Traveling a long distance with a bunny

[goofy4utwo]

Ok well we arent moving yet but since we are military it will happen and I would like to know if there is things I need to do now to make things better for a long car ride. We are in Alaska next March we will be up to move hopefully back to the lower 48. We will drive and obviously that will be a long ride. Is there anything I need to do to make it easier on Radar? I plan to get probably a medium size pet carrier for when we move because I only have the small one now and I just think he would go nuts. I do plan to take our fold up fence thing so he can get exercise but lord it is going to be interesting. Is there any laws or anything I need to know about traveling through Canada with a Rabbit? I know they have rules for dogs.

Thanks

[lilmizzsnickerz]

im not sure about the rules just make sure the bunny doesnt get to hot in the car and maby take a harness so you can take it out of the car every few hours x

[Sarita]

It is fine to cross the Canadian border with your rabbit – there is no quarantine for them.

You will want to make plenty of stops to give fresh greens and hay and water and clean his carrier. A larger carrier is better so he can stretch out. If you harness him (which I never recommend) don’t do this on the trip…if he escapes or gets scared, you’ll not know what will happen to him. Best to just let him get his exercise at the hotels/motels when you stop.

It will be good to have the x-pen for the hotels/motels where you will be staying to put him in while he’s there.

[MooBunnay]

I traveled from LA to Dallas with my 7 rabbits, and there is definitely a lot you can do to make your bunny comfortable.

I think the medium sized pet carrier is a good idea. I had a large dog carrier for my bonded pair and after about an hour of driving, they got used to the car and started to move around a bit. Bring a water crock, and just fill it up about halfway so that it doesn’t spill all over, and screw it onto the door of the carrier, fold up a hand towel and stick that under the crock in case the water DOES spill so they are not sitting in water for a long time.

Make sure there is no sun shining on the carrier, I actually ducktaped some sheets to the windows in the back, but you could also just cover Radar’s carrier with a sheet (white sheet is probably the best to reflect the sun).

The expen is also a great idea, at night we just stopped a motels (places where we didn’t have to go inside and walk past the lobby to get to our room, so that we could get the rabbits into the rooms “discretely”). We brought their litterboxes, and a garbage back of hay, as well as newspaper to cover the bottom of the litterbox so that they could have as much run around time as possible at night.

I am not sure about the rules about taking a bunny through Canada, you will probably want to find out so that you can prepare appropriately if Radar needs to go “undercover”

Finally, I’d recommend bringing an emergency kit, with Critical care, treats for your bunny in case he needs some encouragement eating, and it doesn’t hurt to have a list of vets around the areas that you will be passing through just in case.

[Sarita]

There is no need to smuggle Radar across the borders – no passports, no health certificates, etc…

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/heasan/import/lag_e.shtml

[Beka27]

you’ve told that story before MooBunnay… but each time i laugh b/c i think of the housekeeping people the next day after you leave… i imagine hay everywhere and them wondering what the heck kinda party you were having…!

this is great you are starting to think about this now, rather than wait and have to scramble to get things together. how much time do you have once they tell you that you’re moving? weeks? days?

[babybunsmum]

when i’ve had to take baby bun to the sepcialist vet an hours drive away i found it helpful to put fake sheepskin on the floor of the carrier.  baby is a digger bun & so she occupied herself ‘rearranging’ it from time to time but it also serves as a non-slip absorbant floor.  you could bring a few with you and switch them when they get soiled.  then you just need to shake them out & hand wash in a sink when you’re stopping at a hotel.  you can drape the washed ones over her carrier when you get back on the road to shield sun & so it dries out.

[goofy4utwo]

 Thanks for all the information. As far as how long we will have it all depends we are talking about the military LOL I have known folks to come down on orders and only have a month. At this point we cant leave until March 2009 but since summers in Alaska pretty much end in Sept. I am kind of more worried about moving in the winter months. When we came up here it was Jan and we hit -55 in Canada.

  So with weather like that what do you do to keep a bunny warm because Im telling ya if you havent been in that type of weather driving it dont see to get too warm in the car even with the heater on full blast. 

Radar has gotten to be so friendly and fun I just hope that when we move he wont change too much. My husband says to me well we could cook him up and eat him before we leave and we wont have too worry about taking him I said HA real funny he said that because Radar is getting so plump. My husband is NOT a hunter he just thought he was being funny because he sees how attached I am to him. I didnt think it was too funny though! I get upset at the thought of flushing a little goldfish down the toilet. LOL

[MooBunnay]

I am the same way about animals that you are I don’t think that his personality will change all hat much as a result of traveling for a long distance, none of my bunnies seem particularly different now that we have moved. Babybunsmom had a good note about sheepsking as a flooring, trying to find something that isn’t to slippery so Radar isn’t sliding all around!

yes – i think housekeeping did wonder where the heck all the hay came from…we were sure to leave an extra tip for them!

[Scarlet_Rose]

I just traveled via 4 hour car trip for a min-vacation for my two and besides the things that have already been mentioned I purchased a dog kennel bed/pad, it has rip-stop nylon on the bottom and sheepskin on top and I got it cheap at Pet**. I also bought car window shades for the rear door windows (sedan) and the back window, I got them at Target and you will find them in the Baby section. Also something essential, bring extra towels (dry) and some plastic bags, so if your bunny pees, scoop up the wet towel, put it in the bag and replace with a fresh, clean one. I can tell you that bunny pee smell circulating in the vehicle is not a nice thing. Also, depending on the weather you may want to freeze a bottle of water to place in there and purchase a fan that attaches to the door of the crate and runs on batteries and I think some even have a spot where you can attach an adapter to run on the ciggy lighter.

[skunklionshow]

My only long distance trip w/ pets was Chgo to Philadelphia w/ 3 cats.  I had a Geo Hatchback then.  I actually used a baby gate to make a barrier b/t the back seat and front seats.  My cats were “drugged” w/ vet approved meds.  This really only kept 2 somewhat out of it and the other….well she screamed & cried the whole drive.  It was awful!  Her little nictating membranes were half closed and she’d scream and yell.  I set all 3 up in the back seat w/ towels, blankets, small amt of food, little make shift litterbox, and a small water container.  We used an ice cube in the water container so it wasn’t a splish splash mess.  We also used those super absorbent towels for spills or accidents.  Those were great ideas! 

One of the reasons it’s not recommended to leave them loose in your car b/c if you stop or have to roll your window down, some pets get “freaked out” and jump out/ run away.  This is why I made a barrier, so I didn’t have to worry about an escape.   Chgo to Philly takes about 12 hours if you drive straight through, b/c we also had a uhaul truck (my brother drove that) we couldn’t get over 50 mph, so the trip took waaay longer than 12 hours.  We made it all the way to Harrisburg, PA & then stopped to spend the night in a motel b/c we didn’t want to get into Philly in the middle of the night, not knowing where we were going.

Just be prepared!  Condition him to driving in the car & keep it as stress free and comfortable as possible.  Definately keep a little first aid kit, as well as additional stash of food, hay, & bottle of water.  It was also recommended to us to bring along some water bottled from your area, so you can get your pet used to the new water supply.  Keep a first aid kit for people as well.  B/c we were so packed up w/ stuff, we couldn’t access our lug wrench when we got a flat tire.  Luckily we had a geo and could use our household tools (i.e. a standard wrench).

[catherine spitzs]

I think this was already mentioned, but if they aren’t used to a harness- don’t try one out now!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I’m glad to see this thread. My guys are going to be travelling next weekend to Vancouver, and then back again with their new friend. Great tips everyone!!

[ScooterandAnnette]

We’ve travelled with our buns from Edmonton to Winnipeg (14hr drive) and back more than once. In the summer we make sure to keep them hydrated – apple flavoured pedialyte and an medicine syringe work well. We’ve done the trip with them over Christmas and it wasn’t a problem – the car does warm up after a while! lol

– Annette

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