gates

[feral]

I've seen those retractable fabric type stair gates, has anyone used one for bunnies?
At the moment, I have a normal stair gate which I also put another layer of 2cm mesh over, it works well but looks horrible.
I've got it in the hallway and it's mainly open, but I need it for safety if the front door is open.

 

[Shimmer]

They might chew through the fabric of the retractable 'gates'. There's going to be a gap at the bottom that they can squeeze / push through, particularly as it's flexible and not a solid edge. I also don't find them all that easy to use, compared to standard baby gates. I still have some at the bottom of the stairs / front door from when I had to keep puppies in, but I no longer use them. Daughter also has a long one to separate dog(s) and toddler. They are fairly easy to breach if left unsupervised.

It would depend on the situation - if the rabbit is a real chewer, how much supervision there is, etc. For certainty, I would use a more traditional style gate. I would rather use something that I know keeps the rabbits safer, even if it's a compromise on looks. I've used sheets of corrugated card woven between the bars before. Maybe you could try something more cosmetically pleasing across the bars - eg white coated / painted board cut to size and held on with tidy zip ties.

 

[Cuthbert&Dillon]

Or building on Shimmers idea's could you not fasten garden trellis over the bars - there is some nice trellis and if on the "wrong" side to the bunnies - harder for them to chew rather than fabric?

 

[Mervinius]

We have a plastic concentina one. I think its called a baby dan foldable gate. Buns have shown no interest in it and doubt any could chew threw it, becuase its hard plastic. We have it across our hall/porch to stop buns escaping out the front door. We looked at the mesh ones and we knew they'd chew it, so avoided those.
We also made a picket style fence gate which blocks our kitchen off. Made of pine so if they chew it, its safe wood.

 

[feral]

Thanks for your replies. That was my worry that she'd chew through it and get stuck underneath - I'm not concerned so much about escaping, as they're pretty free it's just when someone comes to the door like you said Mervinius. I didn't think of covering with wood, that's a good idea, solid or trellis. Our older bunny would never go that side of the house, he only went in the back garden and wouldn't cross the threshold into the dining room even, so we never needed a gate. The new one trotted out the front door the first week we got her, surveyed all her land and trotted back down the path and back through the front door - phew!