Flemish traveling

[ayglnu13]

I know its March and I am not going awayuntil the beginning of May. But I am already starting to worry aboutit.

OK here is the problem: in May my family is taking a minivacation to New York to see my grandparents, and I don't know what todo with Nimue. They said I could take him with me, but I heard it isstressful for a rabbit to travel.

So then I started thinking who could watch him while I was awayfor 4 days. I went though a whole list of my friends/family, all ofthem either don't know how to take care of a 22lb rabbit orare afraid of him. Then I was thinking about putting him in one ofthose "Pet Hotels" but A,) Its like $150-$200 just for a couple of days(it is really expensive up here) and I don't even make that much moneyin week. And B,) Wouldn't it be even more stressful for him to go thereinstead of going with me?

There are absolutely NO peoplethat Iknowthat know enough about a Flemish to take care of him.Plus he is usually out of his cage for 6-8 hours a day and he wouldn'tbe able to do that if i had some one come and watch him.

The last time I left him for a couple of days, he got reallymad with me and wouldn't let me pet him for a week. I haven't left himsince then, but I kind of have to go on this trip. What should I do??Any Ideas? Would it be ok for him to go with me? or should i find someone to take care of him? I am so confused....

~Amy+Nimue~

 

[Bramble Briar86]

If it's your only option, you can take your bunwith you. If it'd do more harm for him to stay. I'd just make sure thathe stays relaxed on the drive, provide plenty of water and hay, i'dadvise no food, it might make up more upset in his intestines....idon't know much! Good luck.

Ellie

 

[Jenniblu]

I'm glad you asked that question, Amy.I will have the same problem in late summer, I am also just going totake my rabbit with me to a pet-friendly hotel in a carrier with hisfavorite toys.

What do you plan on keeping him in while at your grandparents?

 

[ayglnu13]

Since he is litter box trained he will be staying in something like this...

~Amy+Nimue~

 

[Jenniblu]

That looks so comfortable!

 

[dajeti2]

I think the best thing you can do isstart getting him ready now. Take him out to the car and take him forshort rides but do it the same way he will be traveling later. Oncehe's comfortable on short trips you can start taking longer trips inthe car.

I always give Apollo full access to pellets,hay and water. Hetends to want to drink a bit more. But after about an hour hegets hungry. I also bring a blanket from home..one that he's familiarwith. That way he has a sense of home in the car.

Apollo stretches out in the front seat and sleeps most of thetime. You have to experiment with what works for you. Some rabbitsprefer the confines of a carrier while others want to be able to laynext to you.

Amy, I understand how it is. I can't leave Apollo. He won't eatif I'm not around. We had to cut our Honeymoon short because Apollowasn't eating. So now we just plan ahead so he can go with us. Weactually don't go somewhere if Apollo can't come with us.

I also try to make whatever temporary cage up set up at yourdestination as much like his home cage as possible. I've bought thesame water bottle, food hopper, and litter box for him. It seems tomake the transition go smoother.

Flemish tend to be pretty laid back and they take things instride. Beware that a bunny looking out the car window is definitelygoing to get some funny looks zipping down the highway.I'll prabablyadd more later as I think of more.

Tina

 

[ayglnu13]

Thanks every one for all their ideas.....I will probably be bringingNimue with me...I think that I would also have a hard time leaving himfor that long...I know it founds weird but I would miss my rabbit morethan my friends back at home....I have had him for almost a year and Ihave only gone away once and that was for 3 days. My poor baby i feltso bad leaving him.

The reason my parents cant watch him is because they are afraid ofhim....the last time I left (which was the 3 day trip) Nim was runningaround and my dad tried to put him back in his cage, of course my daddidn't realized how heavy he was and accidently dropped him , Nim gotscared and started grunting so my dad threw a coat over him to catchhim (NOT NECESSARY) and put Nim back in his cage. Now Nimue HATES myparents and won't let them come near me, or he gets really mad. And hegoes after any onemoving aroundtheir coat (thatswhy my mom doesn't like him because he scared her when she was hangingup her coat), Nimue is just afraid of coats....he cant help it.

~Amy+Nimue~

 

[dajeti2]

Oh Amy. How sad for Nimue, the poor guy.How sad he's so misunderstood. Poor Baby. I'm so glad he will be goingwith you.

Tina

 

[ayglnu13]

Ya they just dont get that he is my Big Baby. They dont mind him comingwith us, but it was my mom's idea to stick his bag of food and hiswater bottle inhis cage, leave him,and go onvacation.....YA RIGHT!

It is kinda funny Nim will be sitting on my lap and my mom or dad willcome in the room and Nim will perk up his head and glare at them untilthey have left the room. And if they come to close he will jump off mylap and sit on my feet waiting for them to come closer to he can getem! I would never actually let him "Get em" but it is always funnywatching him be "Guard Bunny"

~Amy+Nimue~

P.s. Nimue has gotten better with my parents...he used to go crazy whenthey entered the room, now he just watches them and makes sure thatthere is no funny buisness.

 

[dajeti2]

Thank goodness he has you around. NimueAttack Bunny Extraordinaire lol. Poor guy. Apollo scares people awaybut that's because he runs up to people. He wants them to pet andpeople freak seeing a huge rabbit galloping tpwards them lol. Here youneed to get yourself one of these lol. We got one for Apollo.

Tina

ps please go give poor Nimue a kiss from me and a hug from Apollo

 

[m.e.]

This is just my personal opinion, so bear with me, this is something I feel pretty strongly about

I would never suggest allowing a rabbit to ride in a vehicleunrestrained. Speakly in strictly detatched terms, physics dictatesthat when a vehicle is moving at - say - 45 mph, then the occupants ofthat vehicle are also moving at 45 mph. If the vehicle should come toan abrupt stop, the occupants will continue to move at 45 mphuntil they meet resistance. For humans, resistance will be yourseatbelt.In the event of an accident the only thing that willstop your rabbit will be the dashboard, windshield, back of the seat,etc.

Also, in an accident, any decent-sizedrabbit will have theforce of several hundred pounds behind them. Small objects like cellphones, when airborne in an accident,have been known to causeskull fractures! Any impact - even at low speeds - could beabsolutely catastrophicfor a large rabbit.

Yes, I'm a bit of a safety-nut about this. But it's hard to trulycomprehend how bad accidents can be until you've really studiedwhat happens whena few thousand pounds of glass and metalmeets resistance. I don't at all intend to come down on anyone who letstheir rabbit remain unrestrained in their car. It is a personalchoice. I just wanted to share my viewpoint.

That said, good luck with the trip