Advice for travelling long distance in car with two bunnies

[cat_worth]

Hello,
My husband and I are moving from Cambridge to Berlin on the 1st of april and are taking our two house-rabbits with us. We are travelling by car and taking the eurotunnel as we thought this would be less traumatic for them than the ferry.

I would be very interested to hear whether any of you have had experiences with travelling with rabbits over such long distances... its is likely to take us about 12 hours in total! :shock:

We have got an old indoor cage that we were thinking of transporting them in so that the can at least stretch their legs a bit etc. They've always been transported in a small carrier in the car previously. I think we will try them out in the cage before we make the big journey to make sure they don't freak out in the larger space.

best wishes and looking forward to hearing from you.

Catherine

 

[luvabun]

The indoor cage is a good idea for the reason that you've thought of. Do they drink from a bottle or a dish? If it's a dish, I'd try converting them to a bottle from now as it's obviously less likely to get spilt during transit.

A bit of Rescue Remedy in the water, Classic FM on the radio, a towel over part of the cage so they can hide and bobs your Uncle

 

[Wispa & Zola]

mine go in an indoor cage when we travel long distances so that they could be together and stretch out i dont know if they prefer it, it didnt provoke any different reaction to when they are in carriers but it made me feel better!!

mine only ever go 5-6 hours but im expecting a lot of traffic when we go on friday due to these winds clogging up the m6, as long as you take breaks and offer them food and water when u stop they should be fine. mine sleep most of the way.

a lot of people say to let them out into the boot to play but ive never done this because i dont want the buns to get excited that they dont have to go back in the cage and then have to plop them back in there!

edited to add! a water bottle will leak, i used one last time and within an hour of driving over half of the water was on the hay in the cage. its best to offer them water when u stop or give them veg with high water content

 

[abbymarysmokey]

a water bottle will leak, i used one last time and within an hour of driving over half of the water was on the hay in the cage. its best to offer them water when u stop or give them veg with high water content

Yeah, I've had the same happen. I think you might be better just to offer them a dish of water regularly.

 

[maisydaisystar]

Hi in 1999 I travelled with my then house rabbit Alex from essex to Gutersloh in Germany via harwich to the hook of holland ,He was in a pet carrier.
We went first thing in the morning and got there approx 8pm in the evening, Had to leave him in the car on the ferry though, so I was constantly worrying about him. But he was absolutly fine, I had no problems,
I attached his water bottle to his carrier and he had his food in there too.

He spent his first night in the loo until his dog crate arrived the next day.
Bringing back fond memories, Do I miss that bunny or what XXXX

The indoor cage sounds like a great idea.

 

[ecudc]

If I were you I would try and stop roughly every 4 hours for about 15 minutes or so, Mine don't eat, drink or do anything when the car is moving and if yours are the same, they shouldn't be without hay/water for 12 hours. Stopping for a bit might encourage them to eat.

 

[cat_worth]

Hi guys,

thanks for all your replies - much appreciated. we most certainly will be making regular stops both for our own welfare and the rabbits! Its good to know that other people have made such journeys and that the bunnies haven't been too traumatised!

best wishes,
Cat

 

[charlie82]

Hi,


I agree that it's unlikely they will eat or drink whilst moving so best to have a lot of pit stops!! Also might be a good idea to start taking them on regular trips in the car now to get them used to travelling. I had a bunny who I used to take with me on regular four hour train journeys and she loved it!! She used to sit on her own seat and chill out. If I showed her the pet carrier she would get straight in because she knew she was going on a trip. I took my 19 week old lionhead to the vets yesterday for a check up (a 90 minute round trip) and it was enough to send her into stasis :shock: She found it very traumatic. None of my other buns enjoy travelling either,.....guess it's down to individual buns.

 

[donnamt]

just to add dont worry if they refuse food at first.. when we travel with Alvin it takes up to 20mins for him to eat his veg we take, ive never seen him take water but hes not the biggest drinker....

we tend to leave some yummy veg at the front of the carrier and leave him for a little while (hes stubborn if i stand over him :roll by the time we are back at the car hes usually munched his veg.. he doesnt poop tho and that worried me at first but we set up his litter tray the second we arrive and he hops straight on

before people think i leave my bunny unnattended in a hot car i dont... we either travel at night in the summer or travel at xmas

 

[rabbitmum]

jess had to go on long journeys to the rabbit vet (2hrs)
she wouldnt eat or drink till we got home or use a littertray.
she would wee in the bag (like a sports bag but its a pet carrier) if she got desperate..:roll:
when we have moved, i have started a few days before we go, to give them pro biotics in their water.
last time we took them to a friends house the night before so that we could move the furniture etc without the worry of looking after them also
then we set up the front room ,where they would go, then brought them home.it was alot easier this way,and they didnt get so stressed.
good luck with the move