Should I split a rabbit and guinea pig pair?

[tomato]

Hi there,

Hello to everyone This is my first post and I was wondering whether I might ask your advise. Today I took in a rabbit and guinea pig that live together as their current owner can no longer care for them. The rabbit is a small male Netherland Dwarf and the guinea pig is a fair size and also male. From what I've seem they seem to get on well. I've only got them today and was intending to split them so my friend could take the rabbit as a companion for her rabbit. I was planning on either keeping the piggy and finding him a friend or rehoming him to someone looking for a companion for their piggy.

After meeting them I must say I am torn. I do not know how long they have been together but a fair while I think. The piggy is about 2 and the rabbit a little older. I'm also worried that it will be difficult to find the piggy a companion as he is male. I know that a young male or spayed female would be the best bet. Perhaps it would be best to keep them as rabbit and piggy pair?

They have a large 4 foot two storey cage, although the piggy apparently doesn't like to go down to the bottom level. The nest and food are on the top level, as is the water bottle.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated

 

[smiler]

I dont think rabbits and guinea pigs should live together to be honest. The guinea pig can be injured and they have totally differnt dietary requirements!

 

[sgprescue]

I agree with Smiler. If I was in your situation I would split them straight away. They will be much happier with a friend of their own kind. If you are worried about the piggy finding a friend you could get him neutered so he can have a girlfriend (or girlfriends ;D) or in most cases putting a baby male with an adult usually works well.

 

[tomato]

Thanks for your reply. I forgot to add that I am aware of the different dietary requirements and the possibility of injury to the piggy. These are the reasons that I was adamant that I would split them. As I say after seeing them get on together well - so far as I realise it is early days - my resolve has started to waver. Is the risk of injury still high with such a small rabbit breed?

I totally agree that ideally the two species wouldn't live together. But surely splitting an existing pair raises other questions? I don't want to make them miserable, espcially as they will be living alone for a while. Until the rabbit is introduced to his friend and a friend is found and introduced to the piggy.

 

[sgprescue]

Regardless of the size of rabbit and if they look happy now there is always that chance there will be problems. I would split them now.

 

[tomato]

I agree with Smiler. If I was in your situation I would split them straight away. They will be much happier with a friend of their own kind. If you are worried about the piggy finding a friend you could get him neutered so he can have a girlfriend (or girlfriends ;D) or in most cases putting a baby male with an adult usually works well.

Thanks for your reply. I do agree. I think I just needed someone to reassure me that I was doing the right thing. My partner thinks I'm mad giving it so much thought but I just want to do the best thing for the animals. He thinks they seem happy so why rock the boat?

I must say I'd love to see the piggy settled with a piggy friend. It'd be lovely for him to be able to talk to a friend and to hear them talk to each other :smitten:

I will split them tomorrow then. At least with the two tier cage I can block off the hole between levels as a temporary measure.

 

[smiler]

I agree with sgp, i know it seems mean but if i were you I would just get him one of his 'own kind', even if they seem happy, how would you feel if something did happen? Rabbits are usually okay on their own i think, but if you could get him a brother, or neuter him and get him a girlfriend(which he would LOVE ) that would be much better in my opinion! O0

And the piggy may not be confident enough in the new cage to go down, but believe me, in a few weeks he will be running up and down popcorning! :smitten: :smitten:

My OH used to be just the same with me fretting about the piggies but now hes just as bad if not worse! ;D Well done for being so thoughtful!

 

[Pumpkinpiggie]

I would split them up and get them neutered so both the rabbit and piggie can live with a friend of thier own kind

 

[Niki]

Is the risk of injury still high with such a small rabbit breed?

I can speak from experience, only once have i had a rabbit, he too was a netherland dwarf, & a piggy living together & this was many years ago.
They were both male, both approx the same size. They were ok at first but then one morning when i went to see them the rabbit had literally macheted the guinea pig from shoulders to rump & underneath too.
I was mortified & could only imagine the pain my poor piggy had endured.  Luckily he made a full recovery but it taught me a valuable lesson the hard way

 

[Glynis]

Is the risk of injury still high with such a small rabbit breed?

I can speak from experience, only once have i had a rabbit, he too was a netherland dwarf, & a piggy living together & this was many years ago.
They were both male, both approx the same size. They were ok at first but then one morning when i went to see them the rabbit had literally macheted the guinea pig from shoulders to rump & underneath too.
I was mortified & could only imagine the pain my poor piggy had endured. Luckily he made a full recovery but it taught me a valuable lesson the hard way

<hugs> Niki, you've learnt a lesson the hard way i know you'd never ever do it deliberately

Glad to hear that you're going to separate them as Niki has pointed out you don't want to find out later that they had a disagreement

 

[Cavy Crazy]

It's great that you have given so much thought to splitting them up. By the sound of it they have been together at least a couple of years, so if you do split them then they will miss each other. I personally would not be so worried about the injury aspects as I would have thought if anything was going to happen it would have happen by now (like when the guinea was a baby), don't get me wrong I know that injury could still happen but it sounds as if they both know where they stand with each other and that they are both comfortable in each others presence. I would be more concerned about the dietary needs, guineas and rabbits do have very different nutritional needs, so for this reason I would split them up. There are other concerns but nothing major compared to injury and nutritional needs. I personally would find a home that would be willing to take both of them on but house them separately and get them companies of their own kind. I hope this all makes sense, good luck.

 

[gingerpig]

Hi!

Perhaps it depends on the nature of them; our bunny went to the Rainbow Bridge a few months ago but until then she lived with one piggy, Molly, and they were ever so happy together. Mitzi never injured her - Molly seemed to know when Mitzi was going to have a bit of a dart about and got in her pigloo for a few minutes but to be honest this didn't happen that much! They spent a lot of time cuddled up together and were never anything but the best of friends. I used to feed piggy her greens separately cos otherwise the rabbit would eat more than her share and give herself a bad tummy and piggy would not have had enough. The pet shop advised me to feed guinea pig food to both of them. Both were happy and heathy. Having said that, our Mitzi (rabbit) was very sweet natured and affectionate to everyone.

For a pair that got on like my two did, it would be very stressful for them to be split up, they would pine for each other. You have to make a judgment on yours and of course whatever you decide will be right because you know what your two are like. Good luck hun xx

 

[Cavy Crazy]

Have you split them up yet, are you going to or have you decided to leave them together?

 

[tomato]

Hi there,

Thanks for your replies, I really appreciate you sharing your experiences and I'm sorry to hear that they've not all been good ones. I'm sorry I missed your replies before. I need to change my preferences so I get emails when there are replies to my posts.

I have indeed seperated them. The rabbit is in the bottom of the hutch and the piggy in the top. The piggy seems a lot more confident now they have been split and the rabbit seems no different. Tomato comes out to see me to take dandelion and is very talkative. They are both enjoying going out in the run I have been given but at different times. I did try them in the run together but the rabbit almost straight away started humping poor Tomato!

I have found a home for the rabbit with a lone rabbit. He will be neutered in the coming weeks and once his hormones have settled he will be introduced to a lovely bunny friend! I will miss him but I know that its for the best all round. It will allow me to focus on Tomato who will be staying here.

I hope to find him a friend. I am as yet undecided as to whether to neuter him and find a female companion or try a young male piggy. I know it will be easier for introductions if I go for the female option but I'm not all that confident with my vet to go for the neutering. I am in a very rural area so the vets are used to larger animals. Also, I don't believe in putting an animal through an unncessary operation. Although I am aware that there are health benefits to neutering.

So another dilema for me to agonise about!

 

[Cavy Crazy]

;D I'm glad you have sorted the first problem out and that both rabbit and guinea have not been effected by being split. As for the new dilemma if you are not confident in your vet I wouldn't go for the operation.

 

[maisydaisystar]

no i wouldn't either, they must have experience in small animal ops. you could check how many they have done in the past year,and ask what their success rate is. if it's not many, don't risk it, go for a baby boar

 

[Niki]

Is the risk of injury still high with such a small rabbit breed?

I can speak from experience, only once have i had a rabbit, he too was a netherland dwarf, & a piggy living together & this was many years ago.
They were both male, both approx the same size. They were ok at first but then one morning when i went to see them the rabbit had literally macheted the guinea pig from shoulders to rump & underneath too.
I was mortified & could only imagine the pain my poor piggy had endured. Luckily he made a full recovery but it taught me a valuable lesson the hard way

<hugs> Niki, you've learnt a lesson the hard way i know you'd never ever do it deliberately

Glad to hear that you're going to separate them as Niki has pointed out you don't want to find out later that they had a disagreement

It was almost 20 years ago Glynis & to have a rabbit/guinea pairing was common - i knew no different. The happy ending was the piggy in question fathered a litter (mis-sexed piggy) was then neutered & lived to the grand age of 8

 

[tomato]

Thanks again for your replies. My partner has been making a large hutch and winter and summer runs for Tomato. We are now looking for a baby boar for him. So watch this space!

 

[kellyandpiggies]

Thanks again for your replies. My partner has been making a large hutch and winter and summer runs for Tomato. We are now looking for a baby boar for him. So watch this space!

great news O0

 

[Cavy Crazy]

That's brilliant news. Pictures when you get a baby boar.

 

[tomato]

I will certainly get some piccys! For the time being you'll have to do with ones of Tomato... when I take then this afternoon while he is out enjoying our overgrown lawn!