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Before leaving your rabbit alone, make sure you leave them with essential items over the weekend.
Every once in a while I want to go out traveling for the weekend. But whenever I intend to do that I am concerned about leaving my rabbits home alone. Every time I ask myself can I leave my rabbit alone for the weekend without anyone to care for these delicate animals?
Now
That I have done that leaving my rabbits home alone a few times, I can say you this:
Leaving rabbits alone is not a problem. However proper safety measures and precautions must be considered before you do so.
This article explains what to do and what not. How long can you leave a rabbit home alone?
After you complete reading this article, you can leave your bunnies alone in your home with some bunny toys and plenty of the best rabbit hay while you are on vacation.
The best part:
You don’t have to stress or worry about your rabbits during your trip next weekend.
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Can I leave my rabbit alone for the weekend?
The simple answer is YES and NO. Let me share a little from my own experience.
I personally like to travel a lot. At least once every week I am out somewhere close to nature to recharge myself for the busy week ahead.
However, for many reasons
It is always not possible to travel with my rabbit. Due to causes beyond my control, I have to leave my favorite bunbun in the house for a few days.
My rabbit DAYA never had a cage. She has the full house for the run. She is litter trained. So it has never been an issue for me to leave my rabbit alone for the whole weekend.
How can you actually do this?
By doing the things I have written in this article.
I always took proper measures:
Such as leaving sufficient rabbit food and rabbit hay, fresh drinking water, and some rabbit chew toys to not allow my rabbit to get bored or feel lonely.
Do not keep grass or hay just in one place. Try to spread your rabbits’ food in several places around the house, so that your rabbits can work around to find their food.
Keep fresh water in 2 or 3 different feeders in different locations.
Rabbits are social animals and need human interactions to stay healthy. I never left my rabbits alone for over 24 hours.
However, leaving your rabbits alone for the weekend is often dangerous. Not all rabbits will be comfortable staying alone for a whole week or over 24 hours without any observation.
Rabbits are little delicate animals and simply can have health issues. Rabbit get bored quickly, and due to being prey animals they get scared very fast.
If you leave them alone in your house, your bunny may lose their appetite and stop eating. This can be deadly for your rabbits.
In case you have to leave your rabbit over 24 hours you must get a pet sitter or have a friend or neighbor to come look at how your rabbits are doing at least once every 12 hours.
But what if you really don’t want to leave your rabbits home alone?
You can use one of this rabbit carrier to take your rabbits on the journey with you.
How long can I leave my rabbit home alone?
Rabbits are highly social animals. They need to be cuddled and petted and play with. So once you leave them home alone they are going to get lonely.
I never left my rabbits home alone for over 24 hours. Leaving them for over 24 hours or 48 hours is a big NO-NO.
Why is that?
Because rabbits are lively animals and need to run around at least four hours every day. So it is not wise to leave your rabbits in cages for 48 hours.
Although you leave rabbits with enough food, rabbit hay, and supply of fresh water, there is no guarantee of odd incidents that might occur and can be fatal to your rabbits.
Your rabbits may spill all the water or they may chew through all the hay you have left for them. They will starve and probably will get sick.
I must say it is preferable to leave your rabbits unsupervised for a maximum of only 12 hours. Over 12 hours can be too risky.
Leaving them alone for 12 hours is not much of a risk. I have done it many times and it was never an issue for my rabbits.
Can I leave my rabbit alone for a week?
So I can understand, there may be occasions you really need to be out for a week and you can’t carry your rabbits along with you.
You might be wondering what to do with your bunnies or rabbits during the week. Simply request a friend or a neighbor to look after your rabbits.
If that is not possible then find pet sitters who will happily visit your house and spend time with your pets in your absence.
If everything else fails why not just buy this small pet carry bag and bring your bunnies along with you. Perhaps your bunnies will enjoy a different place and an environment too.
Nevertheless, do not leave your rabbits alone for a week. Maximum of 24 hours and your bunny will start to feel very lonely. In case they are in a rabbit cage, that’s going to be worse for them.
The bottom line:
They require time outside of their cage to run and exercise. I remember I didn’t let my rabbit out of the cage for 24 hours once, and she was so angry with me that she bit my finger.
Even if you leave them free within your apartment, there are still dangers of your bunny chewing through harmful things which will cause problems in their digestive system and may become fatal for your rabbits.
That is why a house with free-roaming bunnies needs to be bunny-proofed.
There are so many reasons you must not leave your rabbits unsupervised alone in the home for a whole week.
How long can you leave a rabbit without food?
Rabbits love eating especially grass and hay. They can chew all day through rabbit hay.
So the idea of leaving your rabbits without food is complete nonsense. Hay is essential for the betterment of their health.
You can read here >>> The importance of hay in a rabbit’s diet.
Rabbits are small animals and cute house pets, yet they like to eat a lot. In spite of being small doesn’t mean they do not consume much.
So thinking about leaving your rabbits without food for a certain time is a NO-NO. Your rabbits need food and fresh water to survive.
If you are about to go out for a day. You must leave enough rabbit hay around the house and fresh water. Some pellets wouldn’t be bad either. Do not keep the food and water in one place as I mentioned above.
Spread it around in a few places within your rabbits running space. So that way your bunnies will have to look for the food and he/she will not get bored.
The first time I wanted to go out on a trip during the weekend I asked the same question to myself if can I leave my rabbit alone for the weekend. But I couldn’t find any satisfactory answer.
Hence I have written this article to help others.
Interested to know what food is best for your rabbits while you are not home? Then go Here to find out >>> Rabbit Foods for a Healthy Bunny.
As well as visit our >>> Resources <<< page to find the essential bunny products recommended by our readers.
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We got a bunny as a classroom pet and we left the bunny in it’s big cage from Friday after school got out (4pm) until Monday morning (7am). We left his water bottle full, hay ball full, pellet bowl full and gave it a couple of carrots. He was fine doing this the whole school year. Now he lives at home and I still continue to leave him alone for up to 3 days max and he’s perfectly fine. He is let out to play and run for a few hours most days and the rest of the time he’sin his cage. We’ve had him for 2 years now and have had no problems with him staying home alone. When we come back from a long weekend, he is content to see us. I do have 4 kids at home, with 4 yr old twins, so he probably enjoys his weekends alone also. ? I don’t see it as a problem to go away for a weekend and leave the fluffball alone. If we are to stsy longer then we have someone come refill his water and food.
Yeah, It is not a problem to leave rabbits alone for the weekend as a long as you leave plenty of hay and drinking water for your rabbits. I did the same so many times while going out for the whole weekend.
However, we also have to notice whether the rabbit is sick or not. If we leave a sick rabbit by itself over the weekend we will just harm them more.
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WOW this article is absolutely absurd! I have had 3 rabbits all live from ages 7 till 12 years and I have left them alone for an entire weekend with double the water bowls and food and they were completely fine! they were in a 6×7 feet caged run area with liter box and tunnel tube and always were fine. Whoever says you can’t leave them for more than 12 hours is a bullshitter. My rabbit is a lrgr 4-5lbs holland loped and goes thru a bowl of water every day and a half to two days and a bowl of pellets in the same amount of time. Timonthy hay are their favs and a big hand grab of that lasts them for a day or two. couple of times a week I throw a small carrot, apple, any herbs they love, green leafy plants inc bok choy
We left our precious bunny alone overnight (about 36 hours) two weeks ago and when we can home she had broken her spine at the shoulder. She was in a large cage, one she is usually very comfortable in. The vet said there was nothing to be done and we had to have her euthanized. We are heartbroken.
That is actually very sad. Hence I mentioned in this article to not let your rabbits stay home alone without frequent supervision.
I think it is equally important to keep the rabbits cage-free once you are going to let them stay home alone. Keeping them in a cage when you are not home is not a very good idea.
Because I think the rabbit requires some running space and exercise even though they are home alone.
Sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, even if you had been home and found her an hour later, the result would have been the same. This does not mean you cannot leave a bunny alone for a day or 2. Again, I’m so sorry you lost your fur baby. It was an accident.
Bring your rabbit home. You will want to bring a small towel-lined pet cage with you to pick up your rabbit. If at all possible, try to bring your new rabbit home in a car (as opposed to taking public transportation), as your rabbit will likely be scared and a bit stressed and loud, confusing places will not help. Don’t make any unnecessary stops on the way home and make sure the car is not too hot; rabbits are very sensitive to heat and it will only exacerbate an uncomfortable situation. When you get back to your apartment, give your rabbit some hay and water, and leave it alone in a quiet environment for a few hours to settle in.
Thank you for this article. I adopted a English Spot mix 2 weeks ago and I wasn’t sure what was safe. We went on an overnight trip and decided to board him at the house rabbit society. I’m glad to have that resource but it is expensive and it convenient so I cant imagine doing this everytime we travel for the next 10+ years! Your article gives me hope that once he’s trained and I know him better, I might be able to leave him alone for a night!
I will be leaving my rabbit for two weeks what can I do to make her not be bored till I get home
Leaving your rabbits for more than 24 hours is not a good idea at all. Rabbits may not only get bored, but there can also be so many accidents.
In case you have someone to look after your rabbits at least every 12 hours then it is ok to leave your rabbits for 2 weeks.
The answer to your main question is:
You can leave plenty of hay around your house so that your rabbits can chew on. And do not simply leave the hay in one place, instead, spread the rabbit hay in the rabbits running space.
The hay will keep your rabbits entertained and place the hay in a way that your rabbit has to forage to find the hay.
As well as you can buy any of the toys I have listed here to keep your rabbits entertained >>> Rabbit Toys
Also, rabbits need water, so there must be someone who will check and refill the water for your rabbit.
Sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, even if you had been home and found her an hour later, the result would have been the same. This does not mean you cannot leave a bunny alone for a day or 2. Again, I’m so sorry you lost your fur baby. It was an accident.
Hi I have to leave my single rabbit alone for about 10 days. I have a guy who will check on him and give him his food at the time he always gets it. But my rabbit wont be at my house anymore. He’ll be at a different house. Will he be fine? Im only concerned about something happening to him out of loneliness. He is a free roam rabbit at my house and he will have a whole room to himself. Is it safe to say he’ll survive?
So I have to go away for 10 days and I decided to give my single rabbit to this guy I know. He wont be able to be with rabbit the way I am but will give him food check up on him and all that. I am going for 10 days and also my rabbit will be open for the whole day and in his cage just at night. He wont be in my house but at that guys house which is new for him.He is super close to us but ai have also taken him to the new house so he gets a little bit used to it. Do you think he’ll survive for 10 days? I only fear that he will become depressed as he is very close to me. Please help
Your bunny will be fine. He will have a new room to explore and play in. Just make sure the room has been sufficiently rabbit proofed and there is adequate food, water and toys throughout the entire 10 days.