Rabbit Boarding Terms & Conditions

Your agreement with Applewood

By making a booking with us you are agreeing to all of our terms and conditions. Please familiarise yourself by reading them in full before you book.

From time to time we may tweak or update our terms and conditions, so it is your responsibility to read them before making a booking.

By signing these terms, or by making a booking with us, you are agreeing that you have read and understood them in full, for this booking and all future bookings. They are available to read before booking on our booking system and here on our website.

Important conditions with no exceptions

These conditions protect every rabbit staying with us and are applied without exception.

We will not board un-neutered male rabbits.
All female rabbits must be spayed from 6 months of age unless discussed beforehand.
All bonded pairs or groups must be spayed or neutered and living together for a minimum of 3 months with no issues, such as fighting. If your rabbits have recently been spayed, neutered or bonded, you need to let us know before boarding so that we can assess whether they will be fit enough to board with us.
We cannot board any pet within 21 days of having a general anaesthetic or major surgery.
We cannot board any rabbit with a history of, or suffering from, snuffles, Pasteurella or another contagious illness including conjunctivitis.
All rabbits previously diagnosed with E. cuniculi and now in remission must take a 9-day course of Panacur before boarding.
If your rabbit arrives with medication and you have not told us or discussed it with us beforehand, we will refuse boarding and no refund will be given.
Rabbits must be fit and well to board with us, unless they are on medication for a long-term illness that is not contagious, such as arthritis. If your rabbit has been to the vet in the 10 days before arrival for an illness, we will require a fit-to-board letter from your vet and full diagnosis details. Even with this we reserve the right to refuse boarding, depending on the nature of the illness and the care or medication that may still be required, as we are not veterinary trained and this is not a nursing facility.
Rabbits that arrive sick, with signs of illness, or with dirty, wet or matted bottoms will be refused boarding and no refund will be given. It is your responsibility to check your rabbit over before bringing them to us for boarding.
We will not board rabbits that have absolutely no litter tray training.
Any dental work, including tooth filing, must be carried out at least 14 days before boarding.
We will not board any rabbits that have had stasis in the last 10 days. Please also see condition 8 above.
We no longer take bookings for single rabbits. We may board single house rabbits in our house-rabbit lodges, but this is subject to certain conditions and is only available to existing customers. Please contact us to discuss this option before making a booking.

Emergency contact details

Please supply a contact number for a trusted friend or relative who is not travelling with you, so that we can reach someone if we are unable to contact you directly in a medical emergency, and who can also collect your rabbit if you are delayed.

This is imperative if you are travelling abroad and your flight is delayed, because during busy periods we may not have the spare accommodation to keep your rabbit until you are able to collect them.

Food

Please make sure you bring enough of your rabbits' dry pellets, dry food or forage for the entire length of their stay. If you do not, you will be charged for the dry food we need to buy for them. We supply all the hay, healthy treats and fresh herbs.

If your rabbit is particularly fussy about food or hay, please bring enough of their preferred food or hay for the length of their stay.

Pet carriers

Rabbits must be transported to and from our premises in a suitable hard plastic carrier, so that it can be disinfected before being stored. We need to use your carrier to and from any vet visits, to get your pet ready for the journey home, at checkout, and if we have to evacuate for any reason. If you arrive with an inappropriate carrier and we have to use one of our own for any reason, you will be charged a £5 disinfecting and cleaning charge for its use.

We will not accept carriers in the form of sports bags or rucksacks, cardboard boxes, or homemade carriers. These are not designed for rabbits and are not safe, despite what Amazon or the pet shop might suggest.

Fighting

If your bonded pair of rabbits start fighting, or we see any sign of unacceptable aggression, we will separate them immediately. The welfare of your rabbits is of the utmost importance to us and we will not take the risk that serious injury may occur by keeping them together.

They will be kept separately until you collect them, and you will be liable for the cost of an extra lodge or accommodation at the standard daily rate.

Vaccinations

All rabbits need to be up to date with all their vaccinations. Please email a copy to us when booking, or upload a scan of your rabbits' vaccinations to your customer account through our booking portal.

Your rabbit must have the Nobivac RHVD PLUS vaccination, and it must be in date for the whole of the boarding period.

All boosters need to be given a minimum of 8 days before boarding, to allow your rabbit time to recover from any side effects and to allow their immunity to develop. First-time vaccinations and overdue boosters must be given 21 days before your pet's arrival date.

We have the right to refuse boarding if your pet's vaccinations do not meet our requirements.

Rabbit health and medication for pre-existing conditions

Although we are able to give oral and topical medication, we are not covered under our boarding insurance for pre-existing conditions.

To comply with our boarding insurance we will need an email of authorisation from your vet to administer medication, and you may need to sign a waiver form on arrival. We are not able to give any medication by injection.

We are not trained vets or veterinary nurses, and we will not be liable for any eventuality when instructed by you the owner, or by your vet, to dispense or apply any medication prescribed by a vet, or any holistic or herbal remedy.

Any medication prescribed by your vet, our vet or the emergency vet will be administered at an extra cost of £2 for a single medication per application, and £1 per additional medication in the same application. This does not include syringe feeding.

Because of the intensity and difficulty of syringe feeding some rabbits, we no longer offer this service as part of boarding. If your rabbit needs syringe feeding, they will be taken to an appropriate vet where they will receive daily or 24-hour nursing care until they are well enough to eat of their own accord. If the vet considers your rabbit is not sick enough to admit, but they still require syringe feeding and nursing care carried out by us, we will charge £50 per 24-hour period, or £5 per syringe feed, depending on the amount needed.

Sickness and veterinary care

If we feel your rabbit needs to see a vet for any reason, we will endeavour to contact you or your emergency contact first. If it is an emergency, we will ring the appropriate vet and go.

Gut stasis is a medical emergency. Owners often ask us to offer recovery food or to monitor for 24 hours. If we suspect stasis, or early signs of it, we will always encourage your rabbit to eat by offering their favourite foods, including herbs and treats. But gut stasis is secondary to another issue. It may be the stress of an unfamiliar environment away from home, and sometimes it turns out there is a medical reason behind it. Because we have a duty of care to your rabbit, and in line with the Animal Welfare Act 2006, sections 4 and 9, off to the vet we go.

If your vet is local to us and open, we will always endeavour to take your rabbit there. If your vet is further away or closed, we will take them to our vet or to an emergency out-of-hours vet. We use Companion Care Vets in Burgess Hill, who have two rabbit-savvy vets and are open seven days a week. Out of hours we use Coastways 24hr Vets in Brighton.

We charge for vet visits at the following rates. These are additional costs on top of your vet's bill.

£15 for a visit to our local vet, Companion Care in Burgess Hill, and £15 per follow-up visit.
£15 per visit to your own registered vet if they are within a 5-mile radius of us, plus a mileage cost of 75p per mile for every mile over 2 miles one way.
£30 per visit to the emergency out-of-hours vet. This covers our time and travel costs on a round trip of over an hour, excluding the time we spend there for the consultation.

Veterinary costs and your insurance

Out-of-hours vet consultations can be really expensive and can start from approximately £165 to £250, excluding any required medication or treatment. Out-of-hours vets also now ask for a deposit before any examination or treatment is given, which can be as much as £300 up front. We highly recommend that you have appropriate pet insurance in place for your rabbit before boarding, to cover unexpected vet bills.

Rabbits that are showing signs of, or are diagnosed with, a contagious disease will be quarantined at the vet, where they will receive veterinary care at additional cost to you the owner. We will of course make every effort to inform you or your emergency contact first.

We do not refund any remaining boarding fees, and you the owner will be liable for all vet fees, including cremation, and any costs we incur while caring for your rabbit that were not included in your original boarding costs. By boarding with us you agree to settle all vet bills and Applewood Rabbit Boarding's expenses before collecting your rabbits.

Our liability

Unfortunately, rabbits can become sick or pass away suddenly despite medical intervention and the best care. We will of course contact you immediately if this sad event happens, to discuss your wishes. In the event of this occurring, Applewood Rabbit Boarding is released from and accepts no liability.

If Applewood cannot continue to care for your rabbits

Applewood is a small, family-run service. If illness, injury or another emergency outside our control means we cannot continue to care for the rabbits with us, or we have to close, the following applies.

Bookings that have not yet started are cancelled and refunded in full, including the deposit, with no administration charge.
For a stay already under way we will contact you and your emergency contact straight away. Your rabbits need to be collected within 24 hours, by you or by your emergency contact. We refund every day you have paid for and not used.
If neither of you can collect within 24 hours, we will arrange the safest alternative we can, which may be a licensed boarding establishment or a veterinary practice. Those costs are yours to settle.

What we can and cannot cover

We will give you as much notice as we can. Because these events are outside our control, our responsibility is limited to refunding the boarding fees described above. We cannot cover travel, a shortened or changed holiday, or other accommodation, which is why we ask every customer to hold appropriate travel or pet insurance.

Nothing in these terms limits your legal rights, or our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence.

Payments

We require a 50% deposit to secure and confirm your booking, and the remaining balance is due no less than 14 days before your check-in date. This is all done online and automated through our booking system.

Each lodge is booked for up to 2 bonded rabbits. A third or fourth bonded rabbit sharing the same lodge is charged at £3 per rabbit, per day. The current daily rate for each lodge is shown on the lodges and pricing page.

The standard minimum charge is 4 days. A 7-day minimum applies during Christmas and the summer school holidays. Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day carry a 50% surcharge.

Check-in and check-out times

Check-in and check-out are by appointment only, and you will have chosen a time when you made your booking. Please make sure you stick to these times, and let us know if you are running late, as we have other appointments and commitments booked in around your drop-off and collection times.

Adding or reducing boarding days

Please contact us as soon as possible if you need to change your boarding dates. Your boarding contract with us is active once you have paid your deposit and your booking has been confirmed by us.

Moving your dates or shortening an existing booking may incur an administration charge. If you have booked dates during our very busy periods, such as school holidays, and request to move or reduce them at short notice, this may be treated as a cancellation. Please refer to our cancellation policy for details.

If you require an extra day or more, please contact us as soon as possible. We will accommodate your request if we have availability, but this may not always be possible, especially if we are fully booked or have limited space. You will be charged the full boarding rate applicable for all extra days.

We do not refund unused days if you decide to collect your pet early, or if you decide to drop your pet off later than your agreed drop-off date.

Insurance

We highly recommend you have appropriate holiday insurance in place that will cover your costs if your boarding is cancelled for any of the reasons stated in our terms and conditions.

The risk of cancellation through illness lies with the customer making the booking. If you need to cancel because you are unwell or have to isolate, you will need to reclaim any fees or deposits paid to us through your travel or pet insurance. Please make sure you have the appropriate insurance in place when booking with us, and that your pet's boarding fees are covered. We will provide paperwork and invoices for this purpose should you need to claim.

Cancellation policy and payment terms

When you book with us, you accept the following.

A deposit of 50% is required to secure your booking.
If your deposit is not paid within the time specified, which is 3 days of the deposit invoice being sent, your booking will be automatically cancelled.
The balance of the booking is due no less than 14 days before arrival, unless otherwise agreed with Applewood Rabbit Boarding.

Cancelling your booking

If you need to cancel your booking, please contact us as soon as possible by email at contact@applewoodrabbitboarding.co.uk, with the reason or details of why you need to cancel.

All cancellations will incur a £30 administration charge, plus any Stripe payment charges we have incurred for online payments. This covers our time in sending emails, processing your booking, checking vaccinations and processing any refunds. It applies once you have received your invoice, whether or not you have paid your deposit or full balance.

A cancellation made less than 6 weeks before your boarding start date may result in the loss of the remaining part of your 50% deposit, unless we can rent out the space.
A cancellation made less than 3 weeks before your boarding start date will result in the loss of the remaining part of the 50% deposit, and you may also be liable to pay 25% of the remaining balance to cover lost profits if we are unable to rent out the space.
A no-show on the day, or a cancellation made 7 days or less before arrival, will result in you being liable for the full cost of the boarding.
In some circumstances, only at our discretion and depending on the reason for cancelling, we may transfer your deposit or full payment to alternative dates. This will be done once only, is subject to availability, and must fall within 12 months following your original boarding dates. This will still incur our £30 administration charge.

Refunds for cancellations

Any refund made to you will be subject to our £30 administration charge, and to a 2.5% plus 20p charge for each payment made to us using our online payment platform, which is what Stripe charges us to process every payment you make online.

Refunds will be paid to you by direct bank transfer once you have provided your bank details. We do not refund directly to debit or credit cards.

If Applewood needs to cancel your booking

We may need to cancel a booking for the following reasons.

Illness on our side, leaving us unable to board or care for your rabbit. You will receive a full refund.
You breach or go against any of our terms and conditions. Your booking will be cancelled and our cancellation policy will apply.
Your rabbit becomes unwell before boarding and we are not able to care for them, as set out in condition 8 above. Your booking will be cancelled, or you will be refused boarding, and our cancellation policy will apply.
Your rabbits fall out or have had a fight before boarding and we do not have the space to house them separately. Your booking will be cancelled and our cancellation policy will apply.

Rabbit abandonment or non-collection

If you fail to collect your rabbits within 7 days after the agreed collection date, and have not been in contact with Applewood Rabbit Boarding, we will arrange for your rabbits to be rehomed, and you agree to pay any costs that this may incur.

Refusal on arrival

We have the right to refuse boarding, and your deposit or full payment will be non-refundable, in the following cases.

Your rabbit arrives showing signs of snuffles, mites, lice, illness, injury or a contagious disease.
Your rabbit arrives with a wet, matted or dirty bottom.
Your rabbit appears unwell, or you have failed to inform us that your rabbit is unwell or needs ongoing medication prescribed by a vet.

Data protection

We are fully GDPR compliant. Full details of the information we collect, how we use it and your rights over it are set out in our privacy policy.

Questions about these terms

Email contact@applewoodrabbitboarding.co.uk before booking if a term is unclear, or if your rabbits' circumstances need individual discussion. It is your responsibility to keep yourself up to date with our terms and conditions before making a booking.