bonding - car journey = how long?

:wave: when you are bonding how long do you take the bunnies out in the car for?

:wave: some people seem to think its ok to go on long car journeys with rabbits when bonding , but i don't , travelling in a car is quite stressful for a rabbit and then they have to go through the bonding process . So in a nutshell , not far

twinks22 said:

:wave: some people seem to think its ok to go on long car journeys with rabbits when bonding , but i don't , travelling in a car is quite stressful for a rabbit and then they have to go through the bonding process . So in a nutshell , not far

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Some people also think being stressed helps them to bond :wave:

I've been on an hour's journey (two hour round trip) with mine (both times) to my O/H's parent's house so they can have a good run around somewhere new; both time's it's sealed the bond

I took mine just along to the shop. I made sure I took the corners hard :lol:
Afterwards they were cuddled together.

Bun Bun said:

I took mine just along to the shop. I made sure I took the corners hard :lol:
Afterwards they were cuddled together.

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:lol::lol:

I think Leanne and I were out for about 30 mins, but there's no need to speed around corners.:lol:.the vibration and engine noise is enough.

Bun Bun said:

I took mine just along to the shop. I made sure I took the corners hard :lol:
Afterwards they were cuddled together.

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:shock::shock::shock:, since when is it ok to do this to a rabbit , do you want to give them heart attacks :shock: and since when is it ok to stress rabbits out to make the bonding process easier:evil:

I was actually thinking the same thing.To bond my rabbits i put the wee new one in the big dog cage in the same room so they could get used to each other and they got to spend some time together under close observation (without me leaving the room basically) then back in the cage and i did this over the week getting out longer together each time and when one was in the cage the other was lying beside it and stealing the others hay etc haha.After a week that is them great together and out together all the time.All the best x Oh one is a male and the other is a spayed female.

I put my 2 giants in a small run for an hour and then put them in there hutch and never had any problems. One of my buns is very laid back and the other domintant. Shell

twinks22 said:

:shock::shock::shock:, since when is it ok to do this to a rabbit , do you want to give them heart attacks :shock: and since when is it ok to stress rabbits out to make the bonding process easier:evil:

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Calm down; I didn't say it was OK, I just said some people thinks it helps them.

Do you not take yours to the vets in the car? What would you do if a child ran out into the road - carry on regardless because you don't want to "give them heart attacks" or brake sharply so as not to injure/kill the child but risk panicking your rabbits a bit?

Hmm i might have to try this. Need to bond a third bun to a pair but its proving difficult. Can i not just sit in the driveway with the engine running instead of driving off? :lol:

foxyfaerie said:

Calm down; I didn't say it was OK, I just said some people thinks it helps them.

Do you not take yours to the vets in the car? What would you do if a child ran out into the road - carry on regardless because you don't want to "give them heart attacks" or brake sharply so as not to injure/kill the child but risk panicking your rabbits a bit?

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No offence but i think your answer was a bit ott.If theres an emergency and you have to break then you have to and hopefully the rabbits will be in their boxes seatbelted in.It was because of the 'going round corners fast and stressing them a bit' - deliberately- supposedly helps bonding. Yes my rabbits have been in the car but the driving is sensible and going to the vets we can walk. What we are trying to say is bonding should be as stress free as possible.All the best.

I've used it before as we were travelling to neutral space and I think it helped, or certainly didn't harm. My buns don't get stressed out by the car so it was fine. We were going for two hours but I'd say half an hour to an hour is fine...driving carefully and with all the normal precautions of taking buns on car journeys. I'd only do it if the bond was a bit wobbly though. If it's going fine then why move them.

i think what most people have found is that when a bond is going badly a lot of biting or minor injurys which is very stressfull.... or when transporting the buns from their initial place of meeting to their new home (as often people let them meet at a rescue etc first) that if you put two buns that are nervous in the car together for a short trip then they will snuggle together for comfort. all bondings i have done have had an element of stress to them car ride or not, and yes it should be as stress free as possibly but if the car journey for a short amount of time will get them to strengthen the bond (and lets face it if they need to travel home then they may as well go in same carrier to give each other comfort) then it can help with a difficult pair to give them a life of happiness and least stress
i am not condoning stressing rabbits to a high level and would not agree with the comment about taking corners hard..or driving fast....sometimes 5 mins just sat in car with engine running not going anywhere is enough for them to settle together...this is less stresssful then than hours and hours of chasing in a small neutral area with lots of minor injurys(tho i would stop the bond before this happened personally i do know some people will perservere) of course it depends on the rabbits and on how they are in cars. so would you never stress your bunny by trying to bond them at all where humping and thumping fur pulilng and chasing go on? this too must be stressful but i would not let it be excessive... it always depends on the rabbit and someitmes it can be a useful aid in a bond tho it is not to be abused (car rides)