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How to Make Urine Guards for Rabbit Cages

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Rabbits typically choose one corner of their cage to use as a potty, but their fastidious bathroom habits don't mean they're good with aim. Even with a slide-out tray located just below the mesh floor of the cage to catch liquid waste, you may find drips and splashes still get outside the cage. One solution to the problem is a homemade urine guard. Place it in the commode corner of your bunny's cage to deflect urine splatter and direct it into the litter pan below.

Step 1

Measure out 9 inches on the upper and lower edge of the 12-by-12-inch sheet metal with the measuring tape. Mark it with the marker.

Step 2

Draw a line on the metal between the two marks, using the marker. Use a straightedge or a short piece of planed lumber to keep your line straight if necessary.

Step 3

Cut along the line using the tin snips so that the metal measures 12 inches by 9 inches.

Step 4

Mark both sides of the metal twice: at 5½ inches and 11 inches up from the bottom edge with the marker.

Step 5

Draw two lines on the metal horizontally between the marks on the sides. Use the straightedge again if necessary.

Step 6

Cut along the lines with the tin snips. This will give you two strips of metal that are each 5½ inches by 9 inches and a scrap piece of 1 inch by 9 inches. Discard the scrap piece of metal.

Step 7

Measure 1½ inches up from the bottom of one strip of metal and mark it on both sides with the marker. Repeat with the second strip of metal.

Step 8

Bend the metal strips to make an "L" shape, creasing them at the 1½-inch mark using the pliers and the straight edge. This will make the strips 4 inches by 9 inches with a 1½-inch lip at the bottom of each piece.

Step 9

Drill two holes in each strip: one in each top corner.

Step 10

Attach the urine guards inside your rabbit's cage. Place one on each side of the corner he uses for a potty so they meet and form a barrier in the corner. Thread the wire or zip ties through the holes in the tops of the metal strips to secure the urine guards to the sides of the cage. The bottom lips of the two pieces will overlap, although the vertical portions of the two pieces will meet in the corner, not overlapping at all. This can leave a small vertical gap between the two pieces, but you can minimize gapping by fitting each of the pieces as close together and tightly into the corner as you can.