If you've had rabbits as pets, you'll know that while these guys are cute and cuddly, they can be DESTRUCTIVE little furballs—especially the dwarf ones. At a moment's boredom, they can rip apart anything their teeth can get to.

While I don't want to replace their torn apart cardboard-floored cages every three months, I don't want to torture them either with many of the disgusting commercial rabbit cages around.

The problems with most commercial rabbit cages are:

• They're too damn small. Of course your bunny should have roaming time outside the cage, but during your 9-5s they'll get bored out of their minds!
• They're way expensive for what they are, and what they are-are usually no better than chicken wires.
• Hutches are impractical for indoor use and are crazy expensive. Your bunny should never be kept outdoors.

So then what's a serious crafter to do? Build one of course! I've been building mine for years. But sometimes I use plain cardboard as their floor covering, which is a bad idea. When it gets wet or there's a crack, the bunnies will shred the thing apart. So lately, I've been using shelf liners to protect the floor from chewage and pee-age. It works great! Shelf liners are the best invention ever!

Bunny-proof Bunny Cage - Version 2.0

The floor here is constructed of cardboard that was entirely covered by less than one roll of shelf liners. Make sure no seams or liner is sticking up where their teeth may get to. Then the cardboard was folded up at the sides and taped together to provide a side barrier. It is pretty seamless inside so they'll never be able to tear it up. It is also an excellent pee-proof surface, muahahaha.

I passed on the cardboard covering on the top floor, just because it's not as big a deal and there is no water container up there. There's a litterbox on both floors. Later I might build a ramp for them too (they know how to jump up).

Materials:

1. Modular cubes. You can usually find these at Bed Bath & Beyond or Target. You might need 2 or 3 sets depending on the size you want to make.
   
   From: Bed Bath & Beyond, Modular Storage Cube Set, Set of 4 for $14.99
   
    
2. Roll of Con-Tact brand Shelf Liner. They're the kind for lining your kitchen shelves. It has to be the self-adhesive type. I used the Black Faux Leather one from Home Depot, makes the cage look all luxurious. $6.48 for a lengthy 18" x 15' roll.
3. Some giant pieces of cardboard enough to line the bottom of the cage, plus a few inches to fold up the sides. Taping several smaller pieces together also work.

As for the construction, you can really arrange it however you like. It's kind of fun, it's sort of like real life Lego, in a way. In the end you'll probably spend around $50, depending on the cage size. Such a deal! For $50 at a pet store, you'll hardly get anything more than a two by one. DIY FTW.

The bunnies have settled into their new home. Notice I also tied down their food dish with thin wire. They LOVE tipping it over to protest whenever they're out of food. :|