driving across the country with my 2 bunnies…words of wisdom? maybe some good vibes?

[dlscanne]

So this isn’t happening until August, but I’m already getting anxious about it…. I’m moving from Syracuse, New York, to Kansas City, Kansas with my bunnies!  Ah!

I am going to taylor this move as much as possible to fit the needs of my bunnies.  Here is their traveling background:

Franklin is very used to traveling between New York and my parent’s house in Vermont, about a 6 hour drive.  Although she doesn’t eat or drink her usual amount, she immediately does binkies and eats up a storm when she gets out of her cage.  She’s a great travel buddy.

Winston I’m not too sure yet, because he is new and young.  He seems pretty confident though and he’s about to do the 6 hour drive with me tomorrow.  He hasn’t seemed nervous driving to the vet before.

My boyfriend is going to rent a car and I am going to drive mine.  That way if the AC happens to fail, we will have back-up.  The bunnies will have a medium sized cage to ride in, with plenty of room to move around and stretch.  I’ll probably be staying with friends along the way for the most part, and can probably set up pens for them.  I’m hoping to do the trip in 4-5 days. 

Do you think it would be beneficial to get a probiotic from my vet before I go?  I also have Peter’s Rabbit Rescue which is an electrolyte mix, I’ve never used it before though and don’t want to do more harm than good. 

I’m going to get a new vet lined up before I go too, in case I need them right away.  I am going to miss my current rabbit vet   My boyfriend is going to go to Kansas and put a deposit on either an apartment or a house next week.  I told him make sure there is a good spot for the buns! 

Has anyone attempted something like this before?  I thought about flying with them, but cost is a problem ($200 a bun!) and they have no experience with airplanes.  Do you think flying would be better anyway? 

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Tips:
*If it’s warm or sunny you can duct tape sheets or pillow cases to the windows in the rear of the vehicle to keep it cooler back there.

*Bring syringes, critical care, bottled water from home (because they are used to that), and baby food. That way if one or the other isn’t eating you can syringe feed them. I travelled about 12 hours and stopped to syringe 2-3 ml of food and water every three hours.

*Bring their favorite greens, that helps entice them to eat and keep them hydrated.

I have rabbit carriers but I’ve found that my bunnies are more comfortable sitting on the car seat. For the longer trip I did (12H) I folded down half my car’s back seat, allowing them to have the backseat of the car and the trunk. I pushed my luggage around so that they could get in the trunk and hang out back there. Rupert was doing head binkies and really enjoyed himself. Kahlua peed on my suitcase But I found it really worked out. I put half a carrier (just took the top off) on the car seat and set that up like a liter box, and attached a water bottle to it.

I found my trip went really well and after a little while the rabbits settled right in.

[bunnytowne]

K&k you coverd it.  Yes provide a litterbox.  Poor little Cotton when he travels he will not pee til he gets home to his litterbox.  So I have to bring one in a plastic bag for him to use .  I put it in a plastic bag so the stuff doesn’t get all over. When he needs it Iust take it out he goes and put it back in the bag. Our a/c is out and we keep the windows open and stuff flies around so I have to keep it coverd.

[dlscanne]

those are some very useful tips…thanks! I probably will need to keep them in the cage though, just because I will have so much stuff that there won’t be enough room for them to walk around safely, especially if things shift! Luckily, the cage they will ride in (a store bought one) is normally connected to their larger cage, and already doubles as their large, deluxe, king-sized litter box, so they will probably still be happy to do their business in there.

glad it’s not such a big deal, I was already getting worried.

[JamieM]

My rabbit and I went on a long trip (20 hours, total, one way) and I started her in the car by taking short trips, like when I had to run to my work (who are ok with me bringing her inside to visit for a little while) to drop off a time sheet or something, or to fill my car with gas if I was paying with my debit card… then we eased up to longer drives, like we’d just go for a drive around town for first an hour, then two, then three, till she started to get used to the car. When it came time for the trip, I put her old (read: small) cage in the trunk, facing into the back seat and basically gave her free reign of the whole back half of the car. I was able to put my suitcase on the driver’s side floor and everything else fit around the cage so it worked out well. With the backseat folded down, it worked out really well. She hung out in the trunk a lot of the time but would come visit me by the back of my seat for pets. Every 100 miles or so, I”d try to stop and give her some tasty greens and a rest. I would usually just read a chapter of my book so she could take a break. It was fun! Plus people always give you a really funny look when they walk by your car and realize there’s a bunny running around in the back seat. Ha.

[MooBunnay]

I had to drive my 7 bunnies from LA to Dallas – and I found the trip went much better than I expected (I was nervous too!) Is there any way that you could shorten the trip? My trip was 3 days long (two overnights). I think it is important to set up a pen for them overnight, so that they can relax a bit and have an opportunity to eat hay and drink water, because they may not do that in the car, depending on how comfortable they are with the car.

Its important to bring a big bag of hay, your bunny medical kit, and treats to feed them periodically throughout the day (I found that is a good way to gauge how comfortable they are, they may not eat the treats if they are really scared in the car).

Also, when I was traveling, I duct taped sheets to the windows of the car so that the sun would not beat down on the carriers, that is important, because if they are in the back seat or back of the car, you might forget to make sure that the sun is not beating down on them and making the carriers too hot.

I have transported bunnies in airplanes a couple times, and they were definitely scared throughout the trip, but they all made it OK and were fine once they were back on solid ground. I think it is the noise in the airplane that scared them the most. In the car, I found that my bunnies got used to the moving after a couple hours and would hop around and groom etc. while on the move, so they are definitely more relaxed in the car.

[BinkyBunny]

You’ve gotten some great tips.

Here is a link to a previous discussion regarding traveling by car.  Much of it will be repeated, but you might find some new stuff too to think about. https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=54&forumid=1&view=topic&postid=16826

OH…and sending GOOD VIBES!!

[dlscanne]

I just map quested the route, and its only about 18 hours! It’s funny, it takes me 6 hours to drive 300 miles to Vermont, and 18 to drive 1,2000 to Kansas! I guess I’m not used to the concept those straight, flat highways. Thanks for the tips guys, I really appreciate it.

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