Rabbit/Guinea Pig question.

[Kitty88]

I asked my 13 year old brother what he really wanted for Christmas a few weeks ago, expecting him to say Playstation 4 or XBox One, and was pleasantly surprised when he told me he really wanted a guinea pig. My father and I had already discussed him having his own pet, so I immediately began planning to surprise him with a pair of piggies for Christmas. However, I'm a little paranoid about the risk of the pigs getting sick from the rabbits, who have been around for four and a half years. Here's the situation;
A) the guinea pigs are going to live in the bottom level of my leith condo, which is currently not in use and hasn't had a rabbit in it since the night I adopted Dewey. Plus, they were only actually in there for about six hours before they moved to their playpen.
B) After Linus passed away, I washed the rugs that line the leith, rinsed them with white vinegar, and dried them in the sun for two days, which I'm pretty sure would kill any type of germ a rabbit could've left on them.
C) The piggies will have to spend a couple of days in close proximity to Dewey and Gracie, but they will be on their own cage that has been properly doused with a judicious amount of white vinegar beforehand.

So, I'm just being paranoid, right? I've heard of people letting guinea pigs and rabbits play together, so surely they're not going to catch some communicable disease from spending a few days in the same room?

 

[Imbrium]

"Bordetella [bronchiseptica] spreads through direct contact (licking, nuzzling), through the air (coughing or sneezing), or via contaminated fomites." (fomites are apparently inanimate objects like food dishes, toys, whatever) - It sounds as though they'll be ok in the same room, though I'd keep the cages at least a few feet apart to be safe. I would also make sure that everyone washes their hands between handling the rabbits and handling the piggies.

Some people do let guinea pigs and rabbits play together without issue, despite it being strongly discouraged for a number of different reasons... the reason the piggies often don't get sick is that not all rabbits have Bordetella bronchiseptica. A lot probably don't, I'm guessing. The problem is that Bordetella infections are almost always asymptomatic in rabbits so they can easily function as silent carriers and there's no obvious way to know whether your rabbit has it or not.

 

[Kitty88]

That's what I thought. Dewey was rescued from a hoarding situation with almost 40 rabbits in a basement in Brooklyn, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was a carrier.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

It sounds like you have thought this through. I am not sure if white vinegar will kill everything, so you might want to look into a good disenfectant (you can get good ones at some feed stores).

I would not suggest surprising your brother with a pair of guinea pigs. He should be able to choose the ones he wants. You would give him the supplies and other hints about it, and then take him to pick out the ones he likes a few days later. Some rescues will give gift certificates for the cost of an adoption, so you could get him one of those if there is a rescue with guinea pigs near you.

 

[missyscove]

I know that people do it, but I wouldn't recommend rabbits and guinea pigs playing together as one untimely kick from a rabbit can easily (and unintentionally) kill a guinea pig.

Bordetella bronchiseptica is a real concern when rabbits and guinea pigs share a house because rabbits are typically asymptomatic carriers and it can be fatal to guinea pigs. I know for a fact that one of my rabbits has (or had) it because we ran a nasal culture on her when she started showing respiratory signs. The theoreticals behind it make me not want to house a rabbit and a guinea pig so close, but I know that plenty of people do it without issue.

 

[Tally943]

I first got 2 boar guinea pigs , that I was only supposed to keep for a month for a friend, but that turned into 3 months , during the three months I got them a bigger cage because I felt bad that they were in a little pet store cage and thats around the time I got my first rabbit , Patrick. Since patrick was a baby , I let him stay in the old guinea pig cage until I got him his own cage and it worked out fine. I also let them play together all of the time, it was so funny. Eventually, my friend took the pigs back (thankgod boars are hard) and patrick got his own cage. I also used the cage when I was bonding my rabbits as well. I guess what I am saying is that I never had any problems with rabbits and guinea pigs or their germs! Also , please get 2 girls because boars fight ALL of the time (unless they are fixed!). That's my experience with guinea pigs!

 

[Aubrisita]

I have three guinea pig sows and one male bunny. They live in my bedroom, in different cages. They both play in the same area, but never at the same time. I just clean it in between play times. I haven't had a problem.