Welded Wire is what is used to build a rabbit cage

Welded Galvanized Wire is what rabbit cages are made of. Never use chicken wire or hardware cloth. It will injure the rabbit and does not provide protection from predators. A dog, coyote or raccoon will chew right through these lighter wires to get to your rabbits.

GAW (sometimes called double galvanized): Some wire is galvanized and then welded together, then galvanized again. This is Galvanized After Weld wire. Some of the galvanizing materiel is burned off each joint during the welding process. The second galvanizing coats these burned off areas. It also makes the wire stiffer, which makes the wire panels you will construct your cages out of more rigid.

GBW : Some wire is galvanized and then welded together. This is Galvanized Before Weld wire. Some of the galvanizing materiel is burned off each joint during the welding process. This makes the joints rust faster than the rest of the wire. This wire is slightly more economical than GAW wire.

GAUGE : The gauge (ga.) of the wire tells you how thick it is. The smaller the number, the thicker the wire.
Floors should be 14 ga. For large breeds and can be 16 ga. For dwarf breeds. Having a thicker wire (GAW helps this even more) for a heavier rabbit is important. It reduces flexing and provides better support for the rabbit’s foot. Too thin a wire will cause sores on the rabbit’s feet.
Walls and roofs can be a lighter gauge unless you are stacking them or suspending them. Then you will need the extra strength and rigidity of a heavier wire.

MESH SIZE : Let’s look at a 2”x1” wire. The mesh size tells you two things.
First, it tells you the size of the opening in the wire, in this case it is 2 inch by 1 inches, a common size for the sides and top of a rabbit cage.
Second, it tells you which way the openings are oriented on the roll. On all wire, the last measurement goes around the roll. A 2" x 1" pattern will produce 1" of waste per cut that must be trimmed to eliminate sharp ends. And in 1" x 2" mesh you lose 2" per cut.

Example: For the sides of cages I use 18 inch, 1x2 GAW wire. This means that I have 4 sides, making 3 cuts, I lose 6 inches to waste. But wait, if I used 2x1 I’d lose half as much, only 3 inches in waste, right? Right, BUT with 1x2 running around my cage, it allows me to position feeders and water spouts vertically every inch. I like the 1” vertical spacing, so that is what I use.

Cage Sizes: I will only be addressing cage sizes for Commercial Breeds. These are rabbits with Senior (Adult) weights between 8 and 11 pounds.

Adult individual doe or buck: 30 x 24 or larger. Common sizes are 30x24, 30x30, 30x36. All cages are 18" high.

Doe with litter: 30x30 or larger, with 30x36 being the most common. All cages are 18" high.

Cage Depth: Cage depth is important. A cage more than 30" deep (front to back) can make it difficult to reach the back of the cage.

How to build a cage for your rabbit - Intro

If you are new to rabbits,this will help you build a cage for your rabbit. Most rabbit cages are built in the same manner and with the same supplies, so once you get the basics down, you can build away to fill your specific needs.

This cage is one of my favorite configurations. It is 48" X 30" X 18" high with a solid galvanized divider. This gives you 2 holes of 24'X 30" X18" high. In rabbits a "hole" is an individual cage. So if you had 5 of these cages, with 2 "holes" each, then you would have 10 "holes" in your rabbitry.



A hole this size is good for a medium to large rabbit. That is a 5lb to 10lb rabbit. If you are raising a dwarf breed or a giant breed your needs are smaller and larger respectively.

Let's talk a moment about the needs of your rabbit. Your rabbit needs to be able to do these things freely:

• Sit up.
• Lay down stretched out to its full length.

As a general rule, provide approximately .75 square foot of floor space per pound of body weight. Average height is 18" for a medium to large breed.

In this series, I'll be giving tips on rabbit cage building basic ideas, tools and materials. These are things I've learned on my own while building cages for my Blanc de Hotot rabbits. The Blanc de Hotot is a Commercial Type rabbit raised for meat, fur and show. The bucks range in weight from 8 to 10 pounds and the does 9 to 11 pounds. They are my main focus, so most of my cages are for a rabbit that size. I will go through building cages for a dwarf breed at a later date, but remember that the way all the cages are built is the same, they only vary in size.