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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Remodeling Noises – too stressful?

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    • mint
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        Hi everyone!  So my issue is I have to remodel my bathroom due to a disintegrating plastic tub/toilet.  The demo will be about a day.  They have to use a saw to cut the tub/toilet and there will also be hammering to pull up the tile floor.

         

        I’m really worried about my bunnies (I have four but they are separated into pairs).  The bathroom is upstairs and they are downstairs in the living room, so there should be minimal visual oddities to disturb them, but it is going to be really noisy.  I’ve been home when there is other neighboring construction and they were okay through it, and I know there is always remodeling because I live in a condo/building.

         

        Any ideas about what I should do to minimize the stress on them?  I don’t think I can board them for 5-7 days.  The work will only be during the day, and the demo will be the noisiest.  They live in Leith Petwerks bunny abodes so I don’t really have alternative housing for them.  I’m wondering if transporting them every day is more stressful than just leaving them, or if boarding them will be stressful.  They are all shelter rescues so they all lived through madly barking dogs, so I think they’re pretty hardy, but I’m still worried.

        Thanks in advance!


      • Roberta
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          Hard to say as reaction varies from bunny to bunny. I lost my ceilings last year in the Perth storms, fortunately the buns were in the sunroom not the body of the house I ended up pretty much living out there with them for the several months it took for repairs to fiannly be done. Most of the noise bothered them for a few minutes and they went on as usual (I made a point of being home for the works as I also have a very elderly cat and did not want her stressing either) The day we had the worse of the sawing they were a bit stressed and Pepper spent most of the day thumping and hearding everybunny into the sleeping box for safety. (she tried to get me in there too but it was getting a bit squeezy). Can you get someone to stomp round in the bathroom and smash some pans together whilst you stand near the habitat so you can get an idea how much noise is likely to travel down through the floor ?


        • Loki_Bunny
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            Our landlady has been doing massive renovations downstairs for the past couple weeks, on and off. They’re basically demolishing the walls. It’s super noisy – like you would think the floors are going to cave in! The rabbit, at first, was a bit concerned – he was in high alert mode for about half an hour. After that? No big thing but a chicken wing. He barely raises an ear.


          • Kokaneeandkahlua
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              We lived in our house for three years of renovations, even though both of mine can be quite jumpy they adjusted very quickly, we really didn’t notice any effect. Even when we were doing siding which is quite loud they were fine. I remember when I got guinea pigs when i was kid, my dad was putting hardwood upstairs and they were so scared, for a couple of hours and then they just adjusted I would just keep an eye to make sure they aren’t going absolute bonkers and make sure they have a hiding spot (Cardboard box?) where they feel comfortable -and watch to make sure they keep eating, drinking etc. As the reno’s won’t be 24/7 they’ll have time to calm, settle and adjust.


            • mint
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                Thank you for the helpful stories of your situations! It is quite noisy when there is neighboring renovations, it sounds like what you all went through. I will do what you all did and just try to keep an eye on them on the first day to see how they do. You all made me feel so much better with your resilient rabbit stories! Thank you!


              • LBJ10
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                  We are planning on remodeling the bathroom here too. Problem is, the bathroom is just on the other side of the wall from the buns. I think it will be okay though. I mean, Leopold won’t know the difference anyway. But Wooly might get upset from all the noise. I’m not too worried though since I know he will likely calm down once he realizes it’s just noise. Plus Leopold sitting there all calm can’t hurt either. We are going to do some stuff in the basement first, so we will see how much that noise bothers them. It will be a warm-up I guess.


                • Elrohwen
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                    I think it really depends on the bunny. One of mine would be nervous for a day or two, for the demo at least, but she would get over it. The other wouldn’t even notice anything was out of the ordinary (or he would notice and not care).

                    I think all but the most hyper-sensitive buns would adjust quickly. Just make sure they have lots of places to hide out.


                  • mint
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                      LBJ, let me know how it goes and if you do anything to help the process. The sound in my condo and building really carries in the walls, so it’s really noisy in any neighboring unit or nearby wall. They’ve done ok with my downstairs’ neighbor’s remodeling, which sounds really close because it’s in an adjacent wall (their ceiling is our floor), they react to loud hammering and to the initial noise, but they kind of relax afterward. The thing I’m most worried about is they get startled at every sudden loud hammering or noise, not if there is a consistent constant noise, and I just worry that the repeated startling is bad for their little hearts. Anyway my tub’s disintegrating so I don’t have much of a choice. I just hope it all goes smoothly! Good luck to you!


                    • LBJ10
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                        Sure, I will let you know. It might be a little bit though. It depends on how, uh, ambitious my husband is feeling. He will be busting out the concrete floor in the basement.


                      • mia
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                          I had demo for my shower, followed by reconstruction, which is adjacent (shares same wall) to my buns’ room – it involved sledge hammer/drill/etc to tiles, marble, and concrete. They just went into hiding in the corner or under their condo during the demo but ventured out during the construction part – cutting tiles, marble, and mixing concrete and other materials. Their behavior was completely normal during the evenings and nights that there was no construction going on. I’d just suggest that you have hidey houses available. What I was more worried about was the amount of dust/particulates flying around during that time. It took months of wiping/vacuuming/dusting for me to feel comfortable at my place and obviously my buns didn’t have little dust masks during that time so…

                          My neighbor has demo and construction all the time (tore down/rebuild house and yard). The said neighbor’s lot is behind my buns’ room and the window in their room faces this neighbor. I don’t think my buns care any more about that noise unless there’s a sudden spike in noise.


                        • LBJ10
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                            Well I guess I didn’t have to wait as long as I thought for some noise. Apparently my husband felt it was necessary to rip out a section of hardwood flooring so he could see where some pipes would eventually be running. So here he was in the living room with a power saw cutting through the floor boards. Then he was banging and making noise as he pried up the boards. *sigh*

                            I checked on the rabbits (their room is literally 10 feet away). Wooly had his head shoved underneath Leopold’s behind. They were both sitting in the litter box inside the cage. I grabbed their treat bag and they both came flying out of the cage. So I don’t think anyone was too traumatized.


                          • mint
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                              Thanks for the stories guys, it’s really helping me relax about it. Remodeling is a pain all by itself, so the relief on the rabbit care part of it helps.

                              LOL LBJ10 re: your husband! That’s pretty cool how motivated he is.

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                          Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Remodeling Noises – too stressful?