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Guinea Pigs and rabbits

Richseth

Young Bun
Hi all,

im thinking about getting Seth (Dutch) a 'lil buddy. Do guinea pigs and rabbits mix OK or is that a really bad idea?

Thanks

Rich
 
I have heard that its not a good idea as bunnys can be terrible bullies and the poor guinea pigs come off the worse. :(
 
It isn't recommended as Rabbits can kill guinea pigs you would be best to get him a bunny friend
 
best off getting a bunny friend, many bunnies can kick and really injure guinea plus they eat completely different food.
 
different breeds can mix quite well, there are a number of people on here that have different breeds of rabbits that are bonded
 
Yeah it would be best to get a bunny friend.My bunny and piggies have free range of the garden together and share veg but live in seperate hutches and have different pellets.
Good luck findin a new bun!! :D
 
There are many threads on this site about having guinea pigs and rabbits living together.

Some rabbit and guinea pigs do live together happily, however incidents do occur which can cause problems. The rabbit can get frightened and will do what comes naturally for him, which is to thump their back legs and will either injure or kill a piggie who may be next to the rabbit. Guinea pigs have been known to bully rabbits by plucking their fur, rabbits have been know to push piggies about including down stairs in 2 storey hutches and injure them. Male rabbits can if unneutered use the piggie as a mating object and either frighten or injure the pig.

Rabbits and guinea pigs also require different food types which will present a problem if they live together.

The guinea pig side of ARC so far this year has had 3 guinea pigs handed over to them who have had broken limbs following incidents with rabbits with whom they had previoulsy apprently lived happily with. ARC also frequently get reports of rabbits who have teminally injured piggies as well. It is for these reasons ARC will not rehome or recomend guinea pigs livig with rabbits, the majority of the national and smaller local rescues and the RSPCA also do not recomend this pairing.

Janice
 
Ok. Thanks for the helpful info. another bunny it is then. Need to extend the hutch first though so will gt that done and then go see which bunny is available.

Rich
 
ether extend the hutch or you could buy a wooden play house and convert it or a shead whith atached run is also popler on her
 
The plan was to build a large rectangular flat roofed hutch, sit the current one on top but modify it with stairs going down into the new bit. Seth has outgrown the current hutch so would make it twice the size in the new one with the old one on top = decent amount of space... If you follow! :)
 
the only way i have ever kept them to gether was when i got them at the same time and at a young age.
 
5 months is a perfect age to introduce to another bun to go with Seth, a male / female pairing is the easiest to do, however 2 males is possible and so are 2 females however same sex pairings are usually more difficult. If you go to a rescue to choose your new bun, many will do the introduction for you which would save you the stress.

gizmo says
the only way i have ever kept them to gether was when i got them at the same time and at a young age.
I would certainly not recommend keeping any guinea pig with a rabbit however old they are when they are introduced. Unfortuntely they are all at risk of injury.
 
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