Guinea pig humping rabbit?!

Any thoughts are welcome! Google doesn't help lol. My male guinea pig keeps humping my male rabbit for some reason. Whether its a dominant thing or whether he fancies him, i just don't know. Lol

Cytochrome said:

Any thoughts are welcome! Google doesn't help lol. My male guinea pig keeps humping my male rabbit for some reason. Whether its a dominant thing or whether he fancies him, i just don't know. Lol

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Hello.

You need to split these immediately.

A rabbit can very easily kill a guinea pig with one kick and if your guinea is humping that will be enough to cause immediate annoyance. Not to mention that injuries are a certainty. These are not suitable partners - they cannot communicate, they have different dietary requirements and can pass infection to one another.

You need to keep rabbits with rabbits and guinea pigs with guinea pigs (all neutered of course) for the happiest result.

I have taken in several rabbits who have either killed the guinea pig concerned or the where the rabbit has had mutilated genitals from the guiinea pig nibbling them so I am talking from experience.

I should add that not only is humping sexual but is also all about territory and heirachy and will be normal in unneutered animals of all types.

I would definitely separate these animals asap. Rabbits and guinea pigs should NEVER be kept together. As "The Duchess" said the rabbit can kill the guinea pig, rabbits can also pass a bacterial infection to guinea pigs, which can cause serious respiratory disease and possibly kill your piggie.

https://www.rspca.org.uk/allaboutanimals/pets/rabbits/company/rabbitsandguineapigs

Your pig is clearly frustrated and ideally should be neutered and bonded with a female piggie.

No worries, they live in seperate cages, they have their seperate diets etc. i just thought it would give them some company to run around with each other in the garden. So does this mean they can't really run about together outside?
Thanks

Hi there. Some years ago I let 2 GPs run with a rabbit and the pigs were terrible wouldn't leave the bun alone. A also tried a male pig with a female rabbit, same thing happened, he wouldn't leave her alone, so I had to separate them. Needless to say I don't do it anymore. My friend who'd kept pigs for years had never come across this and we couldn't understand why.

Cytochrome said:

No worries, they live in seperate cages, they have their seperate diets etc. i just thought it would give them some company to run around with each other in the garden. So does this mean they can't really run about together outside?
Thanks

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Because of the risk of the rabbit transmitting Bordetella to the piggie, its best not to let them have any contact at all, in fact personally I wouldnt even keep them in the same room/shed, as Bordetella can be airbourne. The more time they are around each other the higher the risk.

There are also, as mentioned, the risks of injury, unneutered male rabbits can be particularly territorial.

You are right about them needing company though, both are animals designed to live in large groups, and they are prey animals that feel safer in these groups. The Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund advises that rabbits kept alone experience high levels of stress, and that they should all have at least one rabbit friend. If your male is unneutered, you will have to have him neutered before introducing him carefully to another rabbit that is also neutered. This will not only stop pregnancies but fighting as well.

Hope this helps

Ive always kept rabbits and guinea pigs in the same shed not housed together though! Ive never had a problem with them catching any diseases from each other.

lil860 said:

Ive always kept rabbits and guinea pigs in the same shed not housed together though! Ive never had a problem with them catching any diseases from each other.

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Just because you havent, doesnt mean it can't happen

lil860 said:

Ive always kept rabbits and guinea pigs in the same shed not housed together though! Ive never had a problem with them catching any diseases from each other.

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But why take unnecessary risks?
It's like saying that you didn't have a female bun spayed and she didn't develop uterine cancer; or you never had a rabbit vaccinated and it didn't get VHD or myxi.
Just not worth it - much better to err on the side of caution.

I started a thread a long time ago now about whether keeping them in the same room, sharing the same air space but not floor space, would cause a problem (was planning ahead for possible future bunnies etc that I haven't managed to actually have), and loads of people came back saying they'd never had a problem, with none saying that they had. So I'm not really sure how I feel about that. :?

But I agree that there should definitely be no bodily contact between the two.

Ive never heard of any cases of them becoming ill from each other. Been keeping rabbits and buns in the same shed for over 10yrs now. Rabbit is now 5yrs old and often sniffs the guineas through their cage bars he is very healthy and happy and only goes to the vets for his jabs. My guineas are also very healthy and live long happy lives. Im not saying they cant catch things from each other but ive never had a problem in all my years of keeping them.

I'll never let my rabbits and guineas meet, the closest they will get is perhaps a few feet away in a run. For me, it's just not worth the risk. If one of my beloved guinea pigs got bordatella and died I would never, ever forgive myself!

Yeah I suppose there's always that risk, its meant to be pretty rare but still. My bunny and guinea pig have bonded so I don't think i'm going to drastically seperate them. They've only got each other for companionship, if i was in a financial position to get another rabbit for buttons, and another guinea for sniffles I would

Thanks for all your feedback folks.

Cytochrome said:

Yeah I suppose there's always that risk, its meant to be pretty rare but still. My bunny and guinea pig have bonded so I don't think i'm going to drastically seperate them. They've only got each other for companionship, if i was in a financial position to get another rabbit for buttons, and another guinea for sniffles I would

Thanks for all your feedback folks.

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If they're humping, they haven't bonded. Unless there is no sign of aggression, they haven't bonded.

There are many documented cases of rabbits seriously injuring or even killing guinea pigs, as well as many documented cases of guinea pigs causing wounds to the rabbit. A kick from the rabbit - whether intentional or not - can easily kill a guinea pig. Not to mention bordetella.

I would argue that putting them together stresses them out more than it gives them companionship. They have no idea what the other one is and what it's trying to communicate. That's not a relaxing or enjoyable environment.

Allowing them to have any physical contact at all is dangerous. If the rabbit tries to hump the guinea pig it could easily injure its back or cause major bite wounds. They communicate in very different ways. They don't understand what the other means when it's trying to communicate something. Something could easily be construed as a fighting gesture and a fight could ensue. In that case your guinea pig is pretty much done for. It can't outrun a rabbit and has barely any defence. And to be quite honest, being continually humped by a guinea pig means that your rabbit is probably close to snapping on this.

It's better for you to provide companionship to them yourself. Spend time with both animals separately until you can neuter them both and get them their own companion species. They don't only have each other for companionship - you are their owner and you must provide them with their social needs without putting them at risk.

The main risk here isn't bordatella, it's kick injuries. Sorry to be blunt, but it's wrong to put these two animals together for even supervised play time. It's just too dangerous. As mentioned in the previous post, they aren't bonded - the humping shows that.

There is no need to neuter a male guinea pig, it will not change their behaviour at all and its an unecessary operation really unless you wanted to keep the male with a female. A local guinea pig rescue will bond your in tact male to another in tact male no problem and all for £20! Another guinea pig barely costs anything but piggies must have piggie companions. If you cant get your piggie a friend you could surrender him to a rescue where he will be bonded and rehomed with another male. Then use the space and saved cash for another bun.