Moving across the country!

[natafish]

Hi Everyone!

This is my first post. I will be moving from MI to FL in May and I was wondering if anyone has experienced a move with a bunny before. I have all of the technical stuff figured out (housing, hotels that are pet friendly, etc.) but we’ll be driving and I’m worried it’ll be too much for Brian (bunny), he hates the car. I’m also worried about how he’ll be in a new space since he doesn’t even like being in a new room. 

Any advice helps!

Side note- he’s also getting neutered today, wish him luck!

[Heaven]

Hope the neuter went well! <3

I’d be interested to hear others responses to your question too.

[Sirius&Luna]

Hope his neuter went well.

I don’t have any experience with this myself I’m afraid, my bunnies also hate the car. I’m also not American so I have no idea what that distance is, but I assume we’re talking about at least a day of driving if you have hotels?

My general tips would be:

Get a big dog crate or something like that so he has space to stretch. Make sure litter tray etc is tied to a side so it doesn’t jolt around when you’re driving.

Bring comforting things that smell like home, eg fleece blankets or teddies.

Stop every couple of hours to give him some wet veggies so he stays hydrated. Often bunnies won’t eat in moving cars, so it’s a good idea to give them a break and check they’re eating.

Keep the temperature of the car consistent and roughly the same as your home.

Think about getting him used to radio or music as an extra comfort to drown out car noises.

I do think if it’s a long drive, hopefully he will get used to it. Lots of rabbits seem to get used to things they don’t initially like, like vacuuming or cooking noises, once they realise there’s no danger.

When you get to the new house, set him up in a small space at first, with his usual things (you might want to keep some home smelling blankets aside from the ones you use while travelling in case they get peed on during the journey!), and as he gets used to his new space you can gradually expand it

Hope others with experience can pop by!

[Leah & Lil' Lions]

Hello again!

Last year my boyfriend and I made the drive from MN to FL with our then 1.5-year-old lionhead.

All of Sirius&Luna’s advice is definitely good stuff.

I went a little nuts with my travel preparations. I went on amazon and got two pop-up pens:

The first was rectangular and fit nicely in my back seat. I believe it also had loops on the back that you could run a seatbelt through to keep it from moving around too much. I set that one up as my rabbit’s primary home for the trip – it was big enough to fit his litter box, food and water, and there was still room for him to lay down. It took up about half of my back seat. It also had a mesh front so he could see me and what was going on around him (I’m not sure whether all rabbits like that, though). I attached some elastic straps inside the pen in a loop to hold his water and food bowls – then put a few water bottles in his bag so I could easily fill it.

The second pen I bought was much bigger and hexagonal/circular. It folded down into a small bag so it was easy to store while driving – then when we checked into a hotel I’d open it up and plop the other pen (the one from the car) inside of it so my rabbit could choose to either stay inside or come out and have a little more room to hop around.

We did the trip in January so the change in climates was a little more drastic (-15 when we left MN ?) but my rabbit did very well on the ride down and he’s pretty particular, so it’s definitely doable!

Best of luck and safe travels!

[Author]

Messages