Bunny Baby Gate Ideas for a high jumper

[tltjohnston]

I have a one year old mini rex. My house is mostly bunny proof but I do sometimes have things out I don't want him getting into (Charging cables for my tablet and ps3 controler) that I can't keep out of his reach when I am using them. I love my little bunny but he is the most distructive, clumsy, rebelious, bunny I have ever had. To make things worse he is in love with my cat who hates him. My puppy also likes to play with him. They mostly play nice but when the bunny is done the puppy wont stop. As a result he spends most of his time locked in his cage. I hate locking him up all the time as I know how much he loves to run and jump. I tried putting up a baby gate so that he can be loose full time in the kitchen without bothering the cat or getting bothered by the puppy but he just jumps it. I now have two baby gates up, one on top of the other. He can't jump them both at nearly 5ft but it is just not practical. I have considered putting in a door to the kitchen but can't afford it right now and I am not convinced he cant jump a "tall" baby gate. Do you have any suggestions for a permenent solution that wont be teribly expencive.

 

[middlemuse]

Oh oh, I solved this problem! Aria was jumping the baby gate that kept her out of the hall.

I took storage cube grids and made a gate that hinges like a door. The principle is that if you overlap the grids by one square, they'll be rigid, and if you don't, they'll bend. So my gate has a configuration like this:


We prop it up against the baby gate, and swing the wide part out like a door.

I hope that's clear. I'm at work but I'll try to get a picture of the actual gate when I go home.

 

[tltjohnston]

wow! genious! I love It. I have seen people use them to build cages before but never thought of using it for a gate! Do you still use a baby gate with it and just use it as a tall extension or do you use it as the gate itself? I could even add a "bunny door" on the bottom that flips up to open when he is allowed out and could lock to keep him in. That way he could get through but the puppy and baby can't. :biggrin2:

 

[missyscove]

I recently purchased this gate for the door into my bedroom to keep my roommate's cats out. Unfortunately the bar spacing was wide enough so they could fit through, but I added some NIC grids to it which remedied that situation. I like it because it has the human door that can swing open. It's really tall, but I suspect some really determined buns could still jump it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OC5UNA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[middlemuse]

We use it in conjunction with a baby gate because there's no other easy way to get it to stand up. We're renters, so we can't attach it permanently, but if we owned the place I would use those U shaped nails to tack one side to the wall and maybe nail a strip of wood to the other side to keep it from swinging inward. You can see how you can adjust the width by overlapping the grids more.



Aria actually is capable of jumping over something that high, but only under duress, and she's never tried it with the gate.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We put up a semi-circle from a playpen grid in front of the gate--we can still step over but the bunnies can't get a run at the baby gate so it keeps them corralled in the bunny room. Tile or linoleum by the gate also gives them poor footing so they can't clear a gate also.