Transporting my bunny for over an hour

[caillou]

I will be picking up my bunny from the breeder next weekend and I am very excited. I am planning on setting up his cage and everything before I go get him. My biggest concern is the drive home from the breeder to my house is about an hour and a half. Will the bunny be okay in his carrier for that long? I’m nervous because I don’t want him to be too scared. I was planning on using a dog carrier and putting a blanket and some hay in there for trip, is there anything else he will need? And then when we get back to my house, it is my understanding that I should leave him in his cage for awhile without disturbing him. I’m planning on giving him free roam eventually but I guess for the first few days he should just stay in his cage? I just want to make sure everything goes smoothly in his transition home!

[Fluffykins]

In general he should be ok. It REALLY depends on the bunny though. Some don’t handle car rides well at all.

The general advice is also to leave them alone in their base for a few days to a week (I’ve even read two weeks)!

With my fluffykins he wasn’t phased at all with the car ride home (and it was 1.5 hours for me too) and as soon as we got home he was SO inquisitive. We set up a little barrier with our legs around the cage haha and left the door open and he just shot out, straight up onto each of our legs.

He is a very snuggly bunny. We played “with him” like that on the floor for a week or so before we began to interact more. So for that first week he just climbed all over us. It would have been punishment / torture to have him caged up and us ignoring him for a day, let alone a week… So my point is, it’s general advice.

It most likely will apply to the majority but please also apply common sense and read your own buns signals as they come. If you see he’s confident and very very brave, and taking these new changes in his stride, you can act accordingly.

[Fluffykins]

I should clarify we didn’t interact with him like above the very moment we got home. I sorted the kids out, had a meal then went over and started the talking and leaving cage door open. The whole time though he was just rattling against the door of the cage trying to squeeze out lol. He must have done 50 binkies as soon as we got him on the floor that day… Ah the memories. They grow up so fast….

If he was shaking or jumpy or cowering in a corner or shying away from our voice or hands there’s no way I would have interacted with him until he settled in. You have to do everything at *Their* pace, that is literally the only way to do anything right – let them guide you.

I should also mention in case you have any kids, my kids were utterly desperate to hold the little baby bunny ( in the carrier) for the car ride home. I have a 3 and a 5 year old… So you can imagine having to say no to them for 1.5 hours :/

I’m sure keeping him away from the kids and their excitement also aided in him feeling so confident.

[caillou]

Thank you! I’ll try to let him go at his own pace as best as I can!

[Theodorusrex]

Hi caillou, you bunny should be fine for a 1.5 hour journey. My rabbit HATES travelling but can cope with that length of journey fine and does it regularly now (every 3 weeks or so, a two way trip) and he’s fine. He does refuse to eat when in the car however so this is something to consider – if he/she doesn’t eat on the way home keep a tight eye when they arrive to make sure they’re eating okay, even if it’s just a little nibble of hay over a few hours.

Consider the safety of your rabbit on car rides as well – smaller carriers are more safe if there were to be an accident. The safest place to put carriers is in the back seat footwells if it will fit. If not make sure the carrier is strapped in securely with a seatbelt or similar so that if the car was to be in an accident the bunny is not going to be thrown around the vehicle – dangerous for bunny and also the driver!

[joea64]

I’m planning for a long car journey myself – a full 8 hours or so, 400 miles, each way from here in Northern VA to coastal NC next week at Thanksgiving. I already spoke to several people at Friends of Rabbits (where I adopted Panda and Fernando from, for anyone who’s coming in late) and they believe I should be all right. They did advise me to give the buns their greens early Wednesday morning, thoroughly wetted down, so that they’ll have their water needs fulfilled for the day (since water bottles are sub-optimal for rabbits as many of us know). I’m also getting them used (more used) to the carrier by placing it in their X-pen enclosure during their overnight “outside time”, equipped with hay and litter, so that they can wander in and out of it at will and get comfortable in it. I know how to secure the carrier in the back seat of my car and things to do (such as keep them warm – it’s getting quite cold now – and not stop for too long at a time or leave them unattended) to ensure their welfare. I’ll be bringing their X-pen for housing as well as their sisal play rug, at least one hidey box, treats, hay and pellet supplies for up to 4/5 days (I’ll have to buy greens and herbs at my destination or have my mother buy them for me ahead of time), their food and water dishes and their first-aid kit. Anyone got any suggestions to help make their trip easier/minimize the stress?

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