What to Do with Your Bunny During Holidays?
Before we begin— Every year brings its share of long holidays: Lunar New Year, winter and summer breaks, and other extended weekends. With more flexible leave policies and the rise of "mini-vacations," these short getaways lasting three to five days have become a must for many people.
But during these busy travel seasons, when everyone heads off for some rest and relaxation, one question inevitably arises for pet owners: what about your bunny?
Unlike dogs, rabbits aren't always able to accompany you on trips. They're sensitive creatures who thrive in familiar surroundings and daily routines. So, when it's time for a family holiday and you can't bring them along, how should you make sure your bunny stays safe, comfortable, and happy while you're away?
In the Next Section
We'll explore practical options like rabbit boarding, temporary pet-sitting, and how to prepare your home environment before you leave. Stay tuned for tips to make your travel plans stress-free—for both you and your furry little friend!
The Best Care for Your Rabbit: Trust and Family Involvement
The best care always comes from trusted family members. If your rabbit is already familiar with other family members or relatives, and they understand the basics of rabbit care, that's the ideal arrangement. Having someone from your household temporarily look after your rabbit helps your pet stay relaxed by avoiding the stress of traveling or adjusting to new surroundings.
This reminds us of an important principle: pet ownership works best when the whole family participates. When owners and their families maintain good communication and share in the responsibility of caring for a pet, everyone benefits—including your furry friend!
Trusted Bunny Friends Make Great Caretakers
If you have close friends who are also experienced bunny owners, letting them look after your rabbit for a short period can be a wonderful option. However, the "bunny friends" referred to here aren't just online acquaintances who interact through messages or social media. They should be real-life friends—people you've known for a long time and have personally interacted with.
That's because "online bunny friends," whose connection is limited to text exchanges, usually can't give you a clear idea of how capable they are when it comes to actually caring for a rabbit. Trust and firsthand understanding are essential when it comes to entrusting your pet to someone else's care.
So, where can you meet true bunny-loving friends? Join rabbit-themed gatherings such as birthday parties or bunny walk groups! You can also participate in adoption events, training courses, and free veterinary check-ups organized by rabbit associations. Volunteering at these organizations is another fantastic way to meet like-minded people. Through these activities, you'll naturally get to know many fellow rabbit enthusiasts and build reliable friendships.
Boarding Is a Last Resort: Tips for Rabbit Owners
Choosing to board your rabbit should always be a last resort. When circumstances make boarding unavoidable, owners must carefully evaluate the boarding service before making any decisions. The Love Rabbit Association recommends conducting three essential checks to ensure your rabbit's safety and well-being.
Three Key Assessments
- Caregiving ability: Understand whether the staff have sufficient knowledge and experience in caring for rabbits.
- Living environment: Evaluate the cleanliness, safety, and comfort of the environment where your rabbit will stay.
- Boarding regulations: Review the facility's rules about feeding schedules, handling, medical attention, and emergency procedures.
These three points are indispensable—none can be overlooked. It is especially important to visit the facility in person. No matter how positive the online reviews are or how beautiful the photos appear, nothing can replace the assurance of seeing the environment yourself.
To help owners relax and enjoy their holidays with peace of mind, below are the Love Rabbit Association's recommendations for choosing a trustworthy boarding service for your rabbit.
1. Basic Selection Guide for Rabbit Boarding Services in Taiwan
In Taiwan, most rabbit boarding services are privately run by rabbit enthusiasts rather than formally registered businesses. Only a small portion of services operate with official registration under current regulations. Because of this, both service quality and pricing vary dramatically.
When choosing a place to board your pet rabbit, do not base your decision solely on proximity or low cost. A qualified rabbit boarding provider should meet at least the following criteria:
- A visitable environment open to prospective clients.
- Panoramic photos of the accommodation areas available online—not just images of the exterior buildings.
- A working phone line reachable during business hours.
- Staff with proven experience in rabbit care.
- Private rooms where each rabbit stays alone, without shared housing.
- A designated play area where rabbits can run and exercise safely.
- Partnership with a regular veterinary clinic or an option to specify your preferred hospital.
Publicly accessible visitation is a basic requirement when selecting accommodation for your rabbit. The availability of a safe, open play area is another important indicator of a quality boarding service.
2. Accommodation Facilities for Rabbits
When providing lodging for rabbits, the choice of housing and equipment plays a crucial role in their comfort, safety, and overall well-being. Below are key considerations for proper rabbit accommodation.
Housing Conditions
Each rabbit should be housed in a standard-sized cage at minimum; larger enclosures are always better. The less interaction or interference rabbits have with each other through the cages, the better. For instance, cages made of iron bars or wire mesh may allow contact through gaps, which can pose risks, so pet owners should be aware of this before using such partitions.
Clean Water and Feeding
The accommodation should always provide clean and fresh drinking water. While video monitoring is not essential, it is a welcome addition for keeping an eye on the animals. It is also important to check whether air conditioning runs 24 hours a day or only during daytime hours. A proper diet must include certified rabbit pellets and a sufficient supply of hay to keep the rabbits healthy.
Safety and Comfort
Basic safety equipment should be installed to ensure the welfare of the rabbits and the safety of the surroundings. This includes fire extinguishers, emergency lights, and other essential safety devices. Additionally, facilities should be equipped with systems that maintain a comfortable temperature and ensure a consistent replenishment of drinking water.
By paying close attention to these aspects, caretakers can provide rabbits with an environment that supports their health, happiness, and safety.
3. Important Notes for Rabbit Boarding
When choosing a boarding service for your rabbit, remember that cheaper doesn't always mean better. The caregiver's actual experience and reliability are the most important considerations.
Be sure to confirm the check-in and check-out times beforehand. Once you have agreed on a schedule, please be punctual and respect the arrangement.
If it's your rabbit's first time staying away from home, it's best to arrange the check-in a few days before your trip. This allows time to observe how your rabbit adapts to the new environment and gives both you and the caregiver time to respond if adjustments are needed.
During holidays or overseas trips, return schedules can sometimes be unpredictable. If there's a chance you might be unable to pick up your rabbit on time, please inform the boarding provider as early as possible. When necessary, apply to extend the stay by an extra night.
Most importantly, never rush to pick up your rabbit at the expense of safety. Avoid taking unnecessary risks on the road just to get there faster.
4. The Importance of Personally Delivering Your Rabbit
When sending your rabbit to a boarding facility, the owner should always deliver the rabbit personally—especially for the first stay. This is a very serious matter that should not be treated lightly.
Usually, caretakers need to understand your rabbit's daily routine, habits, and personality in order to provide proper care. The most effective way for them to learn these details is through the owner's direct explanation.
Unfortunately, many owners have become accustomed to delegating this task—having a helper, a friend, or even someone unfamiliar with the rabbit handle drop-off and pick-up. Numerous disputes and misunderstandings have arisen from such situations when the owner was not personally involved.
To avoid unnecessary problems, always make the effort to personally deliver and pick up your rabbit. Doing so ensures the best communication with the caretaker and the smoothest experience for your beloved companion.
5. Adjusting Pet Owners' Mindsets for Rabbit Boarding
Since boarding is different from caring for your rabbit at home, owners will need to make some mental adjustments. Some very meticulous rabbit owners—those who weigh out every meal, sift hay, monitor temperature and humidity daily, wipe urine immediately, or insist on fixed play times—should first confirm with the boarding facility whether such highly customized care is possible or whether an additional fee is required.
If your rabbit takes supplements or medication that must be given regularly, inform the staff in advance and prepare the correct doses. Likewise, any history of major illness or unique physical conditions should be truthfully reported.
For owners who experience separation anxiety and tend to check in excessively, please note that such behavior might result in being placed on the facility's blacklist, which can make it harder to book future stays. Some boarding places offer webcam access with two-way communication, but remember to keep interactions simple and polite—say a quick hello, but avoid late-night heart-to-hearts or confessions with your bunny, which might make the caretakers quite uncomfortable!
To ease your rabbit's anxiety and adjustment to the new environment, allow it to enjoy its favorite foods during the stay. Owners who are usually strict about diet should relax the rules a little. After all, your bunny is on vacation, not serving time in a rabbit jail!
6. Possible Situations During Rabbit Boarding
Owners should understand that certain situations during a rabbit's boarding stay cannot be changed through human intervention. For example, the presence of other rabbits' scents may influence your rabbit's behavior or habits. These occurrences are normal and have nothing to do with the quality of the boarding facility—so please don't blame the caregivers.
Here are some possible changes you might observe:
- Developing a sudden habit of urinating outside the litter box.
- Showing territorial or aggressive behavior, such as defending their space.
- Experiencing mild stress or temporary loss of appetite during transport between home and the boarding place.
- Becoming picky or changing eating habits.
- Refusing to use the litter box unexpectedly.
These are typical behavioral fluctuations that often resolve once your rabbit readjusts to a familiar environment.
How to Identify Real Care Experience
How can we tell whether someone truly has experience in animal care? Most private pet lodging providers often rely on years of raising rabbits or the number of animals they've cared for as proof of credibility. They might proudly claim to have raised rabbits for many years or looked after countless animals.
However, it's important to remember that the length of time someone has raised rabbits does not necessarily reflect how well they care for them. Experience in years and quality of care are completely different things!
Let's say it again, because it matters: How long someone has kept rabbits and how well they take care of them are two completely different things!
Choosing the Right Rabbit Boarding Service
Because every pet rabbit has its own distinct personality and habits, handling and caring for them can vary greatly. Some owners can comfortably hold their own rabbits but completely lose control when handling another rabbit. When it comes to advanced care such as nail trimming or grooming, the challenge increases further.
Another major factor is health care. Not every service provider has experience managing different medical conditions. Even a long-time rabbit owner—say, with over ten years of experience—may have only dealt with basic issues like administering medication. More complex care such as abscess draining, wound cleaning, head tilt management, subcutaneous fluid administration, seizure response, or monitoring for enterotoxemia prevention requires extensive and specific experience that not every caregiver possesses.
The Value of Experience
For example, the Rabbit Lovers Association's holiday boarding program is supported by volunteers who care for hundreds of rabbits each year. This broad exposure gives them far more experience with various health conditions, personalities, emergency responses, and situational judgments than the average pet owner. They can also rely on a network of peer support and mutual assistance when needed.
Choosing Wisely
When selecting a boarding provider, pay close attention to practical caregiving experience rather than superficial metrics. Important details to note include:
- Experience is not determined by how many years the caregiver has raised rabbits.
- The number or species of animals the caregiver owns is irrelevant.
- Whether their rabbits were adopted or purchased does not reflect their boarding skills.
- Photo updates or aesthetic shots are not important—don't let polished photos distract you from real qualifications.
- Providers who regularly foster special-needs or sick rabbits generally have stronger care experience.
- Animal welfare organizations that offer professional care services are often the best option.
Ultimately, a good rabbit boarding service should have demonstrated, hands-on experience with a wide range of rabbit behaviors and health conditions—not just basic pet-keeping skills. Your rabbit deserves attentive, knowledgeable, and capable care while you're away.
Is At-Home Feeding a Good Idea?
Besides boarding services, some rabbit owners provide private at-home feeding options. When the owner is away, a trusted caretaker visits the home to feed the rabbit and handle cleaning duties. The main advantage of this service is that the rabbit does not need to travel, reducing the stress and risks associated with a change in environment.
However, at-home feeding may raise privacy concerns, and disputes can easily arise from misinterpreted written agreements. To protect both parties, it is advisable for owners to install video recording equipment in advance— not just a small webcam focused on the rabbit, but one that captures the entire environment. This ensures fairness, transparency, and accountability.
There is no absolute right or wrong in choosing home feeding—it truly depends on the needs of both the owner and the rabbit. Still, before confirming such an arrangement, owners should carefully check the following items:
- Confirm whether the caretaker provides a service contract for reference.
- Ensure the contract clearly defines the caretaker's duties and the areas they may access.
- Have the caretaker visit beforehand to understand specific details of the task.
- Clarify whether the feeding process will be fully recorded.
- Establish clear rules for key handover and return.
- Agree on which veterinary clinic to use and authorize emergency treatment procedures.
Thoughtful planning and clear communication can make at-home feeding a safe, comfortable option that helps both rabbits and their owners enjoy peace of mind while apart.
Concerns About Wire Panel Rabbit Enclosures
Recently, many rabbit owners have started using large wire panels to build spacious enclosures or "rabbit rooms." While this approach can create an open and comfortable environment, owners must recognize the potential hazards involved. If such setups are used directly as boarding spaces in pet lodging facilities, special attention should be paid to safety precautions to prevent accidents or injuries.
Some of the most common risks include:
- Getting stuck in gaps: Rabbits may squeeze through gaps and become trapped, leading to serious injuries or even death, such as spinal damage or broken bones and legs.
- Climbing or escaping: Rabbits might climb or jump out of the panels, injuring themselves or attacking neighboring rabbits through the wire openings, which can result in severe mouth or nose injuries.
- Accidental mating: Rabbits may attempt to mate through the wire barriers during free-roaming time, leading to unwanted breeding.
- Disease transmission: Wire panels cannot effectively prevent the spread of diseases between adjacent enclosures.
- Environmental hazards: Escaped rabbits may chew on electrical wires, suffer puncture wounds from rusted panels, or fall and get injured.
For these reasons, the association strongly discourages the use of modular wire panel enclosures for rabbit housing or boarding. Even if a rabbit manages to free itself after getting stuck, it may still sustain unnoticed injuries, posing additional health risks.
