Moving with Rabbits

[JillLovesBunnies]

 Hello everyone, this is my first post!  I am currently located in Upstate NY and may be moving shortly to Phoenix, AZ. Does anyone here have experience traveling with Pets? This would either be a very, very long and possibly stressful car ride for my two rabbits or a 5-6 hour plane flight. I don’t want them to be on a plane because I wont be able to see them and they would be so scared! I have considered my sister taking them as she is an experience bunny mother..but she is reluctant to as she has 3 of her own already. I will not give them to a shelter or separate them. I do not want to leave them with a close friend or family member out of fear they wont get enough attention. I’m stressed! Sorry this was such a long post!

[BunnyMuffin]

I wouldn’t fly with the bunnies unless they’ll be in the cabin with you – not checked with the cargo.

How long would the car ride be? The longest trip I’ve done with my bunnies so far is 5 hours, but I know other members have had success in moving long distances in the car. Hopefully some of them will be along to offer some advice. I will be do a 16 hour trek with the bunnies this summer, and just plan to stop every few hours to let them have a stretch and change out any soiled towels in the carrier, keep plenty of healthy snacks on hand, and make sure to keep the A/C on and hang sheets or towels over the windows to block the sun and help keep the backseat cooler. Some people set it up so the rabbits can roam the backseat freely with a litterbox out for the whole trip. I personally will be keeping my buns safely stowed in the carrier, just because that seems safer to me in case of a crash.

Have your bunnies travelled much in the car before? Mine are relatively comfortable with it. But if yours only travel in the car to go to the vet, you might want to start taking them on little treks just so they realize that going in the car doesn’t necessarily mean an un-fun trip to the vet.

I would definitely not want to give them away either! I’m sure you can find a way to get them safely to Phoenix with you!

[Beka27]

some planes will allow them to ride in the cabin with you. that’s the only safe way for them to travel by plane since they can die from fright and there are extreme temperature/pressure fluctuations. we had a thread awhile back about traveling with buns on a plane. i’ll look for it tomorrow unless someone else can find it sooner than that. you could drive with them. you would need to stop about every 2-3 hours tho so they can eat and drink…

[RabbitPam]

Hi,
I’m one of the experienced movers here. I drove from Western Massachusetts to South Florida with my bunny in the back seat in his cage. It took me 3 days, and we stayed overnight in two motels.

It’s not all that hard if you’re very prepared in the car. Also, do you belong to AAA? I would highly recommend it (about $60 annually) because they can help in a couple of ways. First, they will map out your route for you, selecting the best roads, avoiding construction and trouble spots, getting you there directly and as safely as possible. They highlight a map or 2 and you take it with you. Second, they have books of all the states with hotels rated with stars, and details of what hotels/motels will take pets. If you know where you’re stopping ahead of time, call for a reservation. I just looked up where they were when I was ready to stop and drove to the nearest one that took pets. A hotel is more $ but better in that they have elevators and carts for bringing in the bunny’s cage with him. A motel is cheaper, but I had to carry my stuff up to a 2nd floor, which was harder after a long day of driving.

• I stopped at rest stops, and brought the bun inside in his carrying case to be in air conditioning with me. DO NOT leave the bunny in a warm car.
• I would also freshen his water, which was the biggest problem because no matter what kind of dish or bottle I used, it sloshed around.
• Put a litter pan in the cage, but also cover the bottom with lots of litter, partly to soak up any water spills.
• Keep a cooler of bottled water in the car for you both.
• Keep fresh greens in the cooler as well.
• Keep a sealed container of pellets. Make sure you have a dish for food. Get the dishes that hook to the cage bars (Petsmart has some) even if it’s called a water crock. That will keep it from getting tossed around the car and hitting him.
• You might also put a towel in, and keep more handy for him to snuggle and to help clean. Keep trash bags for changing litter, extra litter, and lots of paper towels so you can throw out the soiled stuff rather than smell up your car. (Think traveling with a baby.)
• Make sure your car is in good running order, ie. all fluids, tires, AC and heater checked and ok. Have jumper cables, oil, water and anti-freeze in your trunk always.
• The bunny can come into the hotel room, then have free roam in the bathroom at a minimum, possibly the room if he can’t get under the beds. Watch out for wires in the room. Take time during breaks in the ride, and especially at night, to get on the floor and visit/play with him. Reassure him, and stick as close to his routines as possible. Same feeding times, same foods. Same house he knows. Put him in his house in the room first, then take in your own bags. It gets him out of the car.

That’s all I remember for now. Spockie was very, very good on the trip. The spilled water was a problem, and he got some sore hocks from standing in dampness by the time we arrived in FL, but I found a new vet right away and it wasn’t a serious problem. Mini Rexes are prone to that anyway – just try to keep his house and feet dry periodically if you can. It’s more important that he be able to drink water on the drive. We moved when he was 5, and I had him for another 3 years – he loved it here. So I urge you to travel, though if someone else could drive with you, it would be crowded but make the ride much faster and easier since you could trade off driving and shorten the trip. Good luck!

[MooBunnay]

I moved seven buns from LA to Dallas, and everyone did quite well with the trip I agree with all of the advice that Rabbitpam gave above and here are some of my other tips:

1. Make sure that the carrier is always shaded, depending on the time of day the sun will be coming in on different sides of the car, and if the carrier is in direct sunlight it will heat up very fast. Since I had carriers everywhere in my car, I duct-tapes sheets to my back windows so that the sun was always blocked. In your case you might just want to put one of those baby shades in the window on the side where the carrier is
2. If you don’t make reservations ahead of time at pet friendly hotels, you can also stop at motels and just park right in front of your room and bring the bun in and out (I had 7, and I know no motel would take that many so I stopped at random motels
3. I brought ex-pens for my bunnies for the motels – that way they could strech and use the litterbox etc.
4. I gave papaya treats each night to identify if any bunny was going into stasis – if they didn’t eat their treat I knew they weren’t feeling well. In my case, they all did fine
5. I put towels in the carriers on top of carpet squares, this helped keep the bunnies from sliding around and the towels I put right under the water so it would soak up the water. I only filled the water about 1″ up in the crock so I didn’t have as much sloshing around, then I just re-filled each time we stopped
6. We drove as much as we could each day. Getting the bunnies out of their routine I think is the most dangerous part so I wanted to get them to the new destination ASAP so they could settle in.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Welcome ! I’ll ditto everyone else-unless you can take them in the cabin with you, don’t fly with them. They may not make it in the cabin. You can easily do a drive with rabbits, not too hard at all. Rabbitpam gave some great tips so I won’t repeat any Congrats on the move, my parents are looking at homes in Phoenix as well-I hear it’s amazingly beautiful!!

[GHbun]

We moved two buns from Oregon to Michigan (plus 3 children, two vehicles, and a helper driver). We were like a Beverly Hillbillies caravan. It was a 5 day trip and the rabbits came through it just fine (the children, however, are still holding a grudge 4 years later for having to leave their friends behind). The advice listed above is great, although you may need to make some preparations for cold weather at the start of your trip. We actually left the buns in the station wagon for the overnights — making sure one of us was up before the July sun — and snuck them inside the hotel room in the mornings for some floortime while we were showering.

I had considered rehoming them instead of moving them. The boybun was such a timid creature that I was convinced he wouldn’t survive the stress. But he was large and smelly, he shed and sprayed, and I feared no one would take as good care of him, so I finally chose to take him and if he died, at least he’d be with family. But he and the girlbun were okay. They didn’t eat much and she got a case of poopybutt, but I think I was way more stressed than they were.

The only thing I’d add is to be sure to make preparations for the end of the trip. We sold our house before we left Oregon and were set to stay with old friends until we found a new place. I’m not sure how the communication got mixed up, but they didn’t realize the animals were meant to be indoors. We wound up staying in a basement with the buns outside our window under a deck, from July until October. I was constantly afraid something would get them or a neighbor child would open the cages. Believe me, the buns were the first thing to move into the new house! So, my advice to to try to make good arrangements for your new location.

[RachelF]

Glad you and the buns arrived safely, what a long trip!

[JillLovesBunnies]

 Thank you so much for all of your responses! We did decide that we are going to bring our girls with us in the car. I think as long as we plan a head and make sure they are comfy they should be fine. 

[MooBunnay]

Good luck – let us know how it goes!

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