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What animals can rabbits interact with safely?

M

mattyp

Warren Veteran
*disclaimer. This is purely out of curiosity I am not getting any other animals!*

Obviously there are risks in housing rabbits with any other animal, but are there animals that rabbits can free range safely with?

Obviously there are pictures on here of cats and dogs interacting with their rabbits, but I am wondering what other animals can safely 'be around' rabbits?

Can guinea pigs free range with rabbits or is that still dangerous? Or can a rabbit be around any birds etc?

Pictures are always welcome of course :love:
 
I don't think there is a rule. It all depends on the animals involved.

Rabbits shouldn't interact with chinchillas because a rabbit stamping or binkying could seriously injure the chinchilla. But when Cheech escaped when the rabbits were in my room she ran up to Smoo. I was panicking because Samus is so territorial I was sure she was going to lunge at Cheech. But they just sniffed noses and then Cheech cleaned her eye!

I think if you want a rule, it's no animals should interact with rabbits and the beautiful stories we hear are all exceptions to that rule. :)
 
i wouldn't trust any animals with my buns tbh, although saying that Nutmeg is still indoors (although goes out to her new hutch and run under supervision as she's a digger, although the mans coming to do some paving slabs under all my buns this week woo-hoo! then she can go out full time) and so her and our puppy are comfortable together although i'd never dare let them out at the same time, but pupster jumps up and sniffs and she goes over to him and never flinches or runs off even if he's woofing, and they definitely interact in a friendly way but its not worth the risk of one of them unintentionally hurting the other with a swipe or a nip.
 
Our bunnies have free ranged in the living room with our ratties - although the ratties are tiny compared to the buns, they're ok together (supervised) They like to have a sniff of each other and a bit of a groom too :)

I had a bun last year who was best friends with my cat, Selby and when she died he was devastated!

That's been it, I think :/
 
all my dogs except the latest jazz have lived with indoor free range bunnies and the dogs treat them as just another dog!

my first bun Polly used to eat, sleep, groom and follow my dogs everywhere. i remember tyke eating a marrow bone while she cleaned his eyes and he just sat eating while she did it.
when i got Dylan and before he was neutered he used to regularly mount Sid (my rottie cross) and Sid just patiently waited until Dyl finished! :lol:
jazz has lived with the bunnies indoors while i was bonding and she was very good but i wouldn't trust her 100% like i did the others as she hasn't had the interaction the others had from the start.

it all depends on your rabbit and other pet i suppose. :)
 
the reason pigs and bunnies cant free range together is because bunnies carry bordetella which can be fatal to Gpiggies,
id love for mine to meet occasionally but it isnt worth the risk,


depending on the animals personality i suppose, like bonding bunnies or introducing a new dog to a pack.... you need to think on personality of each animal etc:wave:
 
mattyp said:
*disclaimer. This is purely out of curiosity I am not getting any other animals!*

Obviously there are risks in housing rabbits with any other animal, but are there animals that rabbits can free range safely with?

Obviously there are pictures on here of cats and dogs interacting with their rabbits, but I am wondering what other animals can safely 'be around' rabbits?

Can guinea pigs free range with rabbits or is that still dangerous? Or can a rabbit be around any birds etc?

Pictures are always welcome of course :love:
Click to expand...

When you say [highlighted in red], are you saying cats and dogs are safe to be around with rabbits?
 
My cats and buns get on well. When I have had baby buns I have made sure the cats didn't have access but all my adult buns keep my cats firmly in line. I have been keeping an eye on Bumble as he is only young but he isn't phased by my cats and they have accepted him as just being another one of those funny shaped cats.

I have eight buns and eight cats. Two buns are indoors in my kitchen. It would be impossible to keep them totally separate as the cats have to go through the kitchen to get to one of the cat flaps.

I am not complacent though. When my neighbour got a new kitten who was fascinated by my buns I kept an eye on them. They were a lot bigger than she was and soon put her in her place:) Now she is fully grown but keeps a respectful distance.

Whenever I rehome a new animal - cat or bun - I supervise initially but have been really lucky and have had no problems at all. One of my cats lives with the buns and thinks she is a bun. They have accepted her into their bond but as she is young and still very playful I've made sure they have a bolt-hole that she can't access.

My dwarf hammy is another matter. She is kept in a cat free room. I don't trust my cats with any furry that tiny.
 
I personally would say no other animals can safely interact with each other due to the language barriers. I'd be terrified of it breaking up a bond between bunnies as well ...
 
My rabbits are perminalty free range and I also free range my cockatiel, my syrian hamster and my dwarf hamster in the same room.

When I had Rocco (syrian) and Charlie was a single, Rocco used to climb on his head and groom him :love:

Milly cannot mix with the hamsters, but Charlie loves to come and say hello.
 
Buckley is the boss of my cat when we're at home. Missy only cares about Buckley's dirty litter :roll:
We don't let Missy and Buckley socialise because Missy doesn't play gently, she thinks she's a tiny puppy when actually she's like, 18kg of muscle.
But she knows not to go near Buckley.

Ollie will lie there are let Buckley lie across his neck.

Having said how good Ollie is with Buckley I would never leave them alone together. Ollie is a cat who hunts, and he has hunted wild rabbits before and succeeded. So any time they're together is fully supervised.
 
whitehood said:
When you say [highlighted in red], are you saying cats and dogs are safe to be around with rabbits?
Click to expand...

Only when supervised of course :) And if the animal has been tested before.


To be honest I don't think i'm ever going to have a dog unless I get a job where I could take the dog to work. The only animal I might potentially get that would be in proximity of the rabbits would be ducks or quail or chickens.
 
A few years ago, woke up to see Babydarling sitting in the middle of the rabbit hutch. Sunshine and Nancy looked gobsmacked. They sat in the corner staring at him. He was not at all phased.

The other 2 were under the bed, after chewing through my friends guinea pig hutch I borrowed, while the living room was being painted.

The chins love the bunnies. But the bunnies are not interested. :)
 
not chippies :lol: first time Alvin met bud i thought he was going to box him, i never let them out together after that look of killer bunny :lol:
 
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