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Car travel with bunnies - advice needed please!

R

ralphus maximus!

Alpha Buck
Hi all :wave:

Tomorrow evening I will be transporting my 4 buns (3 in one carrier - bunnies already bonded & 1 in his own carrier) down to Starlights Pet Services in Dagenham. It's about an hour and half drive from me. The most my buns have travelled is 10 mins to the vets.

Apart from hay, water (bottle attached to carrier) and some ice pods as it will be warm, what else could I do to minimise the stress of the journey?

Thanks x
 
I play Classic FM to mine. Or Radio 2 if it Classic is playing something boisterous.

In my head it might be soothing for them. I have NO idea if they even notice though lol.

eta - sometimes I sing to them too.....:oops:
 
esupi said:
I play Classic FM to mine. Or Radio 2 if it Classic is playing something boisterous.

In my head it might be soothing for them. I have NO idea if they even notice though lol.

eta - sometimes I sing to them too.....:oops:
Click to expand...

:lol: :lol:

I usually play Biffy Clyro or Muse for my buns! :lol:

I think that should be ok for them. I have traveled about an hour with my buns. I don't give them water, they won't drink it anyway, but I'd always advise people to offer it. Obviously I'd give mine water if it was a longer journey!

I put a towel that smells of them in the carrier and make sure they have quite a large carrier, enough for them to hop about a bit.

I also belt mine in, just in case! :thumb:
 
The problem with water bottles is that they tend to end up leaking everywhere. When I had a long journey with a couple of guinea pigs once we had to stop half way to check whether they needed a drink.
 
Why the long journey? I dontvthink theres much you can do its gonna stress em out whatever, took harvey to the vets 10mins away and felt awful cause I knew he was stressed but he survived and im syre yous will be fine too
 
curlyanwurly said:
Why the long journey? I dontvthink theres much you can do its gonna stress em out whatever, took harvey to the vets 10mins away and felt awful cause I knew he was stressed but he survived and im syre yous will be fine too
Click to expand...

I would presume she is going to get them all bonded. :thumb:

SaragP, this is why I don't use them. If I was going for a journey longer than an hour, I'd take a bottle of water and a bowl with me and stop every hour or so to offer them it. :thumb:
 
I think we stress about them travelling more than rabbits do to be honest. I used to do 2 hour journeys with 2 buns (one brave bun and one timid) and after the first ten minutes or so they seem to settle into the journey and are fine.
 
Makesure the base of the carriers are in no way slippy. My Dudley dug up the piece of vet bed he was on and got his paws on the plastic slippy base and panicked all in the space of a minute, on a section of road I wasnt allowed to stop! I pulled off asap but he was stressed out and breathing 100mph.
 
When I collected Mottle and Peaches from the rescue in Bristol they had to travel back in a 7 hour journey. I fed them grass (which they loved) and put a towel over most of the carrier to make them feel hidden/safe. Their carrier was lined with newspaper and hay. They were totally fine. Good luck.
 
Sheldon hates car travel - gets so stressed. Had to take him to the vets a few weeks ago which is just a 15 minute car journey - but had a long wait at vets which allowed him time to calm down and by the time I got him home he was spawled out in relaxed abandon in the carrier - so I think it's just a matter of time whilst they learn that nothing nasty is about to happen. I did talk the whole time to him - complete and utter nonsense but I like to think the sound of my voice helped a bit :?
 
Thanks everyone for your tips! :wave:

Yes, I am taking them to be bonded at Starlights in Dagenham.

I have towels in their carriers (always have done this) and have covered them with hay. I will take the water bottles with me and stop after an hour to see if they need any water to drink. They have drunken a fair bit already today so that's good!

I shall be leaving in about 15 mins!

Wish me luck guys! x
 
Cover the carriers with either a really lightweight fabric or paper just taped at the top so air can still flow in the gaps of the carrier but so the rabbits can't see out, dark if possible. Generally this makes rabbits more settled but in a car I think it's particularly important so that they can't see the outside world whizzing past
 
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