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Advice needed: Preparing the buns for a long car journey and new home

Boots

Mama Doe
Hi everyone, my bunnies are currently a 3 hour drive away and we're about to relocate them to our new house and therefore, a new set up for them.

Illy and Chinook have been on a long drive before, but that was 4 years ago. Elmo's longest drive has been 20 minutes to and from the vets.

Do you have any advice on helping them through the journey please? Their carrier is currently in their shed with them so they can get used to it. They'll have hay, treats and water for the journey.

Once they're through the journey, have you got any advice to help them settle in?

Thank you in advance :wave: I'm so worried.
 
I have just seen this. I really don't have any helpful advice as I haven't done this before but I wanted to bump this thread up for you.
 
Six out of eight of my rabbits had very long journeys from their rescues to me. Some by car, some by train and car, some by car and bus.

All were totally fine.

I just made sure that they had hay and grass. I offered them water during any stops (didnt put in the carrier in case of spillage. Even water bottles tend to drip).

They had a towel over part of the carrier in every case so that they could feel private.

Best of luck and dont worry.

Mottle and Peaches - 8 hours by car.

Tessie and Daisy - 3 hours by car and 2 hours on the bus.

Autumn and Sunshine (not in sig. belgian hares) around 4 hours by train and and hour by car.

They just lay in their carriers chillin' it was great.
 
I've moved with 4 buns to a new home almost 5 hours away. All buns coped brilliantly.

I made sure that they all had their daily portion of pellets just before we left and I also offered them water laced with a tiny bit of fruit juice at the same time so that I knew when I put them in the carriers that they had full tummies and were hydrated.

We stopped twice on the drive and I offered water but buns were uninterested both times, although they all ate a grape which was a little bit of liquid I guess :roll: cucumber would be another option for a water filled treat.

When we got there they were put straight in their new rooms and left with open carriers, a water bowl and a hay filled litter tray. I went back about half an hour later and offered more pellets, all ate straight away except Thor, I left him for another half hour then offered more, which he ate :p I then checked litter trays and as I can tell the difference between all my bun's poops :oops: I knew they had all been and were all eating and I relaxed :lol:

Good luck!
 
We relocated 4 hours away last year. We just did as others have said:
We left them at our old home as long as possible (they were last at home),
planned stops on the journey with tasty treats which one gobbled up and the other ignored,
we gave them a probiotic for a couple of days before the journey from the vets and I had details of the new vets and a potential on route stop if things got awful (I worry).
We travelled them in their indoor cage with the door back on (it's usually a hay store and has the litter tray) because I was worried about the cat box being too small and it was the middle of a heat wave.

They managed no worries at all!!

Hope the move goes well :)
 
Will keep a check back on this thread as a move is on the cards for us between Dec-March (ish) and i'm already worrying about it, mind you I'm also planning how to improve the bun palace at new and as yet unknown location :lol:
 
If it helps, we moved from England to Germany with our 2 rabbits a month ago, It was about a 9 hour trip in total roughly. And we were petrified that they wouldn't cope but I have to say they did so well. We bought a dog carrier lol and lined the bottom with carpet ( as their indoor rabbits) and it had a corner Litter tray and hay water and food. And they both had room
To lay down. We also bought rescue remedy spray and it worked a treat! Really calmed them down. Both even managed to sleep as well. We drove at night which helped as well. Everytime we stopped they ate which is a good sign.
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I think when they realised they weren't going to the vets they were fine :)


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9 1/2hours - moved 1 cat (in a big dog cage) and 2 buns (smaller dog cage) up to Scottish highlands, plus all my worldly goods. Made lots of stops, every time I checked they were chomping hay (well not the cat :lol:) they were all brilliant, I was the only one stressed !
 
Oh thank you all so much :love: You have really re-assured me. I suppose because they're generally so delicate, the thought of moving them just terrifies me!

We think we are moving them at the end of the week, providing we can get their shed finished first. I'll let you all know how it goes :wave::D
 
Good luck with the move :thumb:

We moved just over a week ago, but luckily it was only a 10 minute journey. But the buns had to stay in their carriers for a while as we didn't get the key release for the new place for 2 hours - fortunately we had access to the back garden (thanks to the removal men who climbed over the back gate and unlocked it for us :lol:) and the indoor cages were on my car roof bars, so we could at least pop the buns in those - they had a fab time watching what was going on :)

Lady Jane is an indoor bun, so we got her house set up indoors as a priority when we finally got in, and The Boys are temporarily indoors until we finish their shed - they're a bit grumpy about it, but they get a few hours outdoors each day in their runs, so aren't sulking completely :)
 
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