Bunny Gates?

[SiobhanRoisin]

Hello,

I have two rabbits, a boy Bertrand who is one and a girl Arlo who is five months. I am new to rabbits and just got them over a month ago. I am keeping them separate for now. I had Bertrand neutered a week and a half ago, but from advice in the forum I have decided not to properly introduce them until Arlo gets neutered too. I had her at the vet this morning though and have been advised to wait six to eight weeks before getting her done because she is so young. I was speaking to the vet though, and though I don't want to introduce them properly, I thought it might be nice for them to get used to each other through a gate, as they can smell each other and know there is another rabbit in the house. I have Bertrand in the living room just now and Arlo gets the bedroom and kitchen, however going between rooms is a bit of an event as there is only a door and I have one rabbit on either side trying to get to the other one :/. I was thinking I might try putting a baby gate in between their areas. That way they can't fight but they can sniff and see each other and perhaps it will be easier. I have been looking at baby gates though and the gaps in the bars all look way too big. Bertrand jumps really high and Arlo can dig and squeeze through those bar spaces I bet. Does anyone know of any good bunny gates? I saw some that were screens but I'm pretty sure they could chew through those.

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions.

Siobhán

 

[Zoobec]

I bought one from Argos- it's a puppy gate, but it's made of plastic mesh and wood, so if your bunnies are prolific chewers they would be able to get through it I think. Plus it's not overly high, but my bunny is only little and used on the edge of the first step of the stairs adds extra height. It's this one
http://www.argos.co.uk/product/6532651?store=144&cmpid=GS001&_$ja=tsid:59156%7Ccid:598623051%7Cagid:29904243445%7Ctidla-280271523070%7Ccrid:100241664085%7Cnw:g%7Crnd:2391436853056944832%7Cdvc:t%7Cadp:1o5&gclid=CjwKEAjw8OLGBRCklJalqKHzjQ0SJACP4BHr0J-p_9wPp83lyFE9fOSHM4nQr2vIY_Pwhm43GtVJwxoCLXfw_wcB

You could use mesh to modify a child gate?

 

[SiobhanRoisin]

Oh! That's an excellent idea, it hadn't occurred to me to modify the other ones! Thank you!

 

[Shimmer]

A standard baby gate should be OK if you put a layer of mesh (eg weldmesh) or piece of perspex over it to prevent your bunnies getting stuck through the bars or attacking each other. You can use garden wire to fasten the mesh on to the baby gate bars. Cable ties are useful but I find that bunnies can chew them off in seconds, so shouldn't be relied on as the main means of fastening anything for bunny proofing.

It's early days yet, so they may be better being completely separate until both are neutered and the hormones have subsided. Or they may be fine and you just have to keep them separate to prevent pregnancy. Either way, the baby gate is a good idea to prevent any kind of accident.

 

[daphnephoebe]

Standard baby gate from argos... thin piece of ply across the bottom stops them from suqeezing out.. it's not fixed on - just slid through the bars.
The wooden cross hatch is just to soften the look of the gate a little. It's fixed on with multiple cable ties.

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[Babsie]

Personally, I would keep them well away from each other until both are neutered and hormones have died down. I never see the point of risking never being able to bond a pair because of rushing things in the beginning.

 

[Babsie]

I think, actually, you were given some advice from experienced bonders re neutering and bonding, on your previous thread.

 

[phantombadger]

@op. Ha! That reminds me of my buns. My Ned was about 6 months and yuki maybe 6 weeks. We had a gate that worked or so we thought.

We used a outdoor dog pen to section a room and a curtain to fill in the holes. Ned couldn't get through and the curtain seemed to work. Until one day we saw yuki bolt at the gate. Near scared us half to death. She blew right threw the bars in between the curtains. The bars are only about 1 1/2". She was about that big too. All fluff I guess. Front that point on we took the curtain down. Looks like we didn't need to bond them; this was 3 years ago, 3 days after getting her. Ned's protective of her. He guards her while she sleeps.

We've been pretty lucky with them.

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