# Keeping different species together?



## OctodonDegus (Nov 30, 2011)

Is it ever a good idea? 
I know so many people who have chins and degus, and rabbits and guinea pigs together. More recently I heard that someone has a chipmunk and degu - is it always a bad idea to have different species together?


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

is it always a bad idea to have different species together?
in a word yes

page about why rabbits and piggies shouldnt be kept together 
Guinea Pigs & Rabbits - Rabbit Retreat Forum

chins and degus have very different needs and wants too, not to mention diets, chins also love to chew on willow, which is toxic to goos and they both speak different languages, neither get anything out of a mixed pairing


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Multis and fancy mice are the only two pet species that cohabit well in my opinion, people will often keep a multi with a male fancy mouse so they dont have to live alone.


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## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

I wouldnt mix now BUT as a child one of our mice Adored the hamster and the hamster loved him they would snuggle up together clean each other. They would seem to pine for each other when not together they lived together until thye died of old age. I would recommend it or do it again we were only about 8 or so at the time


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## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

thedogsmother said:


> Multis and fancy mice are the only two pet species that cohabit well in my opinion, people will often keep a multi with a male fancy mouse so they dont have to live alone.


Ditto that  I've kept multis together with a couple of very lonely single male mice and they loved being together and playing together. Trouble was lost when Cinnamon his ASF/multi girlfriend passed away suddenly  They have the same dietary and nutritional needs, both have pretty much the same activity levels (depends on the individuals though) and the only real issue is that some multis love to chew so much that you cannot keep them in an ordinary cage!! Multis for the most part though aren't as handleable (sp.) as a fancy mouse but that's only because they haven't been domesticated and bred as pets for the same length of time as a fancy mouse.


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## OctodonDegus (Nov 30, 2011)

zany_toon said:


> Ditto that  I've kept multis together with a couple of very lonely single male mice and they loved being together and playing together. Trouble was lost when Cinnamon his ASF/multi girlfriend passed away suddenly  They have the same dietary and nutritional needs, both have pretty much the same activity levels (depends on the individuals though) and the only real issue is that some multis love to chew so much that you cannot keep them in an ordinary cage!! Multis for the most part though aren't as handleable (sp.) as a fancy mouse but that's only because they haven't been domesticated and bred as pets for the same length of time as a fancy mouse.


what's a Multi?


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

OctodonDegus said:


> what's a Multi?


Multimammate Mice


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## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

OctodonDegus said:


> what's a Multi?


They are mice/rats that are from South Africa and are rarely bred as pets instead being a choice rodent for most feeder breeders because they are such prolific breeders. The females are dominant (unusual as in most rodent species it's the males) and can successfully raise litters of 20 babies at a time  They are used by some mouse breeders as companions to lone mice and the females are so good at raising babies that in some cases aunties will start lactating to help raise their sister's litter  They have also been known in some cases to take on abandoned fancy mice litters into their own litters without any issues .

This is my beautiful Cinnamon, she was around 2 years old at the time this photo was taken in January this year:









And one with her mousie friend (Cinnamon is the multi, Trouble the fancy mouse  )









They are, I would think, one of the only acceptable interspecies mixings around. With them having the same needs and obviously enjoying one another's company and the fact that the can't interbreed it makes a huge difference in a lone male mouse with a multi around. Trouble had to be separated from his brothers at around 16 months old due to fighting and was miserable, he loved having Cinnamon for company. Multis are really social and in most cases take to a fancy mouse (although from what I hear opposite sex pairings are best, I've never had a male multi yet so I don't know for sure.) I miss having them, my girls loved playing and were hilarious to watch - they are very intelligent (as in they can untie a knot  Or at least mine did, I tied a rope toy to they cage and sat and watched them figuring out how to untie it  ) Most that I've come across aren't keen on being handled but Cinnamon didn't mind it at all, although if she got bored she used to just launch herself off of me and run around on the floor  I was always having to run around after her.


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## elmthesofties (Aug 8, 2011)

Was going to mention multis, although in my opinion they're companions and not friends. They have a complex high pitched language which, as far as I'm aware, they don't share. Enrichment? Yes. A replacement for animals of the same specie? In my opinion, no.

I think it really depends on the situation you're in, to be honest. A while back I found somebody who kept a rat and a gerbil together for a short while - she said both were very old and she didn't know what to do with them (the last of their species remaining after their cagemates passed away), and decided there was nothing to lose from a closely monitered introduction. Apparently they got on fine and she uploaded a picture to her website of the two of them snuggling up together. She wasn't just some random internet n00b, either. She was a very, VERY well respected and knowlegable guinea pig breeder.

I would personally not mix different species together for the sake of it (to be unique, 'special', clever, or whatever you think you are by doing so) but if both species gain from it I don't see the issue.


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## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

elmthesofties said:


> Was going to mention multis, although in my opinion they're companions and not friends. They have a complex high pitched language which, as far as I'm aware, they don't share. Enrichment? Yes. A replacement for animals of the same specie? In my opinion, no.
> 
> I think it really depends on the situation you're in, to be honest. A while back I found somebody who kept a rat and a gerbil together for a short while - she said both were very old and she didn't know what to do with them (the last of their species remaining after their cagemates passed away), and decided there was nothing to lose from a closely monitered introduction. Apparently they got on fine and she uploaded a picture to her website of the two of them snuggling up together. She wasn't just some random internet n00b, either. She was a very, VERY well respected and knowlegable guinea pig breeder.
> 
> I would personally not mix different species together for the sake of it (to be unique, 'special', clever, or whatever you think you are by doing so) but if both species gain from it I don't see the issue.


That's a very good point, same species mixing is far better but it's nice to know that there are rare occasions that mixed species pairings are possible. I'd always try a multi with a fancy mouse again knowing how well they get on, especially for males who have had to be separated from their group from fighting. Most of mine have taken to neutered male mice no problems but Trouble didn't, and his dad Mintola didn't even have that option as no one would neuter mice at the time I had him. Trouble loved Cinnamon and when she passed away he kept looking for her and became more and more miserable. They used to charge up and down their cage together and play "football" with a willow stick ball I gave them, and he loved getting cleaned by her - he used to charge from one end of the cage to the other, throw her onto his back and chitter until she started cleaning him at which point he'd grind his teeth in pleasure  It's only after being in with her that it has given him the confidence to be around neutered male mice, and after 6 weeks alone, mopping in his cage and hardly eating he is now back playing with some - same species this time! - friends 

I don't know if I'd be brave enough to try mixing other species though, the multis I only tried because it had already been done successfully for years and I spent ages researching how well they got on before even going and getting my multi girls.


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## Nancy23 (Feb 7, 2012)

zany_toon said:


> They are mice/rats that are from South Africa and are rarely bred as pets instead being a choice rodent for most feeder breeders because they are such prolific breeders. The females are dominant (unusual as in most rodent species it's the males) and can successfully raise litters of 20 babies at a time  They are used by some mouse breeders as companions to lone mice and the females are so good at raising babies that in some cases aunties will start lactating to help raise their sister's litter  They have also been known in some cases to take on abandoned fancy mice litters into their own litters without any issues .
> 
> This is my beautiful Cinnamon, she was around 2 years old at the time this photo was taken in January this year:
> 
> ...


OMG they are sooooo cute!:001_wub: I cant even rember what this thread was about now lol


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## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

Nancy23 said:


> OMG they are sooooo cute!:001_wub: I cant even rember what this thread was about now lol


:lol: It was about keeping different species together :lol:

But thank you, I miss having them, they are such fab creatures. And they have the most amazing feeling fur I've ever snuggled  I'm sure that is what makes them look so big, Cinnamon's fur was almost 2 inches thick


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## OctodonDegus (Nov 30, 2011)

aww they are really cute!


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