bunny boarding help!

am really traumatised . lovely sue at hoppy holidays is moving so i cant send my lot there any more. im off to look at holiday hutches tonight but they havent got anything big enough for lola, or the capacity for all 7 of mine. my mum will have the piggies but this leaves us stuck for next year's holidays.

does anyone know of anywhere nice within 15 miles of barnsley for boarding? all of ours travel well apart from Zeb but I'll send him as an indoor boarder to holiday hutches.

they must have good sized hutches and something suitable for a frenchie for a week.

thanks

Sarah

Doesn't Angie's (BARC) Tracey board rabbits?

Louise

Hoppy Holidays is the one i used too (as you know )

I am really gutted, i just "presumed" that that would be where mine would go when we went on our hols in the future

PM Waggtailstina.....she has a frenchie of her own and is based in Sheffield...Im sure she has big enough accomodation.

thanks Sooz - am going for a look round this weekend

I'm sorry but I feel very angry by this thread. My husband and I have worked damn hard to build this business up and for you to come on here and say we dont have suitable accomodation for a frenchie has angered us beyond what we can print on here.

All of our hutches were brand new in April this year and are 5 and 6 footers with the exception of a couple of 4fts that we use as an emergency for a single GP if poorly although these are being replaced with 6footers in the next couple of weeks. We also have large Nero 400's for indoor boarders, again brand new. Our runs are 7ft x 3ft x 2.5 ft as well as the large hexagonal playpen type and we even bring the outdoor buns indoors and let them run freely in the house during the day, during grooming and cuddle time. We also do COMPLETE changes of all the accomodation every day, not just a scoop out of any dirty bedding and the hutches are disinfected with every change.

We have accomodated 2 huge Chinchilla Lops and a British Giant more than comfortably and have references from the owners stating their satisfaction . Only this past week we have had a Frenchie staying with us from a lady who left 4 rabbits and 5 guinea pigs with us for a fortnight. We are fully insured for 35 animals here and have never had a single complaint from the feedback we have received and even have regular repeat boarders. We had availability for when you wanted but you said you would actually prefer someone to visit your home rather than board them and we said we could offer this service and you enquired about a price, which I gave you and you said you would be in touch nearer your holiday to book them all in along with your 2 guinea pigs, so to come on here as soon as you get in and say our accomodation is unsuitable is not only rubbish, but hurtful insulting and can quite honestly ruin a persons business.

I hope you are happy with yourself for the upset this has caused us

I think you should look at the post times! Sarah posted this thread BEFORE she visited, not after?????

Maybe we are reading the thread differently?

The problem is, what is "big enough" for boarding is open to interpretation depending on what the rabbits being boarded are used to. Whilst your hutches may be perfectly suitable (although personally I would not choose to put any giant including a frenchie into a hutch), if a rabbit is not used to being hutchbound, then no hutch is going to be "big enough" for what they feel that particular rabbit needs. When my two nethies were together just as a pair, I would not have boarded them in a 5ft hutch because I would not feel it was "big enough". This is not to say that a 5ft hutch would not be satisfactory - just that mine are used to 24 hour access to a 4*4 playhouse and 60sq ft run...so they would go bonkers in a 5ft hutch.

I don't think it's necessarily a slur on your character (although personally I wouldn't choose to put any giant bun in a hutch), simply a reflection of what people feel is suitable for their particular rabbits, bearing in mind that they know their rabbits usual requirements and needs better than most.

Also agree with Joanne - the thread was posted before they visited you, not after, so maybe having visited, have now changed their minds anyway.

Joanne26 said:

I think you should look at the post times! Sarah posted this thread BEFORE she visited, not after?????

Maybe we are reading the thread differently?

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Thanks for pointing that out Joanne, I guess in my anger at what was written I got that bit wrong and I apologize , but it then puzzles me how, she can say BEFORE she visited that she is off to visit us but we haven't got capacity for 7 rabbits or anything big enough and if that is what she thought WHY bother wasting our time and hers coming out to have a look and tell us she'd like us to do a home visit instead.

Whilst I agree everyones bun will have different needs and some may not prefer a hutch or adapt to one even for the shortest period if they are house buns or used to a shed, not everyone will read it like that when they simply read someone posting that a business has unsuitable accomodation.

holidayhutch said:

it then puzzles me how, she can say BEFORE she visited that she is off to visit us but we haven't got capacity for 7 rabbits or anything big enough

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Your website does explicitly say that your hutches are 4ft singles/doubles (for piggies) and 5ft singles (for bigger rabbits) though - in which case I think what she has said in that respect is fair comment; both the RSPCA and RWA now state that a minimum hutch size for an AVERAGE size rabbit should be 6*2*2. I appreciate that boarding is a different kettle of fish to long term accommodation but even so, if the guideline requirement for an average rabbit is 6*2*2 then people are bound to be reluctant to put their rabbit in anything smaller for any period.

As you've said here, you also provide exercise runs - why not state this on your website? As far as I can see, your site simply talks about hutch accommodation - you may well find that you're actually losing customers who simply view the website, see info about 4ft and 5ft hutches but not about run sizes or number of hours per day in a run etc, and go elsewhere without even getting in contact with you. How about an 'our accommodation' page with some photos of your lovely new hutches and runs, so that people can see how much space their buns will be getting and how it is laid out and located?

Personally I think the tone of your response has done more to damage your reputation than the original post - I had read the post in the manner in which it was intended but felt rather attacked by the reply.

Sooz22 said:

PM Waggtailstina.....she has a frenchie of her own and is based in Sheffield...Im sure she has big enough accomodation.

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Mine are going there when we go on hols next weekend, I've only spoken to Tina on the phone but she was really nice.

i havent read all this thread as im at work and very busy but I've been told what it says.

Lynne, you have misintepreted what I said completely. I posted this BEFORE visiting you purely because I have a french lop who does need big accommodation. What i intended to happen was to board some of my bunnies at yours and then look for somewhere big enough for Lola, or to use your pet sitting service.

Sarah.