Excited!!!! Transport & Settling in?

Excited to announce I will be adopting a pair of lovely buns from the RSPCA on Saturday!! Does anyone have any general transport & settling in tips to keep stress to a minimum? The journey will be about 1hr-1hr 30mins I expect. Before I pick them up they are also being transported from their fosterer to the shelter so will be quite a journey for them overall... xxx

I think a lot of people stress about transporting buns long journeys, but on the whole I think the majority of them cope absolutely fine! My frenchies had a 5/6 hour journey home with us and when we got home they hopped out of the carrier and started exploring like nothing had happened.

Couple of things I did to prepare them was;

Find a carrier that was too big, so that they could lay seperately of each other if they got too warm (they stayed huddled up the entire time!)
Put the air con on
Some wet veggies to put in half way through and a bowl and water bottle to offer them water (don't put a bottle in as it drips with the motion of the car and soaks the carrier)
Didn't fuss them (strokes etc) as may stress them out more, just left them to it
Had all their setup ready go to (minus fresh hay in the trays which took 30 secs when we got home), put their carrier in and let them come out in their own time without us around (we were outside looking through the mesh door )
Also might be worth taking a bit of hay from their old setup so they have something familiar? Although probably less relevant when theres two bunnies as they have each other

Good luck!!

Oh and I regularly take the Frenchies to and from the specialist which is 40 mins away, so they are often in the carrier for 1hr+ and aren't bothered at all

That is exciting!

Perhaps putting a towel over the carrier during transit to keep stress to a minimum.

I travel with Lilly to my parents' occasionally and that's 1hr 15 - 1hr 30 and she's always fine, often a little stroppy when we first get there but she calms down within 15 minutes usually! Harvey used to take longer to forgive me, he'd go to his favourite spot and flop down and sleep for about half an hour at least (Lilly would cuddle him) before getting up to get his treats, he wouldn't have treats before he has his post-car nap though which meant I always had to be careful that it was just him being grumpy and not actually unwell so I'd check on him every half hour with his favourite treats, he'd normally snatch them off me after the first half hour if I left him and Lilly alone. So if they do seem flustered by the car journey I definitely think giving them space and time to calm down is good, make sure you have the tastiest treats on hand to give them too in case they are like Harvey and need some bribery!

Very excited for you! Looking forwards to photos!

Thank you lovelies! I will prepare a nice carrier for them, I have one already so Ill give it a clean up tonight. Yes good idea Ill bring some vggies and maybe some herbs to offer half way through as well and have a water bottle with me.

Oh god its going to be really hard not to fuss them and to have to leave them for a bit when they get in their new home,but I will if thats for the best... (they have a wendy house) Ill have to peer through the window to check how they are doing :roll: :roll: Ill definitely be posting some piccies soon!!

Does anyone know when adopting from the RSPCA, do the buns come with fact sheet about what they like, what they are currently being fed, etc etc? I am happy to ask the questions but wasnt sure if this will be something they automatically provide? xx

Mine didnt come with a fact sheet, but they ran through what they were eating and I asked lots of questions.

Good luck cant wait for photos

When I've adopted from the RSPCA (2 different branches now) I've not been given anything. I just asked what hard food they were on beforehand so I could ensure I had some in to start the switch over to SS. They give you all medical info and vaccination cards etc :thumb:

Just another thing I've thought of - make sure there is plenty of hay in the carrier for them to munch on whilst travelling :thumb:

Thank you!! I am collecting a bale of hay tomorrow (we have a snack and tack about 1 mile from me which is great) ill also buy a bag of alfafa king (my bunnies before absolutely LOVED that hay), (expensive taste I feel :roll Im also going to get the Science Select as that is what the RSPCA lady recommended too. ooo cant wait now!