going on vacation with my rabbit...

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my wife and i are going on vacation to see my family and we are planning to take our rabbit since we really do not have anyone that can watch him. we are driving and it should take around 12 hours. is this too long to have a rabbit in a car or do you think he will be ok? the longest he has gone before this was 4 hours and he didn't have any problems with that. if anyone can give travel advice that would be great.
 
I have traveled from RI to FL (driving) with my bunny. He did great. It was two 8-12 hr days of travel. I had him in a cage- so not a small carrier. He had a litterbox food and water available. Just make sure to keep him/her cool enough and not in direct sunlight.

But- it can be done!
Lilly + Bailee bun
 
Show bunnies do it all the time, not a problem! :)

Suggestions:

Put him in a small carrier to travel. I know it seems like they should have a large carrier or cage on trips, but this is not so. Most importantly, a small carrier acts as a seatbelt. If you were to have an accident, it would protect your bunny better than a large enclosure where he could get thrown against the bars and suffer injuries from impact. Also, rabbits definitely stress when they're in a car. So a small, enclosed area feels much safer to them than a larger one.

With that said, bring a harness and lead or a little playpen to set up so that your bunny can run a bit and stretch his legs at your rest stops.

Make sure your rabbit has fresh hay available at all times. Having this to chew on really helps entertain your rabbit and keep his stress level down. A veggie or two here or there would be ok as a treat to keep him interested, but try not to feed too many fresh veggies/fruits on the ride since their systems can be upset from the stress already. A dry, high fiber food (hay) is best. Then you can slowly start pellets, veggies, etc., up again when you reach your destination.

Make sure the rabbit has fresh water available at all times. You may even choose to buy a jug of distilled water and use that the whole trip. Water tastes and is treated differently from place to place and can make rabbits sick, just like humans with sensitive systems. But you can buy distilled water pretty much anywhere with a Walmart and this keeps your bunny on a consistent water supply the whole time.

Make sure the carrier is out of direct sunlight and doesn't get too warm in the car. Sudden change of temperature is the biggest risk to adult rabbits. Keep the car about room temperature for safe travels.

Hmm...that's all I can really think of right now. I hope this helps!
 
thanks everyone for the advice, we both feel better about our trip now. even bennington is getting all rested up ready for the ride.

[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/y8vTUVp5MUg&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]
 
So cute!

I've found that the more I take my bun places, the more comfortable he is with it. Now I can take him anywhere (except the vet :p) and he'll just hope right out of the carrier and look around. I'm sure Bennington will do great!

Such a cute name by the way. I often call my bunny, Otto, the nickname Ottington. Lol. I have no idea why - I must really like names ending in -ington.
 

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