travel

Question
Hi ,

I was wondering if it is ok to put my house rabbit in his cage while traveling in the car for four hours ...
His cage does fit fine in my car would he not be happier in his familiar surroundings to a carrier ?

Answer
Hi Vic,

yes, he should be just fine in his carrier.  Hopefully the bottom floor of it, you can put some kind of carpet bottom or something softer like that that he can sit and rest on.  He will need some hay in there with him, and some pellets, and a water bottle that can hang on the carrier door (get one that has a spring that pushes the ball bearing on the drinking tube closed so it doesn't leak into the carrier when the car goes over bumps!).  

Talk to him while on the trip, telling him he's doing real good, he's a good boy, etc.  Talk to him like you'd talk to someone on the trip with you.  A little indirect airflow is just fine for him.  If he's a more shy or more easily scared bunny, you can always put his carrier in the passenger seat and talk to him there, sometimes they like to see the person they trust when they're going through a more unfamiliar or unusual (therefore a little more scary for them) event.

Once you are at your destination, let him out in a secure place (for his safety) and right away give him food and water in the way he's normally used to them (in a water bowl, or hanging bottle, food pellets in a bowl, fresh hay, etc) because sometimes rabbits may not eat and drink their normal amounts during travel and you really need to make sure he drinks and eats.  This can throw his gut off and cause dehydration leading to gut shutdown and shock (which is very serious and can kill healthy rabbits very quickly).