The principle: their world changes last and least
Rabbits and guinea pigs experience a house move as smells, sounds, and vibrations long before they understand geography. The stress-minimising strategy is to shrink the window in which their lives are disrupted: they stay in their familiar enclosure, in their familiar room, with their familiar routine, while everything else in the old house is packed around them — and their new space is ready and waiting before they travel. If the new home is accessible early, set up their enclosure there in advance, in a quiet room that will stay quiet, with the same layout they know. If it is not, their enclosure travels in the last load and is rebuilt first at the other end.
Moving day at the old house
Keep their door closed against the noise, strangers, and draughts of removal day, and run their routine on schedule even while the kitchen disappears into boxes — being fed at the usual time by the usual person is a powerful signal that the world has not ended. Move them into secure carriers only when you are actually leaving, lined with their own used bedding and plenty of hay to eat and hide in. Never let carriers ride among loose furniture or boxes that can shift, and if rabbits and guinea pigs are bonded companions, travel them together; separating bonded prey animals for the journey doubles the stress you are trying to prevent.
The journey and the first hours
Treat the drive like any long trip with small herbivores: steady temperature, shade, smooth driving, and no unnecessary stops or handling. At the new house, carry them straight to their prepared room before the unloading chaos begins, transfer them into the set-up enclosure, provide fresh water and hay, and then leave them alone to emerge in their own time. Resist showing them to helpers and children on arrival day. Photograph each enclosure's layout before you dismantle anything at the old house, so hides, bowls, and bottles go back in the same relative positions at the new one; rabbits and guinea pigs navigate by learned geography, and a familiar map in a strange room is a real comfort. Expect quiet, reduced eating for the first hours — but set a limit: a rabbit or guinea pig who has not eaten or produced droppings by the following morning needs veterinary advice, because stress can slow the gut of a small herbivore into a genuine emergency.
Rebuilding routine in the new home
For the first days, hold everything you control constant: same food, same feeding times, same cleaning rhythm, same handling — or less of it. Keep their room low-traffic while the rest of the house is unpacked around them, and let exploration of new rooms wait until they are eating, moving, and behaving normally in their base. Watch bonded pairs for friction in the new territory; unfamiliar space occasionally unsettles an established pair, and extra hides and duplicate feeding spots ease the renegotiation. Sharing each pet's profile, routine, and care notes with the family and helpers through KinsLe Family Sharing ensures that whoever feeds them during the unpacking chaos works from the same details you would use yourself.