Rabbit Holiday Care Essentials: What to Prepare Before You Go Away

Updated September 2026

Going away rabbits takes a little more preparation than just leaving enough food for a few days.

Rabbits rely on routine, constant access to hay and water, suitable companionship, a secure environment and someone who will notice when something is not quite right.

They can also hide signs of illness surprisingly well.

That means the most useful holiday-care essentials are not necessarily the most expensive rabbit products. They are the things that help your rabbits maintain their normal routine while making it easier for whoever is looking after them to provide consistent care.

I provide rabbit and small-animal home visits in Finchley and surrounding parts of North London, so this guide is based around something very practical:

What would I want an owner to have ready before I arrived to care for their rabbits?

Affiliate disclosure: Some links on this page may be affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products or types of products that I believe have a practical use in responsible pet care.

Start with your rabbit’s normal routine

Before buying anything new, look at what your rabbits already use.

Going on holiday is usually not the best time to introduce a completely different feeding system, water bottle, litter tray, food or enclosure arrangement.

Does your rabbit happily drink from a particular heavy ceramic bowl, leave that bowl in place.

If they normally have hay in several locations, keep providing it that way.

If they are a bonded pair, they should remain together unless a vet has specifically advised otherwise.

The aim is continuity.

Your sitter should be maintaining a familiar routine rather than experimenting with a new one while you are hundreds of miles away.

Hay: the most important item on the shopping list

Good-quality feeding hay should form the majority of a rabbit’s diet and should be constantly available.

Before you travel, make sure you have much more hay available than you expect your rabbits to use.

Don’t leave your sitter with the final handful from an almost-empty bag.

I would rather see:

• plenty of fresh feeding hay
• an additional unopened bag
• clear instructions about where you normally place it
• enough bedding hay if this is separate
• a clean, dry place to store it

A hay rack can help keep some hay contained, but it shouldn’t restrict access or be treated as the only way your rabbits can get to their hay.

Recommended hay rack for Amazon

If your current setup works well, there is no reason to replace it just because you’re going away.

Water bowls and bottles

Fresh water must always be available.

For most rabbits, I prefer a good, heavy ceramic water bowl. It is easy to see whether it contains water, easy to clean, and hard for most rabbits to knock around.

The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund recommends bowls as the more natural way for rabbits to drink. If your rabbits are accustomed to a bottle, however, don’t suddenly remove it just before your holiday.

Providing both gives them an extra water source.

A heavy ceramic water bowl

Look for something:

• stable
• easy to clean
• difficult to tip
• large enough for your rabbits
• without damaged or chipped surfaces

Recommended Rosewood heavy stoneware rabbit bowl

This is also one of the rabbit products included in my Dog and Pet Products I Recommend guide.

Water bottles

If your rabbits normally use a bottle, check it properly before travelling.

Make sure:

• water flows freely
• the nozzle isn’t blocked
• it doesn’t leak continuously
• it is attached securely
• your sitter knows how to test it
• there is a spare available if practical

Suitable rabbit water bottle

A water bottle shouldn’t become an excuse to visit less often. Bottles can block, leak or stop flowing.

Check water as part of every visit.

Food bowls

Rabbit bowls don’t need to be clever.

A sturdy ceramic bowl that is hard to tip is usually more useful than something complicated.

Heavy ceramic rabbit feeding bowl

Before buying another one, though, ask whether you actually need it.

If your rabbits already have suitable bowls that work well, keep using them.

Food storage and preparation

One thing that genuinely makes holiday care easier is good organisation.

Make hay, pellets, cleaning materials, and other supplies easy for the sitter to find.

Store pellets in a clearly labelled airtight container.

Even better, leave written quantities.

For example:

“One measured scoop each morning.”

is much more useful than:

“Give them a little bit of pellets.”

If your rabbits have individual dietary requirements, make that clear too.

Don’t change their normal diet immediately before travelling.

Preparing fresh food

If your rabbits normally receive leafy greens or herbs, leave precise instructions.

Tell your sitter:

• what they normally eat
• approximately how much
• where it is stored
• what shouldn’t be given
• whether anything needs washing or preparing
• what to do when the fresh supply runs out

Avoid buying unfamiliar vegetables as a holiday treat.

Keeping the normal diet consistent is generally far more useful.

Rabbit litter trays

A practical litter tray makes daily cleaning much easier.

Before you travel, check that yours isn’t:

• cracked
• difficult to clean
• leaking
• too small
• becoming badly chewed or damaged

Leave plenty of the litter or substrate your rabbits normally use.

Suitable large rabbit litter tray

I’d also leave:

• spare litter
• bin bags
• dustpan and brush
• paper towel
• rabbit-safe cleaning supplies that you already use
• clear instructions about where waste should go

Making cleaning straightforward means your sitter can spend more of the visit observing and interacting with your rabbits rather than searching the house for supplies.

Hiding places matter

Rabbits need somewhere they can retreat and feel secure.

A hide should be large enough for the rabbits using it and, particularly with bonded rabbits, should not create a situation where one rabbit can trap another.

Multiple entrances can therefore be useful.

Cardboard boxes can sometimes provide perfectly good hiding and enrichment opportunities.

You don’t necessarily need to buy something.

If you do use a commercial rabbit house or hide, regularly inspect it for:

• sharp edges
• excessive chewing
• exposed fixings
• instability
• damage
• areas where a rabbit could become trapped

Suitable wooden rabbit castle with ramp

Enrichment while you’re away

Holiday care shouldn’t mean your rabbits spend the entire time waiting for the next bowl of food.

Keep their normal opportunities to:

• forage
• explore
• chew
• dig
• hide
• stretch
• move around
• interact with their bonded companion

Simple enrichment can be very effective.

Hay-filled cardboard tubes, safe cardboard boxes and scattering part of their normal food allowance can all encourage natural behaviour without requiring another expensive rabbit gadget.

The important word here is normal.

Don’t leave an unfamiliar, complicated enrichment toy and expect your sitter to work out whether it is safe or whether your rabbits actually enjoy it.

Keeping rabbits cool in hot weather

This is one area where preparation before a summer holiday really matters.

Rabbits can struggle in hot weather.

Shade, ventilation, fresh water and access to cooler areas should form the basis of your plan.

The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund advises owners to start taking precautions as temperatures rise and to have an alternative cooler location available if conditions become too hot.

Useful preparations can include:

• heavy ceramic water bowls
• additional water stations
• good shade
• suitable ventilation
• a thermometer
• frozen water bottles wrapped appropriately
• cool surfaces
• an alternative cooler location if necessary

A purpose-made cooling pad can also provide another cool surface.

Suitable rabbit cooling pad

But don’t rely on a cooling product as the entire heat plan.

Your sitter needs to know what to do if the weather becomes significantly hotter while you’re away.

That is much more important than simply leaving a cooling mat beside the enclosure.

For detailed advice, read my Keeping Rabbits Cool in Hot Weather guide.

For specialist rabbit welfare advice, I also recommend the Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund’s hot-weather guidance.

Don’t suddenly move outdoor rabbits indoors

Temperature management needs some thought.

If your rabbits normally live outside, moving them into a dramatically different environment without planning isn’t necessarily the answer.

Similarly, an enclosure that is comfortable in ordinary weather may become dangerously hot when direct sun, poor ventilation and unusually high temperatures combine.

Before travelling, think about:

• where the sun falls during the day
• shade
• ventilation
• drinking water
• overnight temperatures
• your backup plan
• who has authority to move the rabbits if conditions become unsafe

Your sitter needs to know the plan before the temperature becomes a problem.

Cold-weather preparation

Winter creates different problems.

Outdoor water can freeze and weather conditions can change quickly.

Before a winter trip, make sure your sitter knows:

• how often water needs checking
• where spare bedding is kept
• how the rabbits’ sleeping area is protected
• what your normal cold-weather routine is
• where additional supplies are stored
• what to do during unusually severe weather

If you use any specialist heating equipment, your sitter needs clear instructions.

Don’t introduce an unfamiliar heating product right before you leave.

Should I buy a heat pad?

A microwaveable pet heat pad can be useful in appropriate circumstances, but I wouldn’t put it on a universal “every rabbit owner must buy this” list.

Whether supplementary warmth is suitable depends on the rabbits, their normal environment, weather conditions and how the product will be used.

If you’re unsure whether your rabbits can cope with cold conditions, discuss their individual needs with a rabbit-savvy vet.

Leave a thermometer

A simple thermometer can be surprisingly useful, particularly for rabbits living in sheds, outbuildings or rooms where temperatures fluctuate.

Recommend simple digital room thermometer

It gives your sitter something objective to report.

“The room feels warm” is subjective.

“The thermometer is reading 25°C” is useful information.

Create a rabbit holiday-care sheet

This costs nothing and may be one of the most useful things you leave behind.

Write down:

Feeding

• hay routine
• pellets and exact quantity
• vegetables and greens
• treats
• foods to avoid
• where everything is stored

Water

• usual bowls
• bottles
• how often they’re refreshed
• how to check bottle flow

Cleaning

• litter routine
• bedding
• cleaning products
• bin arrangements

Normal behaviour

Tell the sitter what normal looks like.

For example:

• who normally comes over first
• who is quieter
• usual appetite
• normal activity
• where they sleep
• usual toilet habits
• normal relationship between bonded rabbits

That information can make a change much easier to spot.

Health

Leave:

• your vet’s details
• an emergency veterinary contact
• insurance information if relevant
• medication instructions
• existing health conditions
• previous problems that could recur
• permission for emergency treatment where appropriate
• your own emergency contact
• another local contact if you cannot be reached

Eating and droppings matter

A rabbit sitter shouldn’t simply check that the rabbits are physically present.

I want to know whether they are behaving normally.

That includes noticing things such as:

• whether hay is being eaten
• interest in normal food
• water consumption
• droppings
• movement
• posture
• unusual hiding
• unexpected quietness
• changes in behaviour

A rabbit that stops eating, produces fewer droppings, or appears unwell may need urgent veterinary attention.

That isn’t something I would simply “keep an eye on until tomorrow”.

Your holiday-care instructions should therefore make it clear which vet to contact and how emergency decisions will be handled.

Don’t forget flystrike

During warmer months, rabbit care also needs to include awareness of flystrike risk.

Clean living conditions and regular observation matter.

If your rabbit has an existing problem that increases their risk, tell your sitter and discuss an appropriate prevention and monitoring plan with your vet before travelling.

A sitter needs to know what is normal for that individual rabbit rather than discovering a problem halfway through the holiday.

A whiteboard can be surprisingly useful

For households with several pets, medications or more complicated routines, a simple whiteboard can help.

[AMAZON AFFILIATE PRODUCT: Small magnetic or wall-mounted whiteboard]

It could record:

• morning feed completed
• evening feed completed
• water changed
• litter cleaned
• medication given
• unusual behaviour
• supplies running low

A professional sitter who makes every visit personally should already keep proper visit records.

But a board can still be useful when several family members or carers are involved.

What would I actually buy?

If I were preparing an ordinary rabbit household for a holiday, I wouldn’t buy everything marketed for rabbits.

I’d concentrate on practical basics.

My shortlist would be:

• plenty of their normal good-quality feeding hay
• heavy ceramic water bowls
• their familiar feeding bowls
• spare litter and bedding
• secure food-storage containers
• appropriate hides
• a thermometer
• suitable hot- or cold-weather equipment where genuinely needed
• enough normal food for the entire trip plus a sensible reserve

Then I’d spend my time making sure the sitter had excellent instructions.

That is likely to do far more for your rabbits than a basket full of unfamiliar gadgets.

You can see the products I currently recommend in my Dog and Pet Products I Recommend guide.

What I would NOT introduce just before a holiday

I would avoid suddenly changing:

• hay
• pellets
• water system
• litter
• enclosure
• bonded companions
• feeding times
• unfamiliar treats
• complicated enrichment equipment

If you want to make a change, do it while you’re still home.

That gives you time to see how your rabbits respond.

Do rabbits need someone to visit every day?

Yes.

Rabbits shouldn’t simply be left with a large pile of food and an oversized water container for a weekend.

Food and water are only part of the job.

Someone needs to check the rabbits themselves and notice changes in appetite, droppings, movement, behaviour and their environment.

For rabbits, I often recommend twice-daily checks as a safer starting point, particularly in warm weather and during periods of increased flystrike risk.

The exact arrangement should reflect the rabbits, their environment, medical needs and normal routine.

Rabbit holiday care in Finchley

If you live locally, I provide small-animal home visits in Finchley for rabbits, guinea pigs and other suitable small pets.

Keeping rabbits at home can mean they retain:

• their normal environment
• their bonded companion
• familiar smells
• normal feeding locations
• their usual hiding places
• established routines

Depending on the care agreed, visits can include feeding, hay, fresh water, litter care, straightforward medication, general welfare observations and photographs or updates.

I don’t treat a rabbit visit as simply filling the food bowl.

I want to see the rabbits, see what they have eaten, check their environment and notice whether something has changed.

Read more about Small Animal Care in Finchley.

You can also read my Rabbit Holiday Care FAQ if you’re deciding what sort of care to arrange before travelling.

Final thought

The best rabbit holiday setup is usually a boring one.

Same rabbits.

Same companion.

Same hay.

Same food.

Same water setup.

Same environment.

Same routine.

The equipment should make that routine safer and easier for the person caring for them.

Prepare properly, leave more supplies than you think you’ll need and make sure your sitter knows what normal looks like.

That is far more valuable than filling the enclosure with new products the week before you go away.

Related Guides

• → Small Animal Care in Finchley
• → Rabbit Holiday Care and Other Small Animals
• → Seasonal Pet Safety in Finchley
• → Holiday Care for Dogs and Cats

Frequently asked questions