Moving

[babydoshia]

Hi all-

In 2 weeks I will be moving out of town and of course will be taking mybabies with me, including Murphy. It's an 8 hour drive and Ineed to know the best way to transport my big guy. When Iclean his cage he is put into the cats' carrier which is too small forhim but he eventually does well in it. After digging to getout for a few mins he eventually lays down. He is never inthat more than 20 mins though, so I'm not sure how he would do stuck init for 8 hours, let alone in a moving car.

My two cats do terriblyin cars and it is much too stressfullfor them so they will be sedated for the trip. I have yet tocall Murphy's vet to see if he can be sedated. I'd like toknow what you guys think first. I have to buy a larger pettaxi of course so he can at least turn around but I'd like to know ifya'll think sedating would be best. I want to stress him aslittle as possible.

Anyways, Any ideas of how to best transport him?

Thanks alot

-Madelon

 

[dajeti2]

I wouldn't sedate him. Only because whenthey are sedated they don't eat or drink. I would be worried about himdehydrating.

You can get him ready for the trip by taking him on car ridesnow. Just make them a little longer each time. Bring his food and waterfrom home so it smells a llittle like home.

Most bunnies do very well on car trips. Do you have A/C in tecar so he doesn't get too hot. If not you may want to buy a cheapcooler and have some frozen water bottles for him.

You may want to stop and check on him too. Does he do good on aharness? If he does you may conssider stopping at a rest or two and lethim runn for a bit.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

Apollo did fine on the 5 hour ride from the breeder.

Tina

 

[babydoshia]

Thanks Tina, sounds good.

We dont have an a/c so I will do the water bottle thing forsure. Murphy did fine on the 1 1/2 hour drive from thebreeder but that was when he was a baby and I held him the wholetime. I'm sure he'll be fine. I still worry aboutmy baby though.

I've never tried a harness on him. I dont think he'd like ittoo much. He doesnt like to be held so I think taking him outof the carrier and then putting him back in would just stress himmore. Being held really scares him so I never pick him upunless needed.

Thanks alot

 

[Stephanie]

I did a ten hour drive with my cats and Chomperswhen I moved last year. Sedating the cats was a must, although with aSimaese he still didn't shut up for most of it. We did give Chompersa very light dose of the sedative (my vet ok'ed it), but Ireally don't think he needed it in the end so I think you'll be okwithout one.

We stopped a lot (and I mean a lot) to check on the animals. At everystop we gave water and food, although he wasn't very interested in thefood (cats weren't either). We did keep plenty of hay in the carrierwith him though, and he did eat some of that. Also, as the car waspacked with stuff, we made sure that they had plenty of ventilation,free flowing air by keeping the windows open instead of the A/C. Itwasn't too hot and with the windows closed, it didn't seem like theywere getting enough air.

When we moved again later that summer, it was a six hour drive. By thenwe had Abby, and this time we kept both rabbits in the cage instead ofcarriers. They seemed to do better that way. Again, we made tons ofstops to pet them and make sure they were all right. I did buy apopcorn stick, which is pretty much rabbit junk food, but they ate itand I figured they deserved a treat for such a stressful day.

 

[Jenniblu]

You've already got some great adbvice onhere. You may want to add somechamomile tea in thedrinking water - rabbit breeders use that during shows to get them todrink and decrease stress.

With Murph being a Flemish (one that we don't see enough pictures ofBTW), I bet the little man will sleep most of the car ride.Let us know how he does on his practice drives.

 

[Bassetluv]

If you don't have A/C in your car and thejourney is going to be in hot weather, one thing on the market that youmight want to invest in a fan for the bunny crate. I picked up two ofthem from PetSmart a couple of months ago (intending to put them on myoutdoor hutches if I wound up getting my rabbits this summer). Since Idon't have rabbits yet I haven't used them, but I did try one and itseems pretty good. They run on two 'D' batteries, and they do seem tohave a fair bit of power. Here's a link in case you're interested:

http://www.petgadgets.com/product_details.cfm?product_id=123&content_id=78

Good luck on your upcoming move, and have fun!

Di

 

Fans a good idea , icy bottles isa good idea , !! Fan and Icy Bottles !!!!Bunny Air Conditioner lol but sounds likea very classy way to have aironthe big boy .

 

[babydoshia]

Well hi guys-

I havent been on in such a long time. We've moved andalthough we're not in our apartment yet (staying with a friend) we gotall the animals here and had absolutly no problems. Murphytraveled wonderfully, rested most of the time and occaisonly playedwith his puppy pad in the carrier. He did very well and I wasso proud of him. He didnt go to the bathroom the entire time(he's a freak about only going in his box) so he was overjoyed tofinally get in his litter box when we arrived after and 8 1/2 hourdrive.

We're staying at a friends house now and Murphy has got free run oftheir spare bathroom downstairs and he is loving it. It's bigand I'm going to hate to take him from it.

Off topic, I'm glad to say that I found us an apartment a few days agoand we'll be moving in on the 1st. I started school last weekand it's going fairly well, it's still school though See,I came down with Murphy, the cats, and the turtleon July 20thto stay with a friend of mine so I could start school on time and findus an apartment. My mom had to finish up workathomeand finalize the selling of our trailer so she'll be herewith the birdsand the rest of our stuffSept 1st forusmove in. So, that's my good news for the year.

Here are some pretty bad, but recent pics of him that Iscanned. That's a soda can next to him to show hissize. I think he's kind of small still. He's 14months old and I dont know his current weight but before gettingneutered he was 14lbs.

Ok, I always seem to type alot on here but it's been a while lol. I'll hopefully be on more often again.

-Madelon

 

[dajeti2]

I was thinking of you and Murphy just the other day.

I am so glad you found an apartment and move in soon. Yea forMurphy. Sounds like he handled the drive awesomely. He looks great.I've missed seeing him so much. I was going to you picture posts of himfor my Murphy fix. He does look a bit small but it's hard sometimes totell from pictures.

I hope you and your mom and all the animals settle into yournew apartment easily and comfortably. I know you are going to be busywith moving and school and all but please stop in here when you get achacne. We've missed you and Murphy.

Tina & the Zoo Crew

 

[bunnydude]

I took my two bunnies home in the same carrier,and they did quite well. It was supposed to be a 2 1/2 hour ride, butafter 50+ miles worth of wrong turns it ended up being a 5 hour drive.

 

[cirrustwi]

I was wondering how your move went. I'm glad it seems to have gone ok.

I'm hoping to be moving sometime this fall, although, I've been sayingI'm going to move for months and months. HOPEFULLY, it willhappen soon! My guys shouldn't have more then a 2-3 hr. ride,so they should do ok.

Jen

 

If you can have your bunnies in the car for anumber of hours at a time to move, can you take them on vacation withyou camping?? We are going in November for a week camping up thecoast. I kind of wanted to bring Bunny but didn't know if itwould be ok. Maybe better to leave her at home with a sitter?

 

[dajeti2]

I don't know of many people that have taken thier rabbits camping.

We took Apollo camping last year for like a month and he lovedit. We used a travel crate for him just because it made us feel safer,if something tried to bother him while we were hiking.

I loved having him with us because I didn't have to worry abouthim. Was he eating and drinking ok, going potty ok, was his cage beingcleaned. Plus Apollo goes through seperation anxiety. We had to cut ourhoneymoon short because he refused to do more than barely nibbleanything.

If you think he would be safe and he enjoys car rides I'd say go for it.

Tina

 

[BlueGiants]

We stayed in a campground outside of WashingtonDC last year, and the couple next to us had their bunnies withthem! They turned the three of them out in a puppy pen forexercise and they each had their own beds in the trailer! Twoof them walked on harness. It was such a pleasure seeingbunnies on our vacation (since I had to leave ALL minehome....) The lady said they traveled very well and werequite used to the trailer. I'm sure they did a lot of workacclimating the bunnies to the new vehicle. But with patienceand love, it can be done.

 

[I LuV MaH BuNs]

This is a question for Ras!!! She did 25 hours with Sebastion!!!!

Send her and PM!!

 

[ariel]

Great to hear you made it safely and that Murphy travelled so well for you, that'd be relief in itself.

He looks happy in his pics, and hey don't be sorry about them, pics arealways great! I'd look at them through a magnifying glass if I had to,just to see a bunny LOL

 

We go to see my mom at Thanksgiving during ourcamping trip. If she and my husband give the ok, I just might bringBunny along. Thanks for the input!

Congrats on a safe move by the way

 

[Carolyn]

Hi Murphy!! :wave:

:kiss:

-Carolyn

 

[BlueGiants]

I had a very knowledgeable judge once tell methat when putting rabbits in a car for a drive, always make sure theyare facing sidewards in the car. If you put them in facingforward (the direction you're driving in) braking and accelerating maycause them to panic and hurt themselves. They digtheir nails into the carrier or beddingand panic becausesudden stops or acceleration makes them think they are going to"fall". They can break a nail (and bleed), hyperventilate orpanic to the point of making themselves sick. By loading themin sidewards, they have a large "wall" the entire length of their bodyto lean against and they will rock with the motion of thecar. Keeps them calmer and more secure. It's workedfor me for years, with never a problem going to or from shows oractivities. In my opinion, the bunnies seem calmer, even ontrips that may be 6-7 hours.