Hard Decision

[lionheadbunny21]

Me and my husband have been talking and because I am very fortunate to have both sets of grandparents; I really want to go home for a year and spend precious time with them. Me and my husband are both unemplyed now and there are MANY job oppertunities for me and him. We were going to go for a few weeks, but after MUCH talking, my husband is now very much considering it. He's NEVER even considered it before. We've been through a lot this year (outside our home life)


I've also lost my sister at the age of 11 and the fact that my son is with my dad right now and will be 11 tomorrow, he's finding it harder and harder to let him go. I got a call this morningfrom my dad pleading for me to let him keep both my boys for the school year this fall.It's been a year since we lost my sister. My dad really needs us all at this time. I have 4 children and he knows how much they love him and want to be with him all the time. As I do to with him and the rest of my family.

I'm torn. I know my dad doesn't have the space for my bunnies and guinea pigs. We'll be staying with him until we get a house of our own. I love my bunnies and my guinea pigs and I've been sad all day. It's a 24 hour drive. I know I can maybe take one and I was thinking Happy because she is smaller and can be in the cage. It's not a bad size cage. It's the size of a 2 x3 NIC cage (maybe a teensy bit smaller) I am taking my grids to makea nice size cageonce we get settled. I am having a hard time thinking about parting with my babies :cry1:They have all made my life so much more complete and I feel I can't be without them. I know just 1 would be a lot for my dad's house.

I was also supposed to get a bunny in Vic. Sad day. My dad will be down this way on Sunday. I have until then. I don't know how I can do it

 

[LV426]

Well with good weather now coming in with summer perhaps you can take them but just have them outside for the summer at your dad's house. Then you can just move them back indoors when you find your own place. As long as they have shade and plenty of water I'm sure they will all be fine.

When temps get warm here my whole menagerie of tortoises, chinchilla, rabbit, Tegu and Chukar all go outside for the whole summer and it never harms them.

 

[Myia09]

Chinchillas? LV426, maybe I don't know much about Seattle but putting chinchillas in anyting above 78 is dangerous..SEVERLEY. In fact, putting them in high temps of 77-78 for a constant time is very damaging and unhealthy.

Sorry. Very off topic, but very concerning.

Janesta, I do second her motion though that bunnies can in fact live outside..maybe figure it out? I think you should def not get the third bunny right now...
With 2 bunnies in smaller pens it could work as long as you gave them some free time!

 

[Myia09]

Or maybe make the 2x3 a second story?! That might work!

 

[Pipp]

Myia, right now I'm just north of Seattle praying for temps to even get up to the 60's, LOL! Its been a terribly cold year so far! But usually the west coast is pretty moderate, it doesn't usually get very cold or very hot. And if Chins are anything like rabbits, the breeze off the ocean helps with cooling. With lots of trees and the proper shade, Chins should be fine most of the summer.

Great suggestion about the second story, I was going to suggest it myself. Usually the restrictions are with floor space, not height. I've used NIC panels to build in all sorts of odd corners (and even on top of dressers and tables) and I've had 'tiny' two by two, or even two by one, cages that are three or four stories high and provide more space than bigger floor models.

Outdoors will work, too, but it is going to need some very diligent predator protection. But the rabbits will probably be quite happy if that can be arranged.


sas :bunnydance:

 

[Pipp]

PS: When I first got Mike and his brother Zach, two Flemish Giants, I had to separate them when they started fighting and managed to tuck a two story 2x2x2 grid pen under my kitchen table for one of them, and it worked just fine.

And I keep forgetting to ask if you've tried bonding them. If they're both fixed, a 24-hour car trip will be a GREAT bonding tool. And if they are bonded already, its really not good to separate them.

 

[mistyjr]

I have to agree, You can put the bunnies ourdoor's. All my rabbits are!

 

[lionheadbunny21]

So am I hearing that the drive should be ok for them
I was worried about them being stressed on the drive. They are semi-bonded but I won't let them have "sleepovers".

I have 1 cage and I know I can have at least 1 but I'm not sure what my dad would say about another and I would not trust predators outside at my dad's. If it was more closed and there were no wolves coming into town or whatever else, I would. My dad's backyard isn't quite closed off. Not well enough for bunnies. His house isn't that big and there'll be my family of 6 + his family of 5 in the house.

I can maybe talk to some family members and see if I can have a hutch of some sort in their backyard.. hmmm...

Thank you for the feedback. I was turning into a crazy women .. I love my bunnies and I've just started sharing my life with them, I can't give them up.

 

[lionheadbunny21]

Pipp wrote:

PS: When I first got Mike and his brother Zach, two Flemish Giants, I had to separate them when they started fighting and managed to tuck a two story 2x2x2 grid pen under my kitchen table for one of them, and it worked just fine.

And I keep forgetting to ask if you've tried bonding them. If they're both fixed, a 24-hour car trip will be a GREAT bonding tool. And if they are bonded already, its really not good to separate them.

No they're not spayed. Another thing I'm going to have to do when I get there.

And I'm thinking away where their cages can go. I'm so happy. I really wasn't sure how they would be on the drive, that was my HUGE worry. Now for housing.

Myia: yes I agree with not getting the 3rd bunny.

 

[Myia09]

Pipp wrote:

Myia, right now I'm just north of Seattle praying for temps to even get up to the 60's, LOL! Its been a terribly cold year so far! But usually the west coast is pretty moderate, it doesn't usually get very cold or very hot. And if Chins are anything like rabbits, the breeze off the ocean helps with cooling. With lots of trees and the proper shade, Chins should be fine most of the summer.

Great suggestion about the second story, I was going to suggest it myself. Usually the restrictions are with floor space, not height. I've used NIC panels to build in all sorts of odd corners (and even on top of dressers and tables) and I've had 'tiny' two by two, or even two by one, cages that are three or four stories high and provide more space than bigger floor models.

Outdoors will work, too, but it is going to need some very diligent predator protection. But the rabbits will probably be quite happy if that can be arranged.


sas :bunnydance:

I just googled it and I saw the "60" degree average! That is crazy! I mean it gets 60 here in the winter

Sorry for the overreaction, it is just not often you hear chinchillas being housed outside. And actually, breezes and drafts are bad for chinchillas. The ONLY similar thing between chins and rabbits is that they eat the same pellets (PANR) and hay. lol

 

[lionheadbunny21]

I want a chinchilla once I settle in. My daughter sees them and says "right mama we want a chinchilla"

 

[Nela]

Is there space for a shed? Maybe that would help? Hope you can keep them with you. I'm pretty sure they would do alright with the drive. Many members here have done long car rides and have advice. I'm not sure if she still posts here but I think I remember Rosie moving from the US to Canada by car. Anywho, there shouldn't be a problem. Best of luck to you!

 

[LV426]

Slightly off topic but I wanted to address the chinchilla thing. If/When it (ever) gets above 70 here they all go outside. One because when it's 70 the reptiles can go out safely too. Two because Seattle houses (mine especially) don't have A/C so it is actually cooler outside. The breezes are just fine as long as they don't get wet so of course their pen is covered so no rain can get to him. Last summer was brutal with temps hitting 110*F at my house and my chinchilla probably would have died inside. I had him outside in the shade under the apple trees and a cool mister going on to make sure that everyone stayed cool enough. I even went out and dug burrows for the chin and rabbit because it was cooler underground. Even the tortoises and Tegu thought it was too hot and spent most of their time in their cooling pools.

As for predators you can build a safe and secure area with wood and hardware cloth or even check out freecycle or craigslist for dog runs or free chain link fencing that you can use to build a sort of enlarged enclosure and then you can put your cages inside that. There are some really easy and cheap ways to build a rabbit cage for outdoors using PVC pipe and hardware cloth. It might take some effort but minimal cost. Here's the link to the rabbit hutches using PVC pipe and wire.
http://www.raising-rabbits.com/rabbit-hutch.html

I bought Hermes from this person. She has a really nice outdoor set up and even has grazing runs for them to go out in.


As for riding in the car? My rabbit Hermes loves the car. I got him from a lady an hour away from me so that was his first car ride but then I kept taking him on small trips. To Taco Bell (the drive thru lady loves him). Then to the pet store where we got his harness and leash fitted. To the bank, just over to the store. Soon he became an expert rider and will just bunny flop in the front seat and chill out. Or he will sit up and look out the window which cracks me up because people always do a double take when they see a rabbit looking back at them as we go down the road.

 

[Shaded Night Rabbitry]

LV426 wrote:

Slightly off topic but I wanted to address the chinchilla thing. If/When it (ever) gets above 70 here they all go outside. One because when it's 70 the reptiles can go out safely too. Two because Seattle houses (mine especially) don't have A/C so it is actually cooler outside. The breezes are just fine as long as they don't get wet so of course their pen is covered so no rain can get to him. Last summer was brutal with temps hitting 110*F at my house and my chinchilla probably would have died inside. I had him outside in the shade under the apple trees and a cool mister going on to make sure that everyone stayed cool enough. I even went out and dug burrows for the chin and rabbit because it was cooler underground. Even the tortoises and Tegu thought it was too hot and spent most of their time in their cooling pools.

Too true. Can we pray for some nicer weather this year? I won't survive another 100 degree summer without our trailer that had AC... We'd escape to in instead of sitting in this house that lacks it. D= Not to mention, I don't even want to think about what that heat could do to my buns. T.T:

 

[lionheadbunny21]

I'll be looking for a house right away so they should be ok. I don't have room for both bunnies in the car unless I have 2 carriers. I have the big cage as well.. But I'll figure something out. We may just have to take one bunny. But that's the last choice. My dad is bringing my late sister's headstone in his van and I have my 2 kids and whatever we can squeeze in until we can get back to get our other stuff.

 

[lionheadbunny21]

LV426 wrote:

Slightly off topic but I wanted to address the chinchilla thing. If/When it (ever) gets above 70 here they all go outside. One because when it's 70 the reptiles can go out safely too. Two because Seattle houses (mine especially) don't have A/C so it is actually cooler outside. The breezes are just fine as long as they don't get wet so of course their pen is covered so no rain can get to him. Last summer was brutal with temps hitting 110*F at my house and my chinchilla probably would have died inside. I had him outside in the shade under the apple trees and a cool mister going on to make sure that everyone stayed cool enough. I even went out and dug burrows for the chin and rabbit because it was cooler underground. Even the tortoises and Tegu thought it was too hot and spent most of their time in their cooling pools.

As for predators you can build a safe and secure area with wood and hardware cloth or even check out freecycle or craigslist for dog runs or free chain link fencing that you can use to build a sort of enlarged enclosure and then you can put your cages inside that. There are some really easy and cheap ways to build a rabbit cage for outdoors using PVC pipe and hardware cloth. It might take some effort but minimal cost. Here's the link to the rabbit hutches using PVC pipe and wire.
http://www.raising-rabbits.com/rabbit-hutch.html

I bought Hermes from this person. She has a really nice outdoor set up and even has grazing runs for them to go out in.


As for riding in the car? My rabbit Hermes loves the car. I got him from a lady an hour away from me so that was his first car ride but then I kept taking him on small trips. To Taco Bell (the drive thru lady loves him). Then to the pet store where we got his harness and leash fitted. To the bank, just over to the store. Soon he became an expert rider and will just bunny flop in the front seat and chill out. Or he will sit up and look out the window which cracks me up because people always do a double take when they see a rabbit looking back at them as we go down the road.

Thank you and I'll look into a hutch ASAP. That may work if I can make one for them right away. AND OMG!! A bunny in the car that is soooo cute! ok I'm sure they'll be ok in the car as long as I'm there and can talk to them to make sure they are ok. I was being over protective. I just haven't had them that long and I'm just building thier trust.

I can't stop thinking about a bunny in the front seat

THank you for the replies, I am very much relieved now. I'm sure it'll work out for me:hearts

 

[LV426]

Sometimes you just need a separate view to see the way through. Also if you don't have two carriers you might consider using a high sided rubbermaid contained. You can get them for $5 from Target or Kmart or even grocery stores. You can hang water bottle on the side and fill it with hay for them and they travel quite well in those too. Especially if they are excitable bunnies. The high sides keep them from seeing anything around them so they stay calmer and you can even put the lid on with one side unlatched and the darkness can keep them calm and they feel safer.

http://www.rubbermaid.com/Assets/images/Product/2244-2-large.jpg

I found three different sizes that I use for various transport of critters. If you get a larger one you could probably put both rabbits in one and if you are worried about fighting just put a piece of cardboard inside to separate them.

Here's a picture of Hermes in the car.

 

[BethM]

Laundry baskets also make good carriers in the car. My single boy doesn't have his own carrier, so when I take him somewhere I put him in a medium-sized laundry basket with a towel in the bottom. He likes to look around, but hasn't tried to get out. My basket is big enough that I could put his small rubbermaid house in it, if I was travelling a long way.
The basket is also great for bonding sessions in the car.

 

[lionheadbunny21]

I am very grateful to all of you making this as less stressful for me. I'm relieved and know my babies will be ok if I truly want them to be. I'm a very caring and loving bunny mom and want the best for them.
I used a laundry basket and it was ok, but not big enough for a long ride (mine are not that big). Rubbermade containers might be good, I'll have a look around. I was wondering about the cage, if I can just use that. I'll set it up and take a picture of them in it later.

I may just make one out of the grids because I'm going to have to take their cages apart anyways. I have 4 packs of grids altogether.

Awww look at that bunny on the seat! How precious LOVE IT!

 

[Rattiemattiesrattery]

LV426 wrote:

Last summer was brutal with temps hitting 110*F at my house

I've lived in Seattle most my life, I've never seen it get above 90 at the most O_O
most the time it was 80 in the summers (that's usually our winter here lol)



Janesta maybe you could take them with and keep em outside?
My rabbits LOVE their outdoors time. So did my Guinea Pigs.