Young bunny care question

[Elrohwen]

Some of you may remember that I’m adopting a bun of my very own in another month or so  I was originally supposed to get him at 8 weeks old around April 18th. Here’s my dilemma.

My friends just reminded me that there’s a festival we usually attend on April 25th that would involve us staying over night. I’m totally ok with skipping that this year rather than boarding such a young bunny or leaving him with friends.

Now I find out that my sister in law is graduating from college in Boston (about 3hrs away from where we live) on May 1st and we definitely have to go. At this point, with so many scheduling conflicts, I’m trying to figure out what to do. Here are the options as I see them (feel free to throw out another one):

1) Leave bunny with a friend while we’re in Boston. This makes me nervous because he would be going from home to home many times in a 3 week period and I know young buns can be delicate. None of my friends live close enough to stop in and feed, he would have to stay at their houses.

2) Board bunny at the vet’s. The car ride would be shorter, but this would probably be more stressful than staying in a home.

3) Get a pet sitter to come in. This way bunny can stay at home and he probably won’t even notice that someone different is coming to feed him for a few days (it would be 2 full days and nights).

4) Ask the woman I’m adopting from if she can hang on to him for 3 more weeks. I would pay her for taking care of him, so it would probably be the same cost as hiring a pet sitter (except he wouldn’t have to leave her home until he was older). This would also allow us to go to the festival on 4/25, but that’s not really a big deciding factor for me (though it is a perk).

5) Bring bunny to Boston. This would probably be very stressful for him. Also, we’re staying with friends in their tiny apartment, so I don’t think this would really work out.

What do you think? I think option 4 probably makes the most sense, but that means 3 additional weeks without a bunny. If you think option 3 won’t be stressful or dangerous, I may go with that for the sake of getting him sooner. But if you all think everything would be too stressful for a bun so young, I’ll leave him at his current home a little longer.

Thanks for your help!

[Beka27]

I’d say either option 3 or 4 would be less stressful. Pet-sitters are great if you can find a competent one, and one you trust with coming in and out of your home. If you have a House Rabbit Society chapter nearby, you can contact them for references. 4 would be an okay option too, but like you said, that’s 3 more weeks without your bunny…

[Elrohwen]

Beka, contacting the House Rabbit Society is a great idea! I hadn’t thought of them for pet sitter references. I’ll look into that right now. Thanks!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Oh totally, I’d go with 3 or 4. Beka-great idea on the petsitter from the HRS!!

[Elrohwen]

Kokaneeandkahlua, you don’t think it would be overly stressful to go the pet sitter route? I’m leaning towards that, but I thought it was because I’m selfish and want my bun sooner rather than later  Good to know you guys don’t think it’s a crazy idea!

[Balefulregards]

Firstly, I am – in the scheme of things – still a fairly new Bun parent. Coco will be with us a year come Late April, so I do not claim to be the voice of experience.

Having boarded Coco at the vets this past week, I can tell you that it is taking several days for her to get her routine back. I believe she had excellent care and a Very large corral, so it was not for lack of anything – even the company of other buns in the corrals near by!

When I first got Coco, one of the things I really noticed was how much time you really needed to spend with a bun before they started to warm up to you. Of course, this could simply be Coco’s nature – but it seems to be a fairly common trait across those of the bun persuasion. I had hard core floor time with her for a good month plus before she actively sought me out for grooming requests.

I think the long and short of my opinion is this – Leave the Bun with the woman ( option 4) until you will be back. Enjoy your travels and when you get back, you can devote yourself to the time and problem solving that seems to come with any rabbit. The buns life will be unstressed – business as usual , and while you will be without bun for a couple more weeks, I think it is better than coming back to a confused rabbit who has had time to acclimate to surroundings without You and with a different human feeding. Feeding seemed to be the “first” bonding that Coco and I did, in fact.

It is the same as I have always said to parents in my professional life – Minimize transitions….and if you are doing a big life transition, commit to it and get it over with rather than doing start and stop transitions.

[Deleted User]

Do what I did, ask a neighbor (if they have any pets) if they can take care of him. You can take the bun over to thier house or leave them at your hhouse depending on how you feel. Since the neighbor has a pet, then they know what it is like so they will know what to do.

[Elrohwen]

Thanks for your comments, Baleful and Lemon! Baleful, I am worried that I won’t get to spend as much time with him as I want during the first few weeks because of this trip. However, if I do go the pet sitter route, I hope that by spending extra time with him whlie I’m home, he won’t even notice the two days I’m gone. If he were an older bun, I wouldn’t think twice about leaving him for a few days; I guess it’s just his young age that worries me. At the time we leave, he’ll be only 10 weeks. I’m still definitely keeping in mind the possibility of him staying at his current home for a few more weeks.

And Lemon, unfortunately I don’t know any of my neighbors at all, so I don’t really feel comfortable asking them (or letting them come into my home while I’m not there). I really do wish I knew more people nearby! My only friend within a 15min drive isn’t really an animal person, so I wouldn’t feel comfortable asking him. It’s tough to not know anyone where you live! Unfortunately, certified pet sitters seem to be the only option for someone that could stop by. When he’s old enough to travel, I do have plenty of friends who were nice enough to offer him a place to stay 🙂

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