is it safe to travel with a rabbit in the car for a long distance?

[benningtonjones]

my wife and i might be going to see my parentsand it is a 12 hour ride. so i was wondering would it be safe to take my rabbit with me or should i try to arrange someone to watch him while we are gone? my parents have not met their grand-bunny so i thought it would be nice for them to do so but i don't want to put my bunny in danger. thanks!

 

[Hazel-Mom]

It should be perfectly safe, some people have taken buns on longer rides than that.
You'll need a safe carrier, of course, and if you can, I'd stop once in a while to check on bunny, and give her a chance to eat/drink/run around (if she accepts a leash, and you can find a safe place). When we took Hazel, we stopped at one of those rest areas along the highway, and found a nice quiet patch of grass to let her run around for a bit.

If your bunny has never been in a car, I would start her off with short rides, though, to get her used to it.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

How long will you be gone? If you are only going to be there for a few days, I would not take the bunny. It is a lot of stress for the car ride, change of scenery and ride back. If you are staying for at least a week, if not longer, it would be better. Make sure to bring a cage/pen, toys, litter box, food and anything else your rabbit will need.
I would prefer to leave the rabbit at home and hire a good pet sitter to come once or twice a day.
If you do decide to take him, you need to get him used to being in the car and the carrier. Taking him to a pet store or pet friendly place can be good and you can see how he does in a new area.

 

[Hazel-Mom]

Korr_and_Sophie wrote:

How long will you be gone? If you are only going to be there for a few days, I would not take the bunny. It is a lot of stress for the car ride, change of scenery and ride back.

It all depends on the bunny, and how they deal with changes. We have always taken Hazel (and while she was with us, White Chocolate too) with us on trips, even camping.
They were perfectly fine, but, they were used to car rides from the beginning.

For both Hazel and White Chocolate it would have been more stressful to be left behind, in the hands of strangers, on the other hand.

They were both "single" buns, but very bonded to their humans. So for them, it was more important to be with their family, than where they were.

 

[ijRoberts]

This is a great thing to bring up, since I am going to my parent's house for the long Labor day weekend and was debating on whether or not to take Jake with me.

The car ride will only be about 2 1/2 hours, so I don't think that's *too* bad, plus he's also still very young (only about six weeks now), so that should make it easier to him being accustomed to it. I'd like to be able to take him with me whenever I go there (I go there about once a month).

I'm going today to Petco to see if I can find a smaller "traveling" cage for him that will fit in the backseat of my car, but is big enough to hold all his things he'll need for a weekend getaway.

It's nice to hear that there are bunnies out there that like to travel. I'm just crossing my fingers that Jake is one of them! He seems very curious about everything, so hopefully he'll like checking out new locations. =)

 

[BlueGiants]

We take our rabbits to shows all the time. They are in their carriers anywhere from a few hours up to 12 hours and they handle it just fine. As long as the temperature is good and they are comfortable in their carrier, we've never had a problem. I do not let them travel with toys, bowls or water bottles, because I'm worried about them getting hurt if I have to swerve or step on the brake hard. They are on hay, so they can munch on that. Formost trips, I usually give them apple slices for moisture, in between stops for water.

A very good rabbit judge once told me to always put the rabbit infacing a side door, not frontor back. Because when they are facing frontwards or backwards, they could break a nail or hurt themselves "diggin in" when you brake or speed up. It's a natural reaction to forward motion.They think they are going to fall. But facing the side, they sway with the motion of the car more easily and relax a little more.


editted to add: We also carry a puppy "Xpen"...a folding exercise pen, incase I need to confine them to an area.

 

[laurabeth]

so... if I were to visit my in laws for just like 3 days I should leave buddy at home? with a pet sitter (we have a good one) BUT if I go for a week I should bring her? OR should I just try it once and see how it goes? She/he seems to be very attached to us, she did fine once so far with a pet sitter for 6 days, but I just thought i'd ask since it's here. Good Question!!!!


*edit: for me it's only an 1 1/2 hour drive

 

[tonyshuman]

I have taken our 4 on a 12-13 hr drive before. It's not a lot of fun for anybody. The little bunnies are fine, they just snuggle together and nap. Tony is the same, but he shares a carrier with Muffin, who digs digs digs. She hates it--she'll tear up the newspaper in the cage, kick litter all over, and throw things. Try taking your bunnies on a test trip around town to see how much it stresses them out before you decide. Muffin will dig, whether it's a 12 hour drive or a 20 min drive. Last time we went to visit the bf's family, we boarded the bunnies at the vet. For around $30 a day (split two ways), it was worth it to not have to go through the stress of 4 bunnies, a hamster, and 2 people in a car for 12 hours, plus taking care of them all while we were on vacation at a house that already has 2 dogs and a cat as permanent residents.

Most important: have a small carrier--have just enough room for them to flop if they want to. Smaller=feel more secure. Have a water bottle and make sure it won't leak everywhere, getting bunnies and litter and hay wet. Make sure you hang it somewhere where the bunny won't sit on the spigot the whole trip and get soaked. Put down newspaper and bedding (litterbox stuff) in the carrier, and then put hay on top. This doubles as a travel litterbox. Change it before the return trip. Give them a few minutes in the carrier to acclimate before you start the car trip. Don't feed them that day until they're in the carrier--it makes them more comfy in there if they've eaten, and they will eat because they are hungry. When you arrive, give them time in their guest room alone to acclimate, and give them new food.

edit: Another option is to put down a towel in the carrier with hay on it. Also, make sure that you can stop and pet them, speaking soothingly, if they get scared and need reassurance. When we travel, that's the responsibility of the co-pilot so that we don't have to stop the car whenever Muffin starts thumping and digging.

 

[Gordon]

BlueGiants wrote:

A very good rabbit judge once told me to always put the rabbit in facing a side door, not front or back.  Because when they are facing frontwards or backwards, they could break a nail or hurt themselves "diggin in" when you brake or speed up.  It's a natural reaction to forward motion. They think they are going to fall.  But facing the side, they sway with the motion of the car more easily and relax a little more..

That is great advice and makes sense! I'm going to keep that in mind next time Peter and Bugs and I go for a car ride, which is not very often, and never more than fifteen minutes.

 

[ijRoberts]

Hi all, even though this isn't my thread, I didn't want to start a new one since this applies to the same thing.

I took Jake with me to my parent's house yesterday, a 2 1/2 hour drive. He seemed a little nervous at first, kind of hunkered down in a corner of his "travelling cage" for the first hour, but then started moving around and changing positions.

We're here now and after another period of initial nervousness, he seems to be doing great. He's had a little home made for him in my mom's jacuzzi tub. It's outfitted quite nicely for him. He's got all his toys from home, so I think he feels comfortable.

I'm hoping that he'll be able to come with me every time I come out here, so I've got my fingers crossed that he's got the "travels okay" personality! =)

 

[DozyDoris]

We took our bunnies to Cornwall to see our parents which is a six hour trip along with our two labs!! On the way we got a puncture on the motorway and it was the first time the AA had been called out to a breakdown with bunnies in the car!!! They both traveled really well but are quite chilled bunnies by nature!! :bunnydance:

 

[ijRoberts]

So, I just got back from the weekend at my parent's house and Jake's first trip!

He seemed a little nervous in the car when we first started going and just hunkered down in corner of his travelling cage, but after about 45 minutes he was alright and moving around and checking things out.

Once I got to the house he got nervous again and didn't want to leave the corner. My parents have a large jacuzzi tub in their bathroom, so we put his little travelling cage in there and made it all up for him as a 'bunny Disneyland' and once he realized that he wasn't dinner, he came out and started getting comfortable.

My whole family loved him and I would constantly find people in there with him throughout the day. He really got used to being pet and handled and really enjoys the attention, so I think it was a big breakthrough weekend for him.

I got a couple pictures of him and his 'home away from home' setup that I'll have to share, but for the most part it couldn't have gone any better!

 

[tonyshuman]

That's great! It sounds like you did everything right to make him comfortable.

 

[ninetoes01]

wow, I'm really glad I found this thread! What do you guys think about this:
I'm thinking about moving back to southern ontario from BC - problem is, it's a 6 day drive!!! Any advice?

 

[golfdiva]

I will give you my two cents, just 'cause I haven't posted in awhile! lol!

We take Hershey on car trips often. I do not use a carrier. I know most people do and I understand the concerns, but we thought about it and decided it was easier and more comfortable for all to not use it.

We started w/ short, frequent trips so he could get used riding. I take a litter box, food and water and an xpen. I block up the space under the driver's seat to make sure he can't interfere w/ the driver.I also checked under seats, etc. to make sure there was nothing for him to chew on and ruin. I keep the litter box on the floor by my feet (DH is driving). Hershey mostly sits under my seat or on my lap. We don't leave him alone in the car as it can quickly get too hot for him and cause death.

Unlike dogs, he doesn't like looking out the window, and prefers not to see the scenery rushing past him! We do take breaks so he can get a little exercise, but I have water, food and a litter box available for him at all time.

This way we have takenhim to Florida and back twice, as well as several shorter trips. He seems to be fine. The second time we went to Florida I'm surehe even remembered the condo!