Rabbits How do I help this person to understand that guinea pigs and rabbits/bunnies.........

[Onetwo]

How do I convince this person that guinea pigs and rabbits/bunnies should not be housed together? Here are our email messages:


Me:
It doesnt matter how big or little the bunny is. They have different nutritional needs and they both need their own space with their own kind. Please Please move the guinea pig to a new cage... www.guineapigcages.com the forum has a ton of info about housing them together... Things to do and not to do... How would you like being confined in a house (never allowed to leave) With a "tame" lion? You would still be afraid for you life even if it is the most friendly thing in the world there could always be a day where it got hungry, spooked or whatever that would cause it to maul you. The same could happen to your guinea pig. PLUS many rabbits carry diseses that will kill a guinea pig. There is more info on GPC... Check it out.

Her:

I disagree. The guinea needs the vitamin food specific for it, but the rabbit can eat that also. As for diseases, you couldn't have them in the same household if you were going to fret over diseases one or the other may get. I see them all day, and there has never been a problem between them.

I dont know much about rabbits/bunnies so is there any other proof? Articles anything that anyone could email or tell her about? I just want to be sure the guinea pig and the bunny dont get hurt or worse... Thank you

 

[kikichugirl]

Accidents happen, the rabbit, however careful, can kill the pig. On top of that, guinea pigs need to communicate with its own kind, not with a rabbit. It's not beneficial.
The rabbit can probably eat the vitamin food also, but it is probably taking away the GP's chances of eating the food peacefully, without squabbles for food.
If she sees them all day, she doesn't "have a life", as some people put it. She never goes to sleep, goes to work, or takes her eyes off of them? Accidents can happen in the blink of an eye...

 

[TweeksMom]

Here's a website she should read..... Why Rabbits & Guinea Pigs Don't Mix

 

[Onetwo]

Thank you so much Tweek that is exactly what I was looking for. Please keep sending me info...

 

[Deb's4Pigs]

I have both rabbits and guinea pigs and would never put them together. They need to be with their own kind and accidents happen.

 

[iloveanimals]

Tell her that the rabbit can kill the guinea pig. Also mention that the two animals both have different needs. Or tell her two look on this website. There are two stories about pairing a rabbit with a guinea pig.

 

[Onetwo]

If you found actual stories about rabbits and guinea pigs please post the urls so I can email them to her. I have given her the website for here but she refuses to open her eyes. I am hoping that if I keep sending her sites she will get curious and open one and maybe will understand... Thanks for all the help!

 

[Deb's4Pigs]

I wish I could, but I can't think of any actual stories off the top of my head. I know I've heard of them. Wish I could help more.

 

[GPigsRSweet]

Here's a great article for her: http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=59774 Good luck!

 

[cam767]

I remembered reading this before when we were tossing between bun and gp and what to get.

rabbits

Since she is not listening to diet or diseases maybe point out the size and strength area to her on the above link. I've seen this documented on many different websites. Unless she can foresee the future she can not guarantee that things will remain fine and she is just being irresponsible if she continues housing them together. Unfortunately she may find her GP dead one day and just think it was natural causes and try it again when in fact it was some injury she can not see.

Does she belong to some group or board that actually encourages this? If not do you know where she got the idea that she can house them together?

 

[GPigsRSweet]

Any progress so far?

 

[Onetwo]

I emailed her all of the info as I got it and since the 2nd email she hasn't emailed me back. She is just a person from my past that I was talking to casually. I really dont know too much about her or her situation. I know that she doesnt know anything about either animal and she purchased them from a pet store a few months ago. She is trying to dump them on someone because many of the shelters are full.

Here is her ad on CL that I found 2 days after I talked to her on FB...

Lionhead bunny and pretty guinea pig

As you can see those poor animals are crammed into a small cage.

 

[Sirene]

Poor things! Is there any way you could take the guinea?

 

[Onetwo]

I wish I could. But right now we are out of room, running low on money and she won't email me back anymore. I was really nice in my emails too so I think she is just one of those people who are always right even if they swear the sky is yellow... At least she was that way back in the day. Thanks for your help. Hopefully she will see the err of her ways before something tragic happens.

 

[Sirene]

I wish I could. But right now we are out of room, running low on money and she won't email me back anymore. I was really nice in my emails too so I think she is just one of those people who are always right even if they swear the sky is yellow... At least she was that way back in the day. Thanks for your help. Hopefully she will see the err of her ways before something tragic happens.

I realized that when I saw your post about pet insurance. Hope I didn't cause you any extra stress by suggesting you take on another pig! It's just so frustrating to see/hear about these situations and not be able to do anything because the people involved won't listen. Grrr. Thanks for doing what you did.

 

[bunnyguinea21]

I went in the petstore here in town and they had housed 2 guinea pigs with a rabbit and everytime I've went in there, they have a different rabbit in there. I think that was their way of trying to sell the guinea pig. You know, showing that they can house together. I'm in the middle of a complaint to them but the last time they only had the two bunnies in there. AND the bunnies look to be about 11 weeks old and they DO NOT know the sex of these bunnies.. And they had already had an "Accidental" litter.. I just don't understand what is wrong with this petstore
Not to mention the one time I went in and was questioning the safety of the guinea pig when a MALE rabbit was humping the poor thing I was sooooo upset to see that and in PETSTORE.. not that I hold them up highly.
I'm no expert but I know they shouldn't be housed together.