Going away for 5 days and leaving a very needy bunny behind.

[alexandriteprincess]

Sorry everyone... I'm new and did not know where to post this to ask for this type of advice.

I am leaving for 5 days and I am worried about my bunny. She is very attached to me and I am worried she wont eat . I went away last year for 4 days and had my roommate look after her, shes fiesty so she would growl at my roommate, therefore my roommate wouldnt even enter my room and would just toss yogurt drops at her. Poor thing only ate yogurt drops for 4 days.
This time, i'm getting my brother and his friend to look after her, they are 18 so they SHOULD be responsible enough. Unfortunately, Poe (my rabbit) is scared of Brendon (the friend) because he is a stranger and my brother can only be here 2 hours a day.
I am worried again she won't eat and starve herself while I am away.....
I told brendon to sit and play with poe more and just bond with her. Perhaps that will help .
Do you think Poe will be safe?? Or is there some type of advice you can give me? I'm worried !! Help!!

 

[the fluffies]

When my dad was passed away, i had to leave my 13 bunnies with my bf and flew back to my hometown for a few days. My bf only came to check on them a couple of hour per day.

So what i did was caged all my bunnies to make sure they dont break lose and get into fight with each other. I filled up a big bowl of pellets, a big bottle of drinking bottle (and a bowl of water too), and stuffed as much hay as can in the hayrack, and paper tubes as toys. And my bf came to feed some veggies/fruits to them and made sure their bowl were not empty.

 

[tonyshuman]

When I interact with rabbits that are territorial at the shelter, I speak to them softly and pet them on the top of the head. Then if I need to put a food bowl in their cage, or whatever, I continue to pet them on the head while I use the other hand to do whatever I need to do. That way if they start to get upset that I'm in their cage, I can gently keep their head away from biting me.

 

[alexandriteprincess]

Thank you!!!

 

[Luluznewz]

I agree with what has been said. I often go out of town for a weekend and have to leave my bunnies. Because my roommates are not animal savvy I fill up an extra water bottle and leave a full bowl of food and as much hay as I can. I ask my roommates just to pop their heads in twice a day and make sure that they have everything they need.

It really isnt ideal, but honestly I find that its much safer than asking them to take them out to play. I'd just be so concerned that someone would get loose, or someone would break something if she tried to lift them. Because its only for a weekend they never seem any worse for wear.

I would just explain to your brother that they really HAVE to get fed, even if he growls. It really isnt that hard to crack the cage and slip in a food bowl. You dont even have to open the cage to give them a water bottle, so that shouldnt be an issue. It sounds like your roommate spooked a little to easy. Hes just a rabbit after all, not a rabid dog.

 

[Sweetie]

I agree with the above. When I have to leave Sweetie and Prince I may have to have a rabbit savvy vet take care of Prince because he is on a special diet kinda. He gets alfalfa once a week or two. So yeah explain to your brother and his friend what they need to do when you are gone.

 

[redthunderrabbits]

I agree with the above however I have taz he is a mini rex that responds better too me then anyone else, so what I did when I went away last year to see my sister for a week was I gave Taz a feeder that hooked to his cage and on the out side of his cage is where you put the food in and he had a large bottle i had mu friend make sure the food was okay in the feeder and he had water and he was fine. Best of luck to you!!