Long move with rabbits?

[Artios]

Anyone ever done a long move with rabbits? We've potentially got a move of 2000+ miles coming up and I've never had this situation before. I figure it's best to start asking questions now!

I'm looking at moving 6-9 rabbits, some parrots, and our ragdoll. The snakes and tortoise I can ship via FedEx overnight and am looking into possibilities for people to have them shipped to until I can get there and get their housing set up again for them. The warm blooded beasties I guess I could ship via airline, but I get a bit antsy at how much that would probably end up costing, plus the fact that hubby who will be at the other end won't have any idea how to set them up even if I did manage to finagle a way to have caging there for them. So it kinda looks like it might end up being a cross country drive. No biggie, I was a trucker so the actual miles don't bother me. I've never driven that far with this many animals in the cab, though.

Has anyone done anything like this before? Any tips you can share or some advice? I'm thinking minivan or cargo van rental, to have room for all these travel cages. Or would I just be better off giving away/selling/eating the rabbits and shipping the other critters? Ugh, so confusing.

 

[MaggieJ]

A lot depends on how important those particular rabbits are to you. Your move would certainly be easier without them, but if you've invested a lot of time, effort, money or emotion in developing a line of rabbits, a long-distance move is not impossible. Think of The Drift... Anntann drove further than that distributing rabbits to other parts of the country. I'm sure she will have some tips for you.

 

[eco2pia]

I would take mine. What I can say from 500 mile drives with rabbits--after the first 20 miles they usually just zone out and relax. It isn't so bad. I kinda like road trips.

 

[PulpFaction]

Depending on the size of the rabbits, you should be able to fit a good number of them into a 500-series kennel in carriers. Depending on the airline, this will cost you $100 to $250 dollars to fly with you, plus health certificates for each animal for most airlines. The cat could go carryon. Not sure about the bird...

Honestly, even though this could be expensive, it sounds cheaper than renting a vehicle and driving 2k miles. (You'd also have to factor in hotels, food, etc.) And it would all be over in a day.

 

[Artios]

A lot depends on how important those particular rabbits are to you. Your move would certainly be easier without them, but if you've invested a lot of time, effort, money or emotion in developing a line of rabbits, a long-distance move is not impossible. Think of The Drift... Anntann drove further than that distributing rabbits to other parts of the country. I'm sure she will have some tips for you.

Nope, no tips.

I've decided to just sell the group, as much as they were relatively tough for me to get hold of. The logistics of everything just isn't going to go very well. I get my 40+ acres and homestead a few years sooner than I expected, but I've gotta give up most of the animals to keep my sanity in order to get there.

Thanks to those who offered advice.

 

[Anntann]

Sorry for the delay. Not sure how I missed this thread, but I'm here now!

I drove 12,200 miles moving 120 rabbits around the country. (max was 60 at one time)

Rabbits are easy to move. Older bucks seem to have a bit harder time adjusting to the new surroundings after the move, but if you're not going from one extreme to the other, you probably won't have problems.

Here's what I found worked best (we lost NO animals this year on the Drift, compared to losing 3 last year). Carriers can be quite small. Even if the rabbit has just enough room to lay down, and then get up to turn around..that's enough.

Small water cups or small bottles if they're used to bottles filled throughout the trip.
Bed with hay. They'll be comfy on it, they can nibble if they want.
feed pellets at night (if you feed pellets at home) when you stop for the night.
Make sure all feeders/waterers are attached securely somehow.
Keep the rabbits in very dim light. Keep a lot of air flowing through, but try to keep them feeling like they're in a cave..safety ... they'll settle into a calm spot and just ride nicely.

What I found this year was that the rabbits settled down within a few miles of being put in our carriers inside the trailer. Most were brought to me to pick up in the back of a car. Bright light. Radio on. Lots of commotion. Those rabbits were typically unhappy and anxious to get out of their carriers. After a few hours in the new trailer, dim light, settled on hay, no noise...they were quite happy little critters.

check on them when you fuel up. It's easiest for them to ride (and safest) if they are riding sideways. If they are riding front to back and you suddenly stop, they'll brace or be thrown forward and can snap legs.

I had a few "couples" that lived in the same carrier. worked out fine. They'd just settle down and behave like a pair of toddlers in a playpen.

Some use Apple cider vinegar in the water (get them used to it a couple weeks in advance) so the rabbits don't have a problem with odd tasting water. I didn't find it to be a problem...I rarely used local tap water...just bought gallons of "spring" water at about 80cents a gallon usually.

You will probably find that some will settle into a sort of trance state. rarely eating, although they do drink. They'll be fine like that for up to a week. Might lose a little weight, but it's easily put back on with a couple of good meals.

hmm...anything else....2000 miles is about 2 days driving I figure. 4 days if you go 10 hours a day figuring 50mph average. The rabbits should be fine.

Oh..the carriers can be short...just enough to stand up in. I found the guys who were in taller cages just sat around anyway..no climbing and stretching.