guinea pigs and bunnies xx

I was wondering on the issue with guinea pigs and rabbits as we were thinking about adopting one to add to our two bunny family? any ideas or experiences would be greatly appreciated before we make any decisions, thanks in advance x

Don't let them live together.

If you get piggies house them seperately.

As tempting as it is they shouldn't be housed together for several reasons.

They have different dietary requirements.
Rabbits can injure the guinea unintentionally.
Rabbits can pass on an illness which affects guineas.
And they don't 'speak' the same language so can't understand each other.

Ive just taken 2 guinea pigs in both boys but both are in a hutch and inside as are the buns but totally seperate if that makes sense. xxx

If you would like to own guinea pigs I would keep them alone, definitely not with your rabbits, for the reason Schuette mentioned above.


I know plenty of people will say "I've kept pigs with rabbits and nothing happened" but that's like saying they've driven through a red light and nothing happened, it doesn't mean it's a good idea, just that they were lucky.

I would say please please dont.

I had the displeasure of putting a guineapig from the mouth of a rabbit.

My mums partners kids kept them together.... the poor guinea went all floppy from fright and had a huge rip on her face

Plus, guineas looooove to have lots of places to hide etc..... and rabbits love levels whereas guineas dont.

Just please dont keep them together.

thanks for your help with this and i need to clarify that they will only be sharing garden space not living accomodation. Would this make a difference or is it a no no. ?

Do you mean sharing at the same time or both using the space but at different times?

well same time really. but its a big garden? just went to a farm and they had lots of pens and each one had a bunny in and two guinea pigs.. they seemed to be perfect partners.....

clarke said:

well same time really. but its a big garden? just went to a farm and they had lots of pens and each one had a bunny in and two guinea pigs.. they seemed to be perfect partners.....

Click to expand...

If they are in seperate pens it is ok. You just have to be careful about bordetella which is transferred through poop. In the same pen is not ok.

There are several risks. Rabbits have strong hind legs, and it takes merely an accident to result in serious injury to the guinea pig. They are two totally different species and have different nutritional needs. Guinea pigs need a diet high in vitamin c as they can not make it themselves, without it they get scurvy. Guinea pigs are very social and require company, but of the SAME species. They also deal with heat/cold differently. Guinea pigs do not develop the thick winter coat that rabbits do and are generally quite fragile (also cant deal with hot temps). As a result they are much better suited to the indoor lifestyle.

I have 2 rabbits, and 5 guinea pigs. The rabbits live inside in a NIC condo, and the guinea pigs live in NIC condos above them. There is no reason why they cant be in the same room/area but definitely not together.

clarke said:

well same time really. but its a big garden? just went to a farm and they had lots of pens and each one had a bunny in and two guinea pigs.. they seemed to be perfect partners.....

Click to expand...

Sadly it's one of those circumstances where things aren't always as they seem. Plenty of people do it and 'get away with it' but they often aren't aware that the animals aren't actually all that happy. Plenty of rescues will tell you that whenever they get in bunnies with pigs together, they separate them and it immediately becomes obvious that the piggies in particular are happier without the bigger, more boisterous companions, and how happy both of them are when they have companions of their own species. Rescues will also tell you of the deaths and serious injuries that they have seen to piggies where they have either been bullied without the owner realising, or by accident because of the ways that rabbits with their big strong hind legs react to danger - honestly, they really aren't perfect partners. Both the RSPCA and RWA agree!

If your garden is really big I would recommend making a nice large permanent enclosure for the piggies (they don't need the same height as bunnies so you could make something quite discreet if you wanted), and letting the buns have supervised free range round the rest of the garden

Please take it from me you cannot keep piggies and buns together, ive just taken squeak to the vets as he was put in a hutch with more piggies and a rabbit and he has lost most of his fur due to being fed rabbit food :roll: xxx

thanks your so kind

thank you to you all for your advice and we will not be getting any guinea pigs after hearing the horror stories. we have settled for our two bunnies.....might treat my son to a hamster xxx

Hi :wave:

Well done for coming on here, asking advice and listening to it - I wish more people did

We'd love to see some pics of your buns