Hello, I’m a total newbie

[Flakes]

Naw... When I give him lettuce I give him a couple pieces before I make a salad.

I have been letting him run around my bed and the floor a lot recently and when he comes near my hand I scratch his nose. He made a weird grunting noise this morning when I stopped petting him. Plus he has started trying to dig through my comforter for whatever reason.

 

[zuppa]

Glad you are doing well together
I also have a girl who complaints when I stop petting her

 

[Lauren Kiernan]

Sounds like he likes you!

 

[Flakes]

I do have a question, I was going to put it off for a couple months but since I am here I might as well ask.

I am driving to Florida over Xmas and am of course taking Dortmund. What is the best way to take an extended road trip with a rabbit in the winter?

i currently own two cages, three pet carriers. One of the cages is way too big to fit in the car, but the smaller one that I got him in would fit. Do I keep him in the cage or do I clean up the back seat and just let him hop around back there? Or I could keep him in a pet carrier up in the front with me.

Also my sister in Florida has a Dog, so do my parents. I was planning on keeping Dortmund in the room I’ll be staying in and keeping the dogs out. But any special advice would be appreciated. I thought about boarding Dortmund, but the family wants to meet him, and I will be away for a month.

 

[zuppa]

If you are going to stay there for a whole month then better take a cage where he will be comfortable, you will have him in your bedroom and you will see how is it going with dogs etc. Hopefully his cage isn't too small.

For your road trip I would say NO for letting him to hop around on the back seat you are going to be on 20 h drive and you never know when you will have to stop he will also be driving your attention it is simply not safe. He must be caged for the trip.

I wouldn't place him on front seat either also for safety reason, you will need to stay focused on driving.

I would take this smaller old cage (what size is it?) and one of the pet carriers. I would put him into back seat in a carrier and would fix it so it can't move. I know it's a bit too long to stay there for 20 hours but you will surely have stops and maybe can let him out when all doors are closed or if you want to take him out the car you can get harness but train him at home to walk with it to make sure he's comfortable and all.

You can also try to drive with him a few times to shorter distances just like a rehearsal so you can see how it goes.

If you could post some photo of your carriers and give measurements of the cage that would help to understand your situation.

 

[Flakes]

The cage I got him in is about 36 inches long x 22 inches wide x 20 inches high. His current cage is about 50” x 26” x 24”. I have a small size hard case pet carrier, a fabric pet carrier, and a large size per carrier.

i also bought two of these that I can put together and let him run around in while I’m in Florida. They are currently in the car trunk.

https://amzn.to/2oAVmic

 

[Flakes]

Oh. My appointment at the vet is next week. I know I want to make sure he is neutered (he probably isn’t) and get the little guy vaccinated against Myxomatosis. Is there anything else I should get done? Do rabbits need rabies shots? Heart worm stuff?

 

[Hermelin]

If you live in USA, you don’t need to vaccinate your bunny. They don’t have the rabbit diseases like Europe have [emoji5]

 

[zuppa]

Oh. My appointment at the vet is next week. I know I want to make sure he is neutered (he probably isn’t) and get the little guy vaccinated against Myxomatosis. Is there anything else I should get done? Do rabbits need rabies shots? Heart worm stuff?

As Hermelin said above there's no need to vaccinate in US, for neutering, you don't know his age, are you sure he's a male at all? Vet will tell you if they can neuter him right now or you will have to wait, usually they only neuter when rabbit is 4,5-6 months old and if he's not underweighted. If he'll let you you can check if his testicles dropped already if not then you'll have to wait a bit, he's probably under 3 months. Anyway, vet will be able to check and if he's old enough you can schedule neutering. Just make sure your vet is rabbit-savvy because not all vets have experience with rabbits.

 

[zuppa]

The cage I got him in is about 36 inches long x 22 inches wide x 20 inches high. His current cage is about 50” x 26” x 24”. I have a small size hard case pet carrier, a fabric pet carrier, and a large size per carrier.

i also bought two of these that I can put together and let him run around in while I’m in Florida. They are currently in the car trunk.

https://amzn.to/2oAVmic

50" cage is fine if there are hard stains you can spray with vinegar and leave for 10-15 mins it will soften urine stains and you can easily remove them.

I wouldn't use fabric carrier for a rabbit tbh they can chew a hole or two in it, so I'd go with a plastic one if you want to post a pic later.

 

[Lauren Kiernan]

I do have a question, I was going to put it off for a couple months but since I am here I might as well ask.

I am driving to Florida over Xmas and am of course taking Dortmund. What is the best way to take an extended road trip with a rabbit in the winter?

i currently own two cages, three pet carriers. One of the cages is way too big to fit in the car, but the smaller one that I got him in would fit. Do I keep him in the cage or do I clean up the back seat and just let him hop around back there? Or I could keep him in a pet carrier up in the front with me.

Also my sister in Florida has a Dog, so do my parents. I was planning on keeping Dortmund in the room I’ll be staying in and keeping the dogs out. But any special advice would be appreciated. I thought about boarding Dortmund, but the family wants to meet him, and I will be away for a month.

Lennon the bunny's owner has made many rabbit care videos. This is a link to one that has suggestions to make travel easier.

 

[Hermelin]

I do have a question, I was going to put it off for a couple months but since I am here I might as well ask.

I am driving to Florida over Xmas and am of course taking Dortmund. What is the best way to take an extended road trip with a rabbit in the winter?

i currently own two cages, three pet carriers. One of the cages is way too big to fit in the car, but the smaller one that I got him in would fit. Do I keep him in the cage or do I clean up the back seat and just let him hop around back there? Or I could keep him in a pet carrier up in the front with me.

Also my sister in Florida has a Dog, so do my parents. I was planning on keeping Dortmund in the room I’ll be staying in and keeping the dogs out. But any special advice would be appreciated. I thought about boarding Dortmund, but the family wants to meet him, and I will be away for a month.

Best to keep your bunny in the pet carrier, you can already start to teach him to get used with spending time in the carrier and take short trips. To make it easier for later. Make sure to have treats. Even though it’s only short trips fill the travel carrier with hay and a few wet veggies that he love.

Myself have done a few trips with my bunnies before. Longest was a 7 hours car drive or a 12 hour train trip with Odin. Odin have been through a lot of traveling between my bunnies. He’s so use with it, he will often just eat a bit hay and then sleep the rest of the trip [emoji5]

When I go for a trip I fill the whole travel cage with hay and have wet veggies. If there are some stops I fill up a bowl with water and let my bunny drink or I attach a water bowl on the travel cage. But wet veggies will work great.

Then you just need to bring pellets, litter box or make a provisional litter box with what you have at that other place.

My bunnies have the pet carrier as home base and often a room or bathroom as their room. Depends on if it’s bunny proofed or not. Bathroom often don’t have wires everywhere which they might want to chew. Then I just make sure to have a few toys with me and treats at hand. Often my bunny will have a treat toy in the pet carrier to distract with during their travel time.

Make sure to not blast the heat in the car, they can easily get overheated. They handle cold a lot better, so better to keep the heat a bit lower.

Myself have never had problem with dogs and my bunnies. But I don’t know how your bunny will react to the smell and sound of dogs.

My bunny Odin set up at one of the trips away, at least you can take with you a bit more. Traveling by train it’s a lot harder and stressing:

 

[Blue eyes]

I'm just jumping into this conversation out of a bit of concern. I've seen a number of people refer to "Lennon the Bunny" videos and I am not a fan of them. Generally she has good advice but she also includes advice born out of inexperience. (I'm not positive on this but I get the impression that this is her first rabbit.) Lennon is not a chewer (apparently) and so even her bunny proofing advice (another video) is not sound.

The travel video above has some questionable advice...
The rubbery plastic 'travel' litter boxes are a chewing hazard.
Changing the type of litter box for a trip to anything other than what bunny is used to risks bunny not using it at all.
The pop up water/feed bowls are also chewing hazards.
The pop up 'travel' pen is another potential for chewing and escaping. Using it for rest stops is not only risky, but could stress the rabbit even more. Rabbits tend to do best when they stay safely in their carrier for the trip. (Using the ex-pen at a hotel is a good idea.)
The harness recommended is dangerous.

Just wanted to offer caution regarding these videos.

 

[Flakes]

Thanks. I was planning on using the big travel carrier (It is for a mid to large size dog) and using his standard litter box and water bowl. I was either going to pack his cage in the trunk or buy a new one once I get to Florida. That is if I can't fit it in the back seat (It's a Honda Accord) in which case I will use that. I kind of want to give him space to hop around, even given the limitations. Though maybe that might be a bad thing.

I've watched a lot of Lennon the Bunnie videos. At first I liked them, but now, Meh, the info she gives seems fluffy and directed at young girls, which isn't my demographic. No Bunny makeover parties for me, sorry.

 

[A & B]

I've seen a number of people refer to "Lennon the Bunny" videos and I am not a fan of them. Generally she has good advice but she also includes advice born out of inexperience. (I'm not positive on this but I get the impression that this is her first rabbit.) Lennon is not a chewer (apparently) and so even her bunny proofing advice (another video) is not sound.

I thought I was the only one who thought this. It's obvious she has good intentions but she also believes there's only one way to care for rabbits (indoors and free-roam) and for most of us, that's impossible. Lennon is her first rabbit.

 

[Anita Puglisevich]

This is Gordie

I have traveled with her before, but I live in a small country so nothing is to far away,
Get him used to being in the car and being in the Carrier for long periods of time.
I have a normal dog Carrier that opens from the top.
I put a blanket in the bottom of she pees on it u just wash it after.

 

[Anita Puglisevich]

View attachment 43448

This is Gordie

I have traveled with her before, but I live in a small country so nothing is to far away,
Get him used to being in the car and being in the Carrier for long periods of time.
I have a normal dog Carrier that opens from the top.
I put a blanket in the bottom of she pees on it u just wash it after.
She loves my bf better then me loool.
She had mittens few months after we got so I had the job of put the ointment in her eyes as she had an infection and taking her to the vet for injection's. But she's all good now.

 

[Flakes]

Gordie is a wonderful name and a cute rabbit.

 

[Anita Puglisevich]

Gordie is a wonderful name and a cute rabbit.

Bf actually named her lool.
She named after his football team

 

[Blue eyes]

Here are good car travel tips:
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Transport/Car/Car.htm