Rabbit and guinea pig brought in together

[Maureen Las]

I got a call from the shelter today about thenewest additions to the small animal room. we got a 2 yr oldmini-lop male un-neuteredsurrendered with a 5 yroldfemale small guinea pig. Everyone is concerned about whether they haveto remain together
They came in together in a guinea pig cage barely big enough for therabbit to stand up..also although they were surrendered by afamily neither one of them had been named by their owners. The rabbitand guinea were separated for one night and one of the staff thoughtthe rabbit was "depressed'" so they wre reunited. Then I was called soright now I have the mini-lop and the guinea pig in my bathroom inseparate areas to evaluate whether they can live apart. These are theshelter concerns
1) Hard to adopt older guinea pig and rabbit together
2) Since the guinea pig is 5 yrs old if they were adopted togethershelter is concerned that rabbit would be left alone and go into adepression when guinea pig dies.
3) I noticed that the rabbit had a huge bare spot on his right hipwhich could be mange but I suspect has to do with the guinea piggrooming him
4) The rabbit willmost likely be neutered in several weeks and the guinea would need to be taken out anyway

These are my major questions

!) Do rabbits and guinea pigs bond in the same emotional way as 2 rabbits??

2) The guinea pig seems OK alome (eating etc) but is it cruel to separate them.?

3) I am watching the rabbit carefully to see if he is OK but is thiscruel or is it possible that the rabbit doesn't form as strong a bondas with another rabbit??

I would not be trying to separate them if the shelter was not pushing at me? Am I right?

 

[Bangbang]

I'm no expert on this topic... I'm sure ifseperated they would eventually get over it, but i do think if possibleits best to leave them together. Rabbits and Guinea Pigs raisedtogether do bond like 2 rabbits.

 

[cottontails]

In my opinion rabbits and guniea-pigs don't andcan't form the same kind of bond as two rabbits would. However seeingas these guys owners weren't even bothered to call them a name it ishighly unlikely that they ever got human contac and from that the onlycomfort they have ever know could be from each other:hug2:

I would moniter the together and try to determine form their bodylanguage whether they are just tolerating each others company oractually enjoy it. From that you could then decide if they should beseparated. If either seem depressed when separated I would a) get thema friend or b) put them back together



Aislinn and Abeona

 

[megandawn]

When we first got our female rabbit she didquite well with our guinea pig butI think as she becameaccustomed to her surrounding shestarted beingmeanto the guinea pig. She would nip at him if he came too close and chasehim. I would be very careful of them spending time together and notleave them unattended together. Stranger bonds have been formedthou.......anyone ever hear the one about the hippo and the tortoisethat became inseparable?

 

[Snuggys Mom]

I would let them stay together until the neuter,then keep them in adjacent cages. Once the rabbit heals,introduce him to a spayed female rabbit and see what happens.Maybe you can wean him off the guinea pig that way.

 

[cottontails]

Guinea-pigs are very social and if you separatethe rabbit from her I would suggest getting her a friend if you can asa friend

 

[Haley]

Snuggys Mom wrote:

I would let them stay together until the neuter, then keepthem in adjacent cages. Once the rabbit heals, introduce himto a spayed female rabbit and see what happens. Maybe you canwean him off the guinea pig that way.

:yeahthat

I know that people always caution against keeping the two together, butwe have a rabbit at the shelter who was once bonded to a piggy. Thepiggy died and she was devastated. So depressed and wouldnt barely eat.

I think the bond is a lot like with 2 bunnies, especially if they didnt have much human contact.

 

[Maureen Las]

Well this is how they are this AM...the rabbithas been eating and drinking and loves to be petted. The guinea pig isalso eating and drinking but appears more anxious. The bunny is veryvery receptive to being petted. I feel that if this was me alone Iwould keep them together (but separate where they could see each other)but since they seem OK now I will leave them apart . The reason I don'twant to introduce another bunny into the mix is because the shelterwould also feel that 2 buns together are harder to adopt. If they can'tbe separated the choices are to attempt to adopt them togeher orevenpossibly euthanize both of them. The 2nd choiceis too horrible so I will try to separate them.
We have other guinea pigs at the shelter so I think that I couldeventually get her a companion..we don't have any other neutered femalebunniesat the shelter. I personally think that it is notright to totally separate them as they did get along well (except forthe bare patch on the rabbits back) and who am I to separate afriendship (although I think the guinea pig is more attached to thebunny). Anyway I appreciate everybody's imput and if their is the leastsign of either one declining they are going back together. I'll keepyou up-dated. Thanks maureen

 

[Bangbang]

My friend had a guinea pig and rabbit livingtogether their whole lives, when the rabbit was out of the cage theguinea pig used to get very anxious and so forth, when it was the otherway around the rabbit still seemed a little bit upset but not to thesame degree. My guess would be seeming as guinea pigs are highly socialanimals like rats and mice it would be more likely to be suffering fromthe seperation...
My friend had both circumstances occur:
Rabbit passed away before guinea pig, Guinea pig was a mess, very depressed, wouldn't eat etc...
However they got a new baby bunny and he cheered up! The bunny grew upwith the piggy and loved him dearly, however once the pig passedaway... bunny was sad for a few days then was back to her old selfonder:...
If you could put piggy next to some other pigs (not in the same cage)and see how he/she goes, maybe you could move the pig into a cage withother pigs eventually...

 

[bluebird]

Im very concerned that a big rabbit like that could harm a guinea pig, not forgetting the dietary differences.bluebird

 

[karona]

I dont like the idea of them together because ofthe diatary diffrence and the fact that they are very diffrent in manyways. There has also been cases here gunie pigs have died because ofthe levle of amonia in rappit urin. it can severly damage theirrespatory system. I am however happy to let my rabbitplay outside thecage with a piggy. My best friend has a little piggy and she loveshaving karona come to their house and play for a bit. They enjoy beingtogether but are fine havin just hmans for friends! This isJMO.:bunnydance:

 

[Maureen Las]

The guinea pig and rabbit came into the shelteras a surrender. I had nothing to do with choosing to place themtogether..they already were together. Yesterday I took a stuffed toyrabbit and rubbed itall over the bunny so that it would havethe scent..then I placed the stuffed bunny in with the guinea pig. Theguinea pig is doing fair..eats all the greens and carrots etc but isnot eating much pellets or drinking much water. The bunny seems finewithout the guinea pig...at this point they are still separate.

 

[naturestee]

That's good that they're doing okay without eachother. Considering that shelter's track record, I'd dowhatever is needed to make them more easy to adopt (since I don't thinkit's safe for the piggie anyway). So if that means keepingthem separate, then that's best. I don't have room foranother foster bun.

Didn't take them long before they missed you, did it?

 

[karona]

I know tey came in together but I was just saying wht I thouat about pigs and buns in general. I work at a shelter aswell.

 

[naturestee]

Pigs and buns should not be kepttogether. Rabbits can carry a bacteria called Bordetella thatusually does not harm them but can cause serious health problems inpiggies. Also, rabbits can accidently injure a pig with theirstrong hind legs if they get spooked and kick or trample thepig. I've also heard that a rabbit mounting a pig (whichrabbits will do for dominance) can result in spinal injuries.

If guinea pigs died due to ammonia in rabbit urine, it's because theowner was not cleaning at all. Any animal can have serioushealth problems, especially eye and upper respiratory problems, fromammonia. It's very common in animal hoarding situations orpoor husbandry/cleaning. It has nothing to do with rabbiturine specifically, because the same thing could happen with guineapigs kept in small spaces that aren't cleaned. All urinecontains ammonia.

 

[Maureen Las]

Iwas looking at the bare patch on the rabbit andit did occur to me that it could be ringworm but I don't know. If it isringworm this is going to be catastrophic to my household of petsbecause I know that it is very contagious and hard to treat andeverybody pray that its not ringworm. I am going to try to find somepicures of it on an animal. Shelter workers get it mostly from the catsbut we have had a few small animals with it. I'will take him back tothe shelter probably tomorrow for a little while and have someonelookat it.

 

[karona]

Naturestee, I have experience in dealing inhoarding situations and it is true that all urin contains amonia butrabbit urin contains more amonia that piggy and the pigs are lower tothe ground therefore get higher exposure. I have seen it happin thatthe pig will die because it sleeps in the bunny litter box. It is trueabout the Borditella but it is fairly uncommon. The amonia is a biggerconcern.