# The Guinea Pig/Rabbit Plan...



## Guybrush (Mar 26, 2010)

Greetings!

Possibly a controversial first post here but I'd quite like some advice on an idea I have for a recently acquired rabbit and guinea pig combination.

Some background info: Rabbit (Bailey) is a three year old Lion Lop, GP (Gizmo) is a one year old short-haired. Previous owner became allergic so we took them; unfortunately without any idea (until browsing internet) that housing them together is considered a bad idea.

In the last couple of days I have noticed Bailey getting a bit "excitable" with Giz and thought it wise to take action, even though the previous owner had housed them together for the past year.

Anyway, my idea is as follows: The current accommodation is a fairly spacious two tier hutch/run combi; I was thinking of buying a new hutch for Gizmo and creating a small hole on one side of each hutch to insert a tunnel to allow him to travel between his accommodation and Bailey's as he fancies, without the rabbit being able to enter.

The hypothesis is that this would allow them both time apart as they wish whilst also meaning they can socialise (most of the time they seem to mutually enjoy the company of one another - cuddling up, playful chases etc).

Any opinions would be good.


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## SEVEN_PETS (Aug 11, 2009)

Rabbits and guineapigs should be together at all. I'd personally get a new hutch for one of them, and get a rabbit to pair with Bailey, and a guineapig to pair with Gizmo, but don't let the rabbits and guineapigs meet.


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

Are they close? If so it can be bad to split them up. However they do need to be fed seperately.

If they aren't close, then they would probably be better split up and each bonded with another of their species! 2 bunnies will do well in a 6ft hutch, and 2 piggies in a 4ft hutch


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## Berrywoods (Mar 25, 2010)

G'pigs shouldnt be housed with rabbits, but if they lived together for years now without problems, they be so acustomed to each other that they may get a little miserable being seperated. Providing there is no funny business, id maybe say keep them together but make sure both g'pig and rabbit are able to eat their own diet, which is very hard to do, g'pigs cant sythersise their own Vitimin C and so if the rabbit eats the g'pig food hes over intaking on vit c, and vicea versa  good luck with them


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## Guybrush (Mar 26, 2010)

Thanks guys. They do seem close and spend a lot of time together cuddling up. When Bailey roams the garden Gizmo, who's still in the run, always runs up to the edge and squeaks whenever Bailey approaches and they have a brief sniff of each other before Bailey runs off again only to check on Gizmo a couple of minutes later.

I guess its a mind vs heart scenario - it seems the wise thing would be to separate them for the good of Gizmo but on the other hand they do appear to be good buddies and splitting them up still feels a harsh thing to have to do, especially considering Giz has lived with Bailey pretty much his entire life and possibly considers him some sort of father figure!

We should have researched this before hand really but, as they say, hindsight is 20:20 :frown:


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## SEVEN_PETS (Aug 11, 2009)

Guybrush said:


> Thanks guys. They do seem close and spend a lot of time together cuddling up. When Bailey roams the garden Gizmo, who's still in the run, always runs up to the edge and squeaks whenever Bailey approaches and they have a brief sniff of each other before Bailey runs off again only to check on Gizmo a couple of minutes later.
> 
> I guess its a mind vs heart scenario - it seems the wise thing would be to separate them for the good of Gizmo but on the other hand they do appear to be good buddies and splitting them up still feels a harsh thing to have to do, especially considering Giz has lived with Bailey pretty much his entire life and possibly considers him some sort of father figure!
> 
> We should have researched this before hand really but, as they say, hindsight is 20:20 :frown:


my personal opinion is that guineapigs and rabbits should never be together, no matter how close they are. separating them will be hard but if you quickly bond them onto their own kind, they'll be fine.


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## Colette (Jan 2, 2010)

Have to say I agree with separating them permanently. All it takes is one kick and the guinea pig could end up seriously hurt - it doesn't even have to be deliberate. If the rabbit gets spooked and kicks out and the pig is in the wrong place at the wrong time...

There is also the issue with food - keeping them together there is no way to ensure the pig gets guinea pig food, rather than rabbit food.

Is the rabbit male and is it neutered? I wouldn't put an entire buck with anything - I'm surprised this poor pig hasn't been molested already. (Seriously, my last buck "loved" my dog on a regular basis. She just enjoyed the attention).

As they are both social species, and are used to some form of company, I would seriously consider getting them each a same-species companion.


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## Berrywoods (Mar 25, 2010)

the way i tend to explain it to my customers is 

if you put a hamster and a hippo together i doubt they would ever fight, they may sleep together and form some recgonition of one another but one miss act from the hippo and ud have a squished hammy. 

(visions of hamsters trying to start trouble with hippo)

if you have new friends for them on standby the seperation wont be harsh on them, as mentioned the rabbit can do damage to the guinea,


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## BattleKat (Oct 26, 2009)

I'm another one who would get them new friends and separate them. Other than the food issue a good reason they shouldn't be kept together is that the rabbit could easily damage the guinea pig. Having a separate area the guinea pig could run away to is a good idea in theory but the rabbit could seriously harm him before he has a chance to run away. 

What I'd personally do is have two hutches both connected to a run split down the middle with mesh and get them both same species partners. This way they both have a friend but can still see and sniff each other through the divide and also lie down touching each other - with no risk of piggie getting hurt.


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## Berrywoods (Mar 25, 2010)

BattleKat said:


> I'm another one who would get them new friends and separate them. Other than the food issue a good reason they shouldn't be kept together is that the rabbit could easily damage the guinea pig. Having a separate area the guinea pig could run away to is a good idea in theory but the rabbit could seriously harm him before he has a chance to run away.
> 
> What I'd personally do is have two hutches both connected to a run split down the middle with mesh and get them both same species partners. This way they both have a friend but can still see and sniff each other through the divide and also lie down touching each other - with no risk of piggie getting hurt.


smart idea, i like that one, easy to implement in the short term also


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## Guybrush (Mar 26, 2010)

I wish it was as simple as getting a companion each for them, however there are the obvious issues of space and money that didn't even lend themselves to consideration before I encountered this problem.

From both this thread and several others I have read through this forum I can see that many people feel strongly about such situations and I understand that many do speak from personal experience. On the flip side I have read success stories of rabbit/guinea pig combinations; also experiences of acquaintances who have encountered no problems. 

For people "new" to pets I imagine there is definitely a sense of obliviousness - possibly ignorance - that the GP/rabbit combination is actually a bad idea. Moreover it was only sheer curiosity and research that lead to me coming across this info; I'm sure without such curiosity/resources many others would remain oblivious to the precarious situation they are apparently placing their pets in! Without sounding too skeptical I would imagine this knowledge of potential disaster would be more widely known if this was really a harmful and common issue.

With this in mind I think I will continue with my proposition as described in my initial post - or a variation of it. I may well document the progress here, at risk of people thinking me heartless. What I wouldn't like to do is separate Bailey and Gizmo only to either cause depression to one or both, or worse - to introduce them each to a companion that could potentially cause more problems than the existing scenario.


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## kaisa624 (Mar 5, 2010)

I liked your first plan, of getting a smaller hutch for gizmo connected to the hutch for the rabbit (whoses name has gone), with a tunnel large enough for gizmo but too small for the bunny. That way once gizmo is fed up, it can go hide, and then you can feed separately too.


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## Berrywoods (Mar 25, 2010)

sorry if you've already mentioned it but is the rabbit a boy or a girl?


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## BattleKat (Oct 26, 2009)

Guybrush said:


> I wish it was as simple as getting a companion each for them, however there are the obvious issues of space and money that didn't even lend themselves to consideration before I encountered this problem.
> 
> From both this thread and several others I have read through this forum I can see that many people feel strongly about such situations and I understand that many do speak from personal experience. On the flip side I have read success stories of rabbit/guinea pig combinations; also experiences of acquaintances who have encountered no problems.
> 
> ...


When I was younger I kept a rabbit and a guinea pig together and they were fine for their whole lives, but I kept them in a hutch which wasn't really big enough for the rabbit to run around in - I don't think it ever picked up enough speed or power to hurt the pig. Also, I do think rabbits have awareness of their piggy pals and will avoid them when running around. The risk is that the pig will get scared and run into the path of the bun.

I wouldn't do it again because I know the risks now. Saying some people keep rabbits and guineas together with no problems is like saying some babies are born fine despite their mothers drinking during pregnancy. Sure, it's true...but do you really want to take the risk?

Introducing companions of their own species will require a little patience but it's unlikely to cause problems - rescues will often let you 'test run' companions then if it doesn't work out you can switch for another one. 
Put it this way - you may get on really well with your dog but that doesn't mean you want to spend your life with no human contact, only your dog for companionship.

I'm of the opinion that if you don't have the space or money to look after your pets properly then you should find a new home for them.

It _is_ a widely known problem. Rescues won't home the two species together, pet shops will do their best to convince you not to (some particularly good pet shops won't sell to you if they find out this is your plan), rabbit and guinea pig books/info leaflets will warn you against it and vets will tell you how risky it is.
I'm of the belief that the kinds of people to keep them together are those that don't really know about the needs of their pets and keep them in hutches that are too small - in which case it's unlikely to accidentally break piggies spine during an exited run around. This explains why you get a lot of people saying theirs lived together with no problems.


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## SEVEN_PETS (Aug 11, 2009)

BattleKat said:


> I'm of the belief that the kinds of people to keep them together are those that don't really know about the needs of their pets and keep them in hutches that are too small - in which case it's unlikely to accidentally break piggies spine during an exited run around. This explains why you get a lot of people saying theirs lived together with no problems.


this is very true. my rabbits binky and kick their legs out but this is because they are in a large hutch and run. if they lived in a 2ft hutch, they simply wouldn't be able to do that and so why people say theirs lived together fine.


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## Holly Holmes (Mar 6, 2010)

Guybrush said:


> Greetings!
> 
> Possibly a controversial first post here but I'd quite like some advice on an idea I have for a recently acquired rabbit and guinea pig combination.
> 
> ...


i have 2 rabbits and 2 guinea pigs. the guineas are together but the rabbits are seperate (because of size)

during the day they are all let out together. everythings fine and happy.

if the hole is only big enough for your guinea to get through out the way, i strongly recomend doing it.

good luck!!


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## ....zoe.... (Jul 8, 2009)

i work in a pet shop and we will NOT sell customers a guinea pig on its own or a rabbit on its own and will most deffinately not sell and rabbit and a guinea pig together. 

1. there is the risk of injury to guinea pig, 
2. you cant monitor feeding which in these animals is the biggest sign of an illness 
3. these animals CANNOT comunicate with eachother (rabbits communicate by expressions and guinea pigs by vocalisation) so how can you say that they are happy together ? 
4. in the wild these animals wouldnt come into contact with eachother so why do we do it in captivity, there has to be a reason why they wouldnt in the wild chose to live with eachother, yet humans but them both in a small hutch and expect them to live together happily for their entire lives. 

i am not being nasty to you i am only pointing out our reasons within the pet shop that we explain to customers.


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## CarolineH (Aug 4, 2009)

A useful link for those interested in keeping these two different species together - *Guinea Pigs with Rabbits? NOT a Good Idea.* :nono:

Personally, if I were a rabbit or a guinea pig, I would prefer a member of my own species to be with. After all, we humans would find it pretty boring if we were made to live with an orangutan for the rest of our days, never to talk or sit next to another human again!


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