bunny sitters

[BunnyBuns7]

hello there fellow bunny lovers. My husband and I are thinkign of starting a business. Still throwing around ideas, but one of the things we came up with is pet sitting. we feel we may have a good advantage because we know about many different kinds of pets. My question to you guys is, do you think there’s a demand for bunny sitters? we of course would sit all kinds a excotic pets, but I thought I would start here. Let me know. Would you every use a bunny sitter and do you find it difficult to locate one? Thanks for your help

~Michaela

[Beka27]

I might use one, but if I did it would have to be someone I knew relatively well as I am not comfortable allowing strangers in my home. I would be more inclined to take my rabbits somewhere else to be boarded or housed… but in that case… I might as well take them with me. I would be cautious on who you are advertising to and what you are claiming as your qualifications. Do you have veterinarian (or vet tech) experience? Are you aware of the different health issues that can arise with a variety of exotic pets? It’s important that someone who is working as a broad “exotic” petsitter will know the warning signs from one species to another of what constitutes an emergency. For example, I can take care of rabbits, but if someone had a Chinchilla, I’d have NO CLUE what to do or what to look for. There’s more to petsitting than just cleaning cages and feeding. I would probably recommend that you limit yourself to one type of animal that you know very well (like rabbits) and contact your local HRS to see if they list petsitting services on their site.

[Sarita]

Have you asked around at your neighborhood vets to see if they see many rabbits or guinea pigs or any other exotics? I think it might be good to start there since it is where you live.

I have a friend who is a petsitter and it’s a very demanding business. She works holidays and weekends and basically all day. I would trust her for sure since I know she has rabbits. She is also able to administer drugs orally and by injections.

I’m pretty sure as well that you need to be bonded since you will have access to people’s homes.

[Elrohwen]

I found myself a pretty good bunny sitter, but she wasn’t that easy to find. She was the only person I could find in my area who had any bunny experience. She doesn’t have one of her own, but has regularly bun sat for 6 other buns. She is also a trained vet tech which made me trust her so much more. She walked into our house and picked up Otto to cuddle him right away – I don’t even do that! So I knew immediately that she was comfortable with buns and able to handle them. That went a long way with me. She also had about a million references and certifications – I didn’t even need to read them because I was pretty convinced by the sheer number (it was about a 4″ binder full!)

The second time she bun sat, Otto stopped eating for a day and she was comfortable getting out the critical care, feeding it to him, sitting with him for a few hours, and everything. She charges $35 per day, which is a lot, but I live in an expensive area (and I only book her for a weekend; I get friends to watch him in their home for longer than that).

Hopefully my experience helps! I don’t know if bun sitters would be in enough demand to create a huge income, but I think there’s a market out there for them. Any pet sitter with bunny experience would be great for a bunny owner.

[Balefulregards]

I have used my exotic vet, who also offers boarding for their clients. It wasn’t terribly expensive ( 20 dollars per day for one rabbit and she had a small X pen for her own use) They also provided nice veggies, hay and Oxbow pellets. I am not sure what the cost will be for the two ( since I now have a bonded duo)…

I was more than happy to have found that the vet does this – it is generally a really Full service and I call to book as soon as I know that we might be traveling so I can secure her/their spot.

Since I took them to the vet, I had to drop off and pick up within business hours, so I have paid for days that I didn’t need so I could make sure they were safe and secure.

While Coco has always been “mad” at me post vacation, she doesn’t seem unusually stressed or upset. Of course, the Exotics ONLY takes their clients, so The bun room has just Rabbits, Guinea Pigs and the occasional ferret/hamster. The bird room is always full as well. They clearly don’t mix any predator animals in , so there aren’t crazy scary smells. In fact, every time I have been in with her, we poke into the boarding room and chat with the current boarders. Its nice because the people who visit are generally bunny people, so it is a respectful environment.

Plus, I know if one of them starts acting strange, they have the medical care Right there.

[Monkeybun]

The rescue I got Moose from does Bunny sitting, so I’ll probably use them for whenever we go away somewhere for more than a day I <3 Rabbit Advocates

[Karla]

Posted By BunnyBuns7 on 02/11/2010 04:57 PM

hello there fellow bunny lovers. My husband and I are thinkign of starting a business. Still throwing around ideas, but one of the things we came up with is pet sitting. we feel we may have a good advantage because we know about many different kinds of pets. My question to you guys is, do you think there’s a demand for bunny sitters? we of course would sit all kinds a excotic pets, but I thought I would start here. Let me know. Would you every use a bunny sitter and do you find it difficult to locate one? Thanks for your help

~Michaela

 

I want use such a service (not much of a help to you though due to the geographic distance), There are actually lots of such businesses here, and they also offer to do the garden, walk the dog et.c. while you are on holiday. I would actually prefer a business like that if I knew that people behind it had rabbit-knowledge compared to getting help from family or friends. No one I know would react if a bunny have loose stools or is tilting its head. Unfortunately, no business near me (or anyone with rabbit knowledge)

Here in DK we also have a website where people can find pet sitters. If you have a pet you just make a profile and write something about your pet, if you are willing to pay for the pet sitting or not and if you want to take care of other people’s animals as well. Some don‘t have pets and just want to pet sit, while others only want to find someone looking after their pet, but don’t want to pet sit themselves, and then there is the combination. It seems to work really well. I have a profile as well. The service is free.

 

Perhaps you could make a site like that and then charge people for a profile?  

 

[KatnipCrzy]

It depends- I would not be interested in my bunny staying at someone else’s house that could have bunnies from yet another location staying there.

I work at a vet clinic- so I luckily have a co-worker that pet sits for me- she comes over to give me one of my cats insulin anyway- and let the dogs out if they are here.  So I know the person and trust her completely- we do the same for her (she is actually my vet).

So to legally cover yourself you most likely would have to be bonded and insured- probably depending on which state you live in- and you would have to decide how to handle an emergency.  Our local 24 hour emer clinic requires payment at time of service- and as a petsitter unless you could get the owners on the phone to pay with a credit card- you would need to pay for the visit.  But you also need legal documentation that you can seek medical treatment for the pet if you are not the owner.

I have done it for some people- and have 1-2 clients left that I will actually stay at their home with their pets- but it is based on personal trust and not a business relationship.

[Moonlight_Wolf]

I personally would find a service such as this very helpful especially if I knew the person sitting for my bunny was knowledgeable about bunnies. To tell you the truth I would like to see pictures of their bunny enclosure and want to know how they treat their bunny before I go about letting them sit for my bunny. No one in my area I would trust completely to sit for my bunnies, we do have this sitter that we used for a week -she sat for the dogs and the bunnies, but I was not 100% satisfied.

[mocha200]

bunnybuns7 your the first person on BB that i met that lives in WI. i thought i was the only one

[MirBear]

i might hire a bun sitter but it would have to be someone i already knew to some degree. and i would rather have my buns stay with them. it may be a bit more stresssful on the buns if they had to go stay with some one else so before hand i would deffinatly want to have the person familier with me and my bunnies so that the bunies will feel confertable around said peron. so a trial sit would be mandatory (aka. like you would have to come get used to them at our house a few times and then they would have to come spend a day with you not a night but like maybe a few hours at your house) these are precautions so that you would be used to them and would be able to tell any differences in their personalities if something went wrong.

other then that i would consiter a bunny sitter. and depending on how many times ive used their services and how pleased i am with it then i would use them for longer vacaitions… like maybe a vweek or so.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

There is a damand-I’m totally sure of it. I was off last Christmas and thought I’d try it to make cash. I had one job for two weeks with only two bunnies, made 300$. And she wasn’t even concerned that I come every day (ridiculous I went twice a day of course just in case) it was good money and she was so relieved to find someone.

I would absolutely love to find a TRUSTED pet sitter. To be totally honest no matter the company or person, I would still have family or friends pop in from time to time to ensure the petsitter was actually coming in and doing what they were supposed to be doing. I’m just, well not trusting like that But I’d love a sitter, and even one who could just pop in during the day while I’m at work would be great. I don’t need to but I come home everyday on lunch just to check on everyone.

I’d also like the option of a sitter or company being able to stay in the house with my pets. WE have a destination wedding coming up and cannot bring any pets with us, and a dog can’t stay alone like that. So I will be hiring someone to live in the house with the pets (As well as having some friends come by to check up on the sitter).

OK so I hope this is helpful, but I would never hire someone who wasn’t deadfast passionate about pets. And owned them as well. Bondable and security checks done etc. So I would do that-make your website reflect how you are with your pets and your experience etc. People, at least people like me-want you to worry and care for my pet as you would your own.

And get a website, put reviews of your services on and take pictures of the pets you look after (provided you have permission to do so) I’d never hire someone without pictures and reviews

OHH and take a course in pet first aid-that would make me feel better as a client

[Author]

Messages