Shipping a rabbit?

[undergunfire]

It is totally safe and fine to ship rabbits cargo. My Morgan flew home from Texas to AZ. He was one happy bunny when he got home....he was definitely not traumatized. I think people don't give as much credit to bunnies as they should...yes, rabbits can be high stress....but a lot are hardy!

I believe it was $213 (health certificates were not needed!) to fly Morgan home from Peg's house. It is a lot of money to come up with....but I think that it wasn't too bad. I'd pay it again if I had to...that is what a credit card can be used for!

If I ever wanted a rabbit, cat, or a dog from a reputable breeder and I didn't have one in my area....then I would surely pay to ship it to me!

 

[TinysMom]

hln917 wrote:

Please if all possible, try not to ship any rabbits in the cargo bin. I've seen so many dogs and cats come off the plane and they are petrified from their experience. Can you imagine traveling in a loud dark compartment especially if the aircraft experience any sort of turbulence? Some airlines will allow a rabbit in the cabin only as a service animal. Usually that would involve a doctor's note and their would be no fee.

I don't know about dogs and cats - but I have had over 20 rabbits shipped to me during the time I was breeding lionheads - and none of them ever had any problems. They literally were brought directly from the plane to me - we would open up the crate and take each one out and hold it and check on it.

We found that the younger the rabbit was - the better it did - older rabbits were a bit more cautious around us - but we've had them munching on hay and carrots and stuff immediately after getting off the plane.

I've also shipped rabbits and guinea pigs to forum members and they did just fine too.

I know of rabbit breeders who ship all the time - and I rarely ever hear of a problem with a rabbit dying (at least for lionheads)....I actually can't think of any instances where I heard a breeder mention about a rabbit being traumatized when they were picked up at the airport - of course - that is only for lionheads. There are some breeds that might be a bit more high-strung that have problems.

Once again I've never dealt with it with cats and dogs - just a number of rabbits.

 

[TinysMom]

I also wanted to add something - at least here in Texas - when I shipped and received rabbits - the airline personnel were EXCELLENT to work with and when they heard there were rabbits in the containers (special wire containers for shipping) - they always asked to see the bunnies and pet them and they were often fascinated and asked to learn more about rabbits.

We once went to pick up some rabbits and the guy said, "oh ... you're the folks with the long-haired rabbits...right? I remember you..."

 

[JadeIcing]

I had to guinea pigs shipped from Texas to me in Connecticut. They did awesome.