getting a bunny babysitter

hello all, i am a fairly new bunny mom ( we got loki in april) and i am going on vacation at the end of the year and i'm starting to get nervous about leaving my bun . i have a woman that lives near me that takes care of my animals when i'm away she comes in a few times a day feeds, talks to them, etc. but no one will actually be living in my house for a week which means loki will not get his runs or attention everyday like usual. i have looked into boarding but all the places he would be in a smaller cage that he is at home and would still get no daily run. so i'm looking for advice from you all , what do you do when you go on vacation? do you get them anything special? do you board? get someone to come in? how do you prepare? i'm worried loki is going to be highly mad by the time we come back lol with the house so quiet and no runs we'll be gone 7 days thanks in advance

I'm going through a similar situation, actually! It'll be my first time leaving Nessa for a week while I go on vacation. My neighbor is going to check up on her a few times everyday to feed her, pet her, etc. I'm going to give her some new toys before I leave (stuff that she can chew on, like willow balls) and lots of affection/exercise before I go. The advice some gave me is that, in the grand scheme of things, a week is only a small part out of a bunnies life. And when you come back, he'll be even happier to see you than he usually is!

Since your pet sitter comes a couple times a day, could you set up a pen around the cage so she can let him out when you comes, then close off the pen at night? He might even be ok to just be out in the pen the whole time. You can usually just attach the pen to the cage so they can come and go on their own. It might not be as nice as free roam, but better than nothing. If he gets into trouble (jumping out, digging, etc), then he may have to stay in the cage. It would help to get him used to it all before you leave so you know what he may be like.

Not sure what your rabbit is like but when I left Sophie for 4 days, she didn't want to come out of her condo much for the bunny sitter anyway. I had my mom visit for an hour in the morning and my sister visited in the evening. She refused to come out for my mom and she only came out for a few hops for my sister. She didn't run around or anything! So I wouldn't have gained anything by boarding her, it probably would've scared her half to death. The only thing I would be concerned with the bunsitter being able to recognise if something was wrong...although it's hard to tell when it's your own bun....I gave a checklist for my family of things to watch for. I even sent a picture of what Sophie's normal poop looked like lol.

Korr_and_Sophie said:

Since your pet sitter comes a couple times a day, could you set up a pen around the cage so she can let him out when you comes, then close off the pen at night? He might even be ok to just be out in the pen the whole time. You can usually just attach the pen to the cage so they can come and go on their own. It might not be as nice as free roam, but better than nothing. If he gets into trouble (jumping out, digging, etc), then he may have to stay in the cage. It would help to get him used to it all before you leave so you know what he may be like.

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i actually thought of this but my bunny,:bunnyheart bless him is well named (loki) lol he loves to get into trouble especially when he is alone so i am hesitant to do that because he would be so focused on escape to come find where his people are ( he has done this at night, came to fine us upstairs, many times before i go his cage bunny proof lol ) that he will hurt himself . i made his cage a good size, as it stands now its 7x3 foot , i'm adding another level this weekend actually , hoping that being stuck in there will not be so bad. i have a couple toys saved on my amazon wish list also i'll buy and save for the week i'm gone . hopefully this will at least help he gets grumpy though when he doesn't get his way , so i expect some thumping while i'm gone

Shida goes into a carer every time I go away (I'm in the navy so it happens a fair bit with my partner being away too) she is normally in a smaller cage with the carer but she gets play time too. There has only been one time when she was confined to quarters for a week and that was because my carer was away and I had my neighbour come in and look after her, she was fine when I got home and did bunny 500s all night lol.

Going through the same thing in about 15 days and I am not happy about leaving my little man for 7 days. We're tightly bonded. My son will be coming in twice a day for salads and social time. I opted out of my son keeping Barry at his house because he'll try to introduce him to Jovi against my wishes. I'm having the what ifs...what if he changes and doesn't love me when I come home....what if he acts out because I've disappeared and he goes into major bunstruction mode...what if my son doesn't spend adequate time with him and just tosses in greens and goes? What if his litterbox overflows?!!!! LoL OMB! I'm going to get the facetime ap on my phone. Me and Barry are gonna do facetime.

Don't stress you will only stress your bun out! I have left Shida and never broken our bond which gets stronger every time I come home. Your bunny is more tolerant then you think and although he may be a little standoffish when you get back he will come through and it will be better then before, trust me.

Channahs said:

Going through the same thing in about 15 days and I am not happy about leaving my little man for 7 days. We're tightly bonded. My son will be coming in twice a day for salads and social time. I opted out of my son keeping Barry at his house because he'll try to introduce him to Jovi against my wishes. I'm having the what ifs...what if he changes and doesn't love me when I come home....what if he acts out because I've disappeared and he goes into major bunstruction mode...what if my son doesn't spend adequate time with him and just tosses in greens and goes? What if his litterbox overflows?!!!! LoL OMB! I'm going to get the facetime ap on my phone. Me and Barry are gonna do facetime.

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I know how your feeling. I'm about to leave my bun Silver for two weeks tomorrow. I am hoping for the best

Channahs said:

Going through the same thing in about 15 days and I am not happy about leaving my little man for 7 days. We're tightly bonded. My son will be coming in twice a day for salads and social time. I opted out of my son keeping Barry at his house because he'll try to introduce him to Jovi against my wishes. I'm having the what ifs...what if he changes and doesn't love me when I come home....what if he acts out because I've disappeared and he goes into major bunstruction mode...what if my son doesn't spend adequate time with him and just tosses in greens and goes? What if his litterbox overflows?!!!! LoL OMB! I'm going to get the facetime ap on my phone. Me and Barry are gonna do facetime.

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my biggest worries are acting out because we are gone and loki going into destruction mode as well my bun does this just when we leave him alone over night to sleep lol and omg if we sleep late lol we hear him slamming his litter box like "hello ... wake up people " so ya a week i'm a little like ohhh boy what is he going to do . I stay home as apposed to working out side the home that is so he is used to people with him almost 24/7 i think this is why he is so fresh when left alone

One of the biggest difficulties that can occur when a bun is being taken care of by someone they aren't familiar with, is the rabbit going off food. When an unfamiliar person is feeding them, plus their owner not being around, some rabbits will get very upset by this and stressed, which can lead them to not feeling well and a lack of appetite. So it's really important to let the person who is looking after them, know what to look out for and what to do if they see your bun isn't eating it's food.

Also if your bun drinks from a water bottle, you want the person to check that the water level has gone down each day, as well as checking the nozzle to ensure water flow. The ball valves in them can stick sometimes, leaving a bun without being able to get any water.

It's also sometimes helpful to get them used to the radio, and leave one on when you leave, so it's not completely quite in the house.

Same here hrmom! I work out of my home and the door between Barry's room and my office is always open. I take many, many Barry breaks.

JBun you have described another one of my worries. Going off the food. Fortunately Barry is familiar with my son. When Robbie comes over, he bypasses me and goes straight to Barry's room (like I do to him with Jovi haha). I'm also a little worried about the light situation. I don't want it to go dark before his bedtime or for the lights to stay on him all night long.

I just keep telling myself that it's only going to be 7 days. I will be zipping up the pre-made salads for both Jovi and Barry. The vet information will be readily available and I'll require lots of photos and facetime. Might even bribe the kid with a nice, new Affliction shirt if he's extra attentive. LOL Mummy will be ok.

OH! ETA - Barry and Jovi both get radio. Jovi is a rocker and Barry enjoys the Blues.