Guinea pig help

Re: Guinea pig help

karen esquilant — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 11:32:36 GMT

Indeed you must be & if that works for you that's great I know lots of other people that do it too & works out well!

Re: Guinea pig help

Lynne Vickers — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 09:02:01 GMT

As i said i accept all of the reasons mentioned why people say not to keep rabbits and guinea pigs together, but in over 30 years i have never encountered one problem, must be doing something right...

Re: Guinea pig help

karen esquilant — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 11:14:10 GMT

Thanks for all the advice, I would'nt keep rabbits & guineas together either! Always been told it's a big no, im not partcularly fond of keeping rabbits either ;) Still on the lookout for a friend for my lonely boy, but have a few possibilities in the pipe line, currently enjoying spending time buying him some new treats, expanding his cage for now

Re: Guinea pig help

Chris Geddes — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 10:40:45 GMT

Keeping rabbits and guinea pigs together is not wise for the following reasons, the first being the most important in my opinion:

- Bordatella bronchiseptica is carried by rabbits; it is the major cause of respiratory disease in guinea pigs

- The two species have different nutritional needs so need to be fed separately

- Rabbits often bully guinea pigs - mounting them and kicking them (castrated male rabbits can still do this due to learned behaviour)

- They don't understand each others behaviour so will communicate much better with their own species

Best to keep NM and NF rabbits together, and NM and EF GPs together.

Re: Guinea pig help

Lynne Vickers — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:11:50 GMT

I know many professionals who say this is a no no and I accept all of their reasons why, however I have regularly paired guineas with rabbits and without exception they have always become best buddies.

Introduction is done using parallel cages for a while, and monitored meetings gradually increasing in time. I would go for a young rabbit and ensure it is neutered.

Re: Guinea pig help

Susan Jackson — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 21:09:40 GMT

I had guinea pigs at one point, I still miss them. Anyway I faced adding a new pig to a partnership and didn't have any issues with any of them. Sadly one of the partner pigs died but I didn't feel like I had to replace her.

When I was looking in to having gpigs I was advised that girl boy is best not same sex. Obviously this requires neutering which may have been the reason it works.

If it were me and this may not be correct I'd be tempted to have him neutered and have a baby girl live next to him till she was big enough to move in. That way they get used to each others scent. With her being young she may not try to bully him and hopefully he'll not feel the need to bully her. I don't know if it's correct so I will bow to anyone else with more experience.

Good luck with your piggy!

Re: Guinea pig help

emama10 — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 21:39:21 GMT

Hi - guinea pigs are easier to bond if they are both neutered. It can take a long time (6 months or more) of slowly increasing time spent together until they can live together fully. If your boy is already 4 you may want to weigh up whether it is worth the stress or not. If you are able to handle him more and give him extra attention/company then he shouldn't get lonely - giving him games to keep him entertained can also help (hiding treats/guinea pig safe treats etc). I work at an exotics referral practice and if you want any specialist advice, you can always contact us! South Devon Referrals. The exotics vet here does guinea pig castrations in minutes so always an option even though he is 4 (which is apparently 'old' for a guinea pig even though life expectancy can be 10 years or older!)

Having said all of that - bonding can be relatively quick and can take as little as a few weeks! It is ultimately up to you and what you think your boy would want.

I hope you get things sorted :)

Let me know how it goes!