Introduction

Jersey Woolies are very cute rabbits. But that wool can be such a pain to maintain. The problems are especially troublesome at overnight shows, such as conventions and fairs, where the rabbits often have to sit in the shavings. Not a big deal for a holland lop. You just brush them off and away you go. That doesn’t work with a jersey. The meticulous work of removing those shavings from a jersey’s wool can send a breeder into hyperventilation, especially when you’re trying to get that rabbit to the judging table.

The solution is a simple riser that will keep the rabbit off the floor of the cage. Its made with 1 x 2 firring strips, and some wire that has 1/4″ squares. Its simple to make and it will save you plenty of aggravation. Plus the materials are fairly inexpensive.

Building the Risers

I was able to get the firring strips in 8′ lengths for $0.99 at Lowes. You’ll need 6′ of this wood for each riser. I purchase the wire at Tractor Supply. It comes in 18″ height which is perfect for the riser and 10′ in length which will make 7 risers, possibly 8. You will also need some nails and a staple gun.

The wood will have to be cut. You will need 2 pieces cut at 18″ and 6 pieces cut at 6″. I will nail a 6″ piece of the strip at each end of the 18″ piece.

You need to make sure that the 6″ pieces are not on the outside ends of the 18″ pieces, or your riser will be large than the 18″ piece of welded wire. I repeat this so that I now have two identical “c” shaped pieces.

I then cut 16″ of the 1/4″ welded wire. Try not to leave any sharp edges. You can grind the edges down some if needed. I then face the two wood “c” shaped pieces, I made earlier, at each other, so that they create a square. I lay the wire over the top of them. I will then move the “c” shaped pieces until they fit even with the wire. There should be about a 5″ gap between the two “c” shaped pieces at this point. This space is critical as you will need to partial fold the riser to get it into the cage. I then use a staple gun to secure the wire to the wood. You should have something shaped like this with wire laid over the top:

If you were to leave the riser this way, it would be too weak in the middle to support the rabbit. So we then use the other two pieces of 6″ firring strip as support pieces in the middle of the rise. We then use the staple gun to attach these pieces to the wire. The end result is a portable foldable riser that will keep your jersey wooly out of the shavings.

Rob Usakowski
Three Little Ladies Rabbitry