Traveling with rabbits?

Hi everyone!

Is it safe to travel by car with rabbits? The trip would be about 4hours in length.

We are going to visit my parents for American Thanksgiving (we live in Canada, parents are in the US). Unless I find someone to come in and care for Petals, we'll be taking her with us if this won't harm her. If it will, I'll have to come up with something else. LOL. She doesn't seem to spook easily. She's very comfortable and quite bold, not very skittish at all. I think if we take her, we'll take her night time cage and keep her in that for the trip.

Fidget has been on a 5 hour car journey with us, and it didn't bother her at all. At first we had her in a big, plastic storage box that fit between the back seat and front seat with hay, water, etc. But I was worried about her being thrown around, so I filled a small, shallow cardboard box with straw, put some hay, food and water in there and she happily sat in this little box on my knee for the whole journey (I wasn't driving, obviously :lol: ). By nature she's not skittish at all and bold as brass though, and if your bun is the same I doubt you'll have any problems.

My friend took her rabbit to Wales which was about 3 hrs drive and she was fine. She put the indoor cage on the back seat secured by a seat belt. Her rabbit actually went to sleep after an hour!

Zeus has done three hours back from his breeder and Violet and Cosmos did Nottingham and back (three hours ish).

I used a secure cat carrier with Violet and Cosmos as it stops them being thrown around and mine has loops to put a seatbelt through to keep it secure.

I lined it with nespaper and a bit of hay.

The waterbottle leaked so halfway we stopped and changed the newspaper and I only put the bottle back on when we stopped.

I would suggest having a break half way so the rabbit can have a drink/something to eat and don't leave the bottle in place unless you are sure the movement won't cause it to leak.

Oh and classical music is great for calming on long journeys!

Caz

A cat carrier with seatbelt loops? What a great idea! I just had to reply having seen that..

It is a good point to make, that they must not be thrown around. I know it can look mean, putting them in a little box, but if you think about horse boxes and also look at our own seatbelts, you realise why it is best!

Giving apple, carrot, cucumber or something similar is a good idea as they can eat it and also if they become thirsty in between drink stops they lick the moisture from it. I don't use a bottle or bowl whilst in motion as it only ever results in a wet bunny!

I like to use deep bedding as that also provides extra cusioning. A towel underneath hay, straw, shavings or all three adds extra protection if you are concerned.

Cat x

I put Fidget in the tiniest little box on my knee when we were travelling, she didn't mind at all. She was laid about with her legs stretched out in no time. I also found that having her on my knee helped me sort of...counteract any movement made by the car that could have thrown her around.

Inever have any bother with ine they travel regularly to shows. The only time i wouldnt let them travel would be in very hot weather. Most rabbits wont eat or drink on a journey so dont worry that the wont. val

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I have a friend who may be able to take her, but if that falls through, she'll be going with us. I think we'll buy a little carrier of some sort for the trip, just to be on the safe side!

Thanks again.

Aim said:

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I have a friend who may be able to take her, but if that falls through, she'll be going with us. I think we'll buy a little carrier of some sort for the trip, just to be on the safe side!

Thanks again.

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I take my two places with me all the time, as I live a long way from my family, so its often several hours drive. My two present buns are fine, v laid back and just lie down and go to sleep, but my spirit bunny Fern was another story! She used to get v stressed and hunch up inthe corner - so I used to give her probiotics for the week before we travelled, and while we were away until we returned. I also gave her Bachs Rescue Remedy. These two things did seem to help. As well as putting her in a small carry case rather than a large one, and obviously always with Charlie. Her specialist vet was an hours drive away so Charlie always went with her too.

I also found that she was more stressed when I was driving in traffic ie lots of stopping and starting, and calmer when on the motorway, so I used to try to plan my journeys accordingly.

Hope this helps.