Rabbits and Guinea Pigs

[BBrady]

I currently have two guinea pigs that help the homestead by eating scraps and making great poo for the garden and compost. (They are my sons' pets, but noisy and stinky, and I'd feed them to the forest of they didn't contribute something valuable.) I saw rabbits for sale this morning on my way into town, and it took every ounce of strength within me to not go buy a pair. I need to prep a place for them first, and i was brainstorming about the guinea pig pen. I am still figuring out chicks and a coop, and I would get so chastised if I added something else new to the already new homestead without properly warning my other half.

Can I put rabbits in a big hutch with guinea pigs? I've heard mixed reviews on the subject. I am trying to get the guinea pigs used to living outside so their droppings just go right through the mesh and onto the ground. I have to build a hutch though because the wind and sun get too much at times up on this hill and their current cage is all wire with a plastic bottom and no wind/sun shade.

I imagine I could build a duplex style hutch, if you will, like a 2'x8' frame about a foot or two off the ground with a divider in the middle to keep them separate if necessary. I'd make the divider removable so we could repurpose it as the homestead grows.

 

[Bunnylady]

Lots of people will tell you that you shouldn't keep guinea pigs in all-wire cages because the wire is awfully hard on their little feet. Rabbits' feet have fur padding, and even some of them wind up with pressure sores on their feet from wire floors. Having solid areas for them to sit on helps to give their feet a rest, but then you have the problem of poop and pee buildup, which creates moisture and possibly ammonia issues.

No perfect, simple solutions that I know of, anyway.

Some people manage to keep guinea pigs and rabbits together without problems. As far as I know, the biggest problem is the food - the nutrient requirements are different, so though rabbit food and guinea pig food may look the same, they really aren't.

 

[enola]

My daughter kept rabbits and guinea pigs together until one of the rabbits disemboweled a guinea pig one day........

 

[Bunnylady]

My daughter kept rabbits and guinea pigs together until one of the rabbits disemboweled a guinea pig one day........

I was thinking that size does become an issue - the ones that I know of that weren't problems were dwarf breeds, but dwarf rabbits aren't usually candidates for use in a homestead situation.

 

[enola]

My daughter's was a dwarf rabbit. And they lived together a long time. But, it was horrifying when it happened......

 

[Bunnylady]

Having seen some of the nasty things that rabbits can do to each other (and what goats, chickens and horses can do to each other, too, come to that) I can well imagine.

 

[BBrady]

Wow. Ok, so double hutch it is, with a removable plastic tray insert for the guinea pig side floor, and a secure divider between. Would 1/2" woven hardware cloth be small enough mesh for the bottom in the rabbit side?

 

[enola]

What size is your rabbit? You want to be sure his toes don't get caught.