Friend has guinea pigs and rabbit bonded….?

[DaisyBunz]

I went over to my house rabbit owner friend, who’s new to house bunnies. Her son got two guinea pigs this Christmas, and when I came over they were living in the same pen as her one bunny, happily eating cabbage in unison. She explained to me that she had ‘bonded’ them. I remembered reading that bunnies and guinea pigs shouldn’t live in the same cage, so I wondered afterwards if I should say something. 

My other question was, even though that the two shouldn’t live together, is there any way that my own two guinea pigs could have a playtime session with the four bunnies? 

[Alybun]

You should never keep them together. They should not be able to play or be housed with each other not only because a rabbit can easily hurt a guinea pig, but also because rabbits can actually pass a disease to guinea pigs by contact.

[Deleted User]

I am no way experienced in your forum, but have read lots of other forum’s posing the same/simular question. And the response’s were always NO. Yes, diseases, but also the threat that one can hurt the other. Sadly it was never given the thumbs up. I remember one BBer, she went and bought a piggy to give her guy a friend, and she ended up having to house them separately and even considered (never heard what she ended up doing in the end) taking the piggy back to the pet shop because it was the pet shop who encouraged her purchase of a piggy friend for her bunny. So sad. Good for you DB, picking up on this. Wishing your friend all the best.

[Zombie-Sue]

I’ve heard mixed responses on this topic.

I heard a story where a rabbit accidentally killed a guinea pig when it was frightened and thumped on top of it, but I can’t verify it at all. I’ve also heard there are certain diseases they can pass back and forth (but then again, so can rabbits) and I’ve heard that rabbits and guinea pigs just don’t “speak the same language” and could have a misunderstanding that leaves one injured.

On the other hand, I’ve heard that guinea pigs usually get along quite well with rabbits, too. There’s even an HRS article that suggests it ( http://www.rabbit.org/journal/4-4/tough-bonding.html very bottom).

I’d say it’s a bad idea to actually house them together, just in case, but you might come up with a system of supervised playtime depending on the conclusions you draw from the information that’s out there.

[Stickerbunny]

Guinea pigs have different dietary requirements, so for that reason alone housing them together is a bad idea. There is also the risk of cross-species disease transfers (healthy animals can be carriers without ever presenting symptoms, but once it crosses over, can make the other animal sick). And yes, a rabbit can easily hurt a guinea pig given the differences in size and the strong legs – even just playing Stickers has binkied on top of Powder, doing that to a guinea pig would kill it.

[DaisyBunz]

Thanks. I’ll try to tell my friend this without being too off putting, since she’s still a new bunny owner. I completely understand about the binkying – I could see a pig getting hurt by this. Plus, the way guinea pigs are smaller and a bunny may see them as annoying. I never thought about the food, either. And cabbage! What was I thinking?? Bunnies can’t even eat cabbage…
But before I tell my friend, I mean, how could I tell her without being harsh? I sometimes have a way of being ‘preachy’ about bunny care.

[Beka27]

What is her cage set up like? Guinea pigs can’t really be litter trained, so most people do something like carefresh everywhere. This is obviously confusing for a rabbit trying to litter train, and makes cleaning more of a pain. Maybe present it that way?

[Stickerbunny]

Why not just get a list of pros and cons to pig bonding with rabbits and print it up and give it to her? That way you won’t be preachy, it’s just a bullet point list. And you’re giving a rational pro-con list.

As for cabbage, buns can eat it and so can piggies, if their tummies aren’t sensitive to it. In some animals it can cause gas, but if her bun isn’t upset by it, that is fine.

[Sarita]

I’ve helped at guinea pig and at rabbit rescues and while I’ve heard of guinea pig/rabbits coming in together as a pair and they would not separate them in that case it is not ideal based on what I’ve surmised from my guinea pig and my rabbit rescue knowledgeable friends. Guinea pigs are so susceptible to pasturealla and rabbits are usually always carriers.

I think guinea pigs are much messier too and I’ve never seen one that has been truly able to be litter trained like a rabbit.

It does seem like it might be an ideal bond but I really don’t see them as being compatible at all based on my experience with both species.

I know it’s hard to sound reasonable to friends though – that isn’t something that is easy to do especially when your friends are good pet owners and have good intentions. I’ve never had much success in “teaching” friends LOL…

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