Vertical Bedding

Hi, sorry but photos didn't upload last time - trying again

Re: Vertical Bedding - Photos

Rabbits and guinea pigs shouldn't be housed together. No exceptions! Please remove the rabbit now before anything bad happens!

Re: Vertical Bedding - Photos

That is absolutely true Katie. Thank you for pointing that out.

On the least dangerous part of the situation, rabbits and guinea pigs have different nutritional needs. They can eat the same veggies, but should not have the same pellets.

For the more serious part, rabbits, while they might be sweet and loving animals, and you might think they adore your pigs, can severely injure guinea pigs. In their excitement, or just hopping around, rabbits are prone to kick. If a guinea pig gets stepped on or kicked, it can cause internal bleeding, organ ruptures, or other serious injuries.

Both animals are wonderful pets, but they need to be housed seperately for everyone's safety.

I also notice another huge safety issue besides the rabbits/pigs being together in the same cage and that is the upper grids that have the newspaper on them aren't completely covered. If one of the rabbits or pigs were to jump up there, they could get a foot caught and cause severe injury.

Point taken on newspaper coverage on top, that is easily fixed with more newspaper or a piece of corflute or vinyl attached as with other two story creations.

Re: Vertical Bedding - Photos

Hmmmm ... I know it is generally agreed that guineas and rabbits shouldn't be housed together, HOWEVER I do not deliberately put my pets at risk and have carefully considered options based on the dynamics I am working with. I also have another bunny which I won't allow within cooee of the guineas or this little bunny, because of her nature.

Regarding the food issue mentioned in another reply, all pelleted food where I live is marketed as rabbit/guinea pig food, there are none specifically designed for either species individually. Both my guineas and rabbits are healthy animals.

Thank you for voicing your concerns, these issues are obviously important to you. Sadly the nature of your replies has left me feeling quite unwelcome on this forum.

People are not trying to make you feel unwelcome, they are just trying to do what is best for the animals. This is not a sugar coated forum and you have to take the good with the bad. What may come across the computer as rudeness or meaness really is just people with the best of intentions to make life better for your animals. When I first started here I thought the same thing as you, but once I stuck around I realized this site is full of amazing people that really do care about all animals and know what they are talking about.
With the food that you use, you say it is marketed for pigs and rabbits. I can honestly say that if I saw a food like that I would be kind of weary about it. They are different animals and have different nutrition requirements. If I fed my dog cat food who he survive? Sure but he would not be as healthy because the requirements for cats and dogs are different. Even if the requirements are similar that does not mean they should both just have food that is a happy medium between what both of them need.
As for the rabbit, no one thinks that you deliberatly put your pets at risk. What people are just trying to say is that even if you have the most gentle rabbit in the world it could still get excited and accidentally kick a pig and injure it. If you understand that risk and are willing to take it then that is up to you. Just think if something does happen how horrible you are going to feel because it could have been prevented. The risk would be too much for me.

Re: Vertical Bedding - Photos

homemenagerie said:

Hmmmm ... I know it is generally agreed that guineas and rabbits shouldn't be housed together, HOWEVER I do not deliberately put my pets at risk and have carefully considered options based on the dynamics I am working with. I also have another bunny which I won't allow within cooee of the guineas or this little bunny, because of her nature.

Regarding the food issue mentioned in another reply, all pelleted food where I live is marketed as rabbit/guinea pig food, there are none specifically designed for either species individually. Both my guineas and rabbits are healthy animals.

Click to expand...

By deliberately putting them together, you deliberately put their life at risk. No matter how docile a rabbit is and no matter what size, they have powerful back legs. When they get excited, happy, or even scared and they run, they let out "lamb leaps" kicking out their back legs. One accidental kick from a rabbit can seriously injure or kill a cavy instantly.

I don't know where you live, but I am sure you can find guinea pig food. If cavies are sold in pet stores near you, their food is sold as well. If it is a cavy/rabbit food, chances are something isn't formulated for both, and nutrients and vitamins they need are missing.

If you truly can not find seperate guinea pig and rabbit pellets where you live, you can also order them online.
(broken link removed) - They have seperate rabbit and guinea pig formulas and hays and are very high quality. They also have a retail locator, so you can check where Oxbow products might be sold in your area, but you will want to call and make sure what you want is in stock first. There is also an online locator to find other websites that carry Oxbow.
(broken link removed) - Sell the Oxbow products for lower prices depending on the quantity you want. They also have lots of toys and accessories.
(broken link removed) - KM sells awesome guinea pig pellets and hays. She is only available online.

Food sold for both rabbits and guinea pigs is very rarely if ever acceptable to feed to either animal. It generally uses poor quality ingredients and possibly even potentially deadly ingredients. The only pellets recommended on here are oxbow, KM's, or if you just can't get those 2 then plain mazuri. Anything else will contain many poor quality ingredients and ruin your guinea pigs' diet. If you are not in the united states then people can reccommend the best brand for your area. I'd feed no pellets before I fed something marketed for both guinea pigs and rabbits.

Just because a rabbit is docile means nothing. There are many stories out there of rabbits who never intentionally meant to hurt their guinea pig friend and would sleep together with the pig but one day they got excited, jumped up, and hit the guinea pig causing it's death. Also rabbits and guinea pigs interact in entirely different manners and rabbits often feel lonely or neglected by the guinea pig. Rabbits like to groom each other whereas guinea pigs do not and despite liking company are quite independent little animals that prefer their individual space much more than rabbits. It's an unequal relationship that is going to result in one or the other being unhappy. https://guineapigcages.com/rabbits.htm

I'm sorry the posts seem unfriendly but when people here see something that goes against the safety or health of the animal they will speak up. I also think noone really commented on your cloth strips because guinea pigs would prefer the cloth left whole and covering the outside or inside of the grids. Guinea pigs like hiding places to go into with solid walls. While the cloth strips are interesting all 9 of mine would much prefer a fuzzy tent or cube and would only use the strips if they had no better hiding place.

Welcome.

Honestly, I don't think anybody here means to be "mean" to you. People tend to be a little outspoken on forums (I have the bruises to prove it), but the majority of members here are just trying to point out things that could potentially cause problems for your guinea pig.

I do hope you'll reconsider having your rabbit and piggie housed together, and try aspen, CareFresh or fleece as a safer bedding alternative to straw.

Thank you for the welcome, SandyF

One reason I joined the forum was to learn, so am taking a deep breath and forging ahead with my questions, squaring my shoulders for whatever comes my way.

I will shortly be rehousing rabbit separately to the guineas, we have a "mate" lined up for her and, providing they bond, they will have their own quarters. I put "mate" in inverted commas because he will be a neutered male. She was living with the guineas because our other bunnies did not accept her, and I didn't want her to be isolated from all other creatures.

I have a query about using fleece as a bedding - I guess I want to know what is the theory behind its use - hygiene, comfort, etc. It doesn't seem particularly natural to me - the concept of vertical bedding is to mimic the piggies experiences in a natural environment (long grass). I have read several contributors to this site mentioning their piggies enjoying running about in their fleece bedding when it has been hung out to dry after washing day - which is a similar concept to vertical bedding, though using it as play not housing. I am aware that in their natural habitat guineas like to hide in burrows, the equivalent of covered grids, but also their natural environment is grassland. So I would really appreciate an explanation for the use of a flat, unprotective floor covering as a preferred bedding type.

As for the food issue, I am in Australia, and honestly haven't seen the Oxbow brand for sale here. We do have Timothy grass and I have seen alfalfa pellets, but I understand the latter isn't suitable for all ages of pigs. I was told by one store that it is quite common for horse feed mixes to be repackaged and sold as rabbit/guinea pig food. We have several mixes of rabbit/guinea pig food which are obviously of different composition, not only to look at but also the odour. My guineas do have a pellet food mix and hay available 24 hours, but are also fed fresh grass and a variety of vegetables including those high in Vitamin C twice a day.

Any advice is welcome.
Thank you.

This is a list of all the places that sell Oxbow in Australia, you might be able to find one close to you. The one closet to me is a Vet 3 hours south of where I live. And most places around here haven't even heard of Timothy Hay (Or any of the different names it can be cllaed), but I'm going to go in next week to ask the local Pet Supply store if they've ever heard of it, and/or can the give me a phone number to their Hay Supplier, which is local farmers.

(broken link removed)

What is the vertical bedding for?

It's just another type of hidey space for the guineas to use, mine also have a large diameter plumbing pipe in a Y shape, and a small foot step which they can hide under and use as a den. One of the benefits of the vertical bedding is its warmth, another is the ease of cleaning.

Thank you for the information. Pets Paradise stock the timothy hay, though in very small bags. I found another store today which stocks individual guinea pig and rabbit pellets, not Oxbow brand but a name which I now cannot recall. The only draw back is they are expensive BUT I guess correct nutrition must come at a cost when the supply is so hard to find.

Hello, I am glad you stayed. I like the look of the vetical bedding I am going to try to make one for my girls to play in. They like running through the PVC pipes my husband brings home for them, so they will probably like running through the fabric hanging down. I have some fleece left over I think I will use that. I am always looking for new cheap toys for them to try. Thanks for the idea.