Does anyone just use a gated enclosure rather than a cage?

[Bunniless]

I'm thinking of the play yards you get for small children--free standing gated enclosures with no bottom. I could set this up on a vinyl floor, and the top would be open all the time. We don't have cats and our daughter can't climb/open the gate. By the time she can, she'll be old enough to understand how to interact gently with rabbits.

The gates are plastic though, and I wonder if the bunnies would chew their way out. Also, can larger bunnies hop over an approximately three-foot gate? Is a regular cage/hutch or a dog crate the way to go? Thanks for any help!

 

[Devi]

I just use a 4'x4' Exo-pen with a 5 story ferret cage.

 

[mrsmeyers]

Yep, what you describe is similar to my set-up. I just posted this in the "2014 Cages" thread, but here's a picture.

Vinyl tiles on plywood, with the x-pen (puppy pen) around it. I'm using metal, though, because of potential chewing issues, so you might want to rethink the plastic gate and buy a metal one. Mine is more than 36" tall, but in hindsight, I could've gone shorter ... my rabbit is not athletic or mischievious.

Previously, we had him in a wire-bottom cage. Before that, we had him in an outside hutch. I've found that my kids and I interact with the rabbit way more with this new set-up.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We use a plastic child gate from Wal Mart on the door to the rabbit room. Only have had 2 jump over, but they learned not to, so after a couple of weeks we went back to a single instead of two high. Cosmo likes to chew so when he could stick his head out, I bolted some plywood to the gate bottom and that also stopped.

 

[Bunniless]

Thank you! I looked through the cages thread, and found someone had used the exact plastic play yard I have without any problems. Wire does seem to make more sense, but I already have this one around from when I used it to contain my daughter in her crawling days. I think I'll give it a shot before I buy or attempt to build something. I think I like the idea of the top being open to allow for extra spontaneous interaction.