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I'm getting really confused...

*Spider*

Wise Old Thumper
Can buns live with guinea pigs?
I have a rab and a guin and they love eachother, neither of them have had health probs. I might be getting a tad confused :?
 
Nope, sorry, they really should never ever live together. Unfortunately, a lot of people still think it's safe.

If a rabbit gets spooked by something they may thump, kick etc, and kill the Piggie. Not on purpose, but piggies aren't very big.

Piggie food is not good for bunnies, bunny food is not good for piggies at all. They are totally different animals and have different dietry requirements.

Although they seem happy, the bunny must be stressed, bunnies groom each other to show affection, and may groom the guinea pig and be frustrated when it doesn't groom him back.

I won't go into more detail here, but here is a more detailed page. Please separate them, guineas should live with at least one other of their own kind, and rabbits to best in opposite gender neutered pairs too.
 
OH MY GOD! But they've been together for years. Yes i think i will take your advise, get a rescue rabbit and guinea and then let them see eachother once a week
Thats so unfair. The vet said they could.
 
Don't feel too bad about it. :) Vets generally aren't very well educated in small animals. :roll: Especially older vets.
 
Oh i feel so bad for the my little guinea :( he gets so upset when my rabbit goes to the vets, they do truly love eachother, but as it's for both their welfare, i suppose i just have to do it. I love them both too much :cry:
 
We've had a rabbit and guinea pig together before called George and Binky, gosh must of been about 7 years ago when they both died of old age.
A few years later, more mature i said i want a rabbit so went to pet shop bought a grogeous rabbit and then a few days later thought he needed a friend, consulted vet and shop and they said it'd be absolutely fine!
I feel really guilty about splitting them up. :cry:
 
Please don't beat yourself over the head with this one. Sounds like they did live happily for a while but as first replier said, they're not naturally common partners. You may have been lucky but too much stress from either side maybe the outcome of pushing these different species together.
 
The trouble with this is on some occasions everything goes fine - hence the idea of keeping them together continues. However when it does go wrong it can go very wrong because guinea pigs are so much smaller and less able to defend themselves than rabbits.

When I first had rabbits I had a neutered male rabbit who lived with a female. She was pregnant when we got (on beknown to us) and gave birth to two babies. The rabbit acted like that dad and followed them everywhere. We had to separate them a few years later though as he got ill and the guinea's bullied him and stripped most of his fur out!

It's a difficult decision when they've lived together fine for a long time. You'll need to weigh up the potential risks for your particular situation. If you do separate I'd definitely recommend pairing both up with their own kind.
 
I wouldn't keep them together, but these 2 will miss each other, so I would get a cuddly toy for the rabbit to snuggle with until you can bond him with another bunny (a bit more complicated than piggies) and another same sex piggie to live with the piggie - I've just discovered how easy pigs are to bond so there shouldn't be a problem if you double check what sex they are.

And find a new vet that has done small animal courses since qualifying - they barely touch on the subject at vet college :roll:
 
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