sure makes things complicated.

EDIT: What about this? Says it is environmentally-friendly and non-toxic.

So we were at the hardware store just to check out prices on some things and my husband was looking at cedar boards. Is cedar okay to use?

Could someone answer my question? I searched all over the forum and I can’t find anything about cedar. The cedar boards are on sale and my husband wants to buy some tomorrow. Ugh!

Hello? I’m sorry to seem like a pain, but my husband wants to go to the hardware store like right now. He’s mad at me now because I keep reading conflicting information about cedar and pine. Some places say it’s toxic and other places say it’s safe. What wood should we be using? Oak and maple are extremely expensive, is that what we’re supposed to use?

Okay, so what is safe to build a cage out of? We’re getting ready to leave and I want to know what to look for.

But I thought pine was bad too? Something about liver damage.

Okay, so we went there and my husband was looking at several things. For plywood, they had oak and birch. For regular boards, they had all kinds of stuff. My husband was looking at aspen and poplar boards. Does any of this sound like it would be okay? He was thinking of using beeswax and mineral oil to seal the wood (like what you do for finish wooden cooking utensils or salad bowls since it is food-safe). Would that be acceptable for the rabbits? Our other option is a soy-based sealer that you can get at the hardware store. It says it is non-toxic and environmentally-friendly.

What about poplar? My husband is really pushing that now because it’s cheap.

Great! Thanks!

Hehe, I’m sure he probably doesn’t. It might be a little while before it actually gets built since we still need to see how the bonding process goes. Who knows, we might still end up with two cages! But I can post pics when the time comes.

I just saw this! Thank you, I will tell my husband that shellac is safe to use. Would it be better to get the pre-made stuff in the can or the kind that you make yourself?

I googled it and it seems to be safe once it dries since the alcohol evaporates. I did find somewhere that said it isn’t water resistant though. Hmm…

I thought I would give an update here as well. My husband has made some progress with the hutch, so I took a picture for you. He made dado cuts in the sides so the floors would have grooves to fit into. I guess that way there won’t be any exterior supports that could possibly get chewed on. The vertical piece you see there is just temporary to give it support while it is glued.

It is 4 ft x 2 ft, but it has 2 levels so that’s 16 square feet of space. It’s like 3 feet tall too. There will be a hide box on the second floor and there will be a ramp that comes down through the hole in the 2nd floor to the 1st floor. I think we will put the litter box underneath the ramp. My husband still has to make the doors, he wants it to sort of look like a cabinet. I think the size is pretty good considering they have their whole room to play in for most of the day. Does it sound big enough? I could always take Wooly out into the garage and place him inside for size reference. Hehe!

Wouldn’t 4×4 be the same as 4×2 + 4×2? They both equal 16 square feet. I did ask my husband about making it bigger, but we have to be realistic about the dimensions since it is all one piece. Hehe, it has to fit through the door to their room. I think it could have been a little wider, but then my husband would have had to buy another piece of plywood and then there would have been waste. Gosh, that plywood is expensive. O_o So I told him that this would be fine since they won’t be in there all the time anyway. Plus we weighed Wooly at the vet’s office again and he is tipping the scale at a whole 2 lbs. He doesn’t take up a lot of room! The ramp should work just fine. He said that he could make it like a chicken coop ramp (it will be wood) so they have something to push off of as they go up. They both use ramps right now in their cages, they are made out of wire though. They also both use the dog’s ramp to get up onto the couch. That one is big and covered in carpet though. What do you think will work best? It seems like a ramp is a ramp to them. The front doors will have screens in them, you think the top should have a screen too? I think my husband wanted the top to be a solid piece that can be lifted up.

Hmm, good question. I will have to ask him what he’s doing about that. I know the hide box will be up here on the second level so at least part of it will be closed off.

Okay, so I talked to my husband and he doesn’t want to cut windows in the sides since he has already glued everything together. He doesn’t want the top to be mesh either because he wants it to be capable of flipping open. He did say that we could prop the lid up with something though to make a vent that way. The entire front is going to be mesh though. He said that that was plenty of ventilation. He was talking about convection and air currents and blah blah blah. Does this mean you guys are going to hate the hutch we will have? Maybe I shouldn’t post pictures of it on here when he is done.

My feeling is that that isn’t going to happen. Basically, he had this whole thing planned out in his head already. He bought all the materials, cut all the pieces, and he’s not changing it now. I had made suggestions to him before when we were out buying wood for this thing, but I was getting the impression that he thought my ideas were stupid. Originally, I had wanted the walls to be wire with a wooden frame and solid wood levels. He wants this thing to look like a piece of furniture. So I’m sort of stuck here. That’s why I said I probably shouldn’t post pictures of the final product on here because you guys are not going to like it and you’re going to think I don’t love my bunnies.

Sorry, I was just so excited that my husband had agreed to build a cage for the rabbits so they could live together. So it saddens me to think that somehow I did something wrong. I certainly don’t want my husband to be mad at me, but I don’t want you guys to think I don’t care about the rabbits either. They are my babies, I try my hardest to make sure they are happy.