Rabbits or Guinea pigs

[Sunflowerpower52]

We are looking for our next pet ( we have always just had hamsters) we would absolutely love a pair of bunnies or guinea pigs.

I am doing all the research possible, I had a rescue rabbit 30 years ago as a child, but I expect a few guidelines have changed.

Keen to hear from anyone who has any advice on either or pros and cons of both.

Thank you

Guinea Pigs for sure. We have 3 at the moment but I had a lot of rabbits plus a few Guinea Pigs growing up.

A lot of rabbits aren’t suited to being pets for children, they can be nasty and can give a bad nip. We had a couple of bad tempered ones but most were lovely. My current guineas are so beautiful but definitely not as squeaky as the ones I had as a kid. They’re friendly and very inquisitive. My son was only 2 when we got them and he’d sit in the run with them and they’d climb all over him.

We get wild rabbits in our garden so get to see the cuteness without the hassle and cost of vaccination etc. We would never get rabbits here as I’m worried a wild one would pass on a disease if it got near/into the run.

I suppose the downsides are the mess. There’s a surprising amount to clear up. And as someone mentioned already, they can be quite delicate with illness - it’s apparently not that easy to find a vet that regularly deals with them either. We haven’t had any illness though thankfully. We did have an infected eye but it was easy to deal with ourselves (hay seed in eye). One of ours is long haired and does need much more care than the other two.

Yes agree that sometimes its difficult to bond them with a new one, you have to get the right match. Yes also agree can work out if there's one left as long as its given lots and lots of attention. Glad its worked out for your one.

My experience with guinea pigs was they weren’t interested and just squeaked at me. My Rabbit was house trained and often enjoyed snuggles. The male bunnies seem to be more gentle and don’t tend to be as aggressive as females. Rabbits do need to be trained if they nip they get a little tap on their nose. Generally had a better experience with them and yes agree they are better to be in a pair for company and also need there tails sprayed in summer to avoid flystrike.

I would go for Guinea pigs. My experience of rabbits is that they can be aggressive (and their wee smells horrible)
Guinea pigs are lovely and always happy to see you and do the fabulous little squeaks.
@LouiseMadetheBestBroccoliPasta @ninetofiveeveryday whenever I introduced a new guinea pig I was advised to put a tiny smudge of Vicks vapour rub on their noses to confuse the scent. This worked every time, because over the course of about 10 years we introduced a couple of new ones each time their companion died

I’ve bred show guinea and skinny pigs in the past and also kept rabbits. Go with the pigs, 100%. Much more compact and friendly and you can get an absolutely amazing selection of colours and fur patterns my person favourites where lilac tri shelties and dark eyes whites. Plus skinny pigs of every type. You can easily keep 2 females in a 4x2 space and makes will retire more and also be more stinky so require more intense and regular cleaning. Puffs are great for recycling kitchen veg peelings ( nothing from onion or mushroom family and no potatoes). They need a constant supply of fresh hay and I liked to keep mine on wood shavings. This all got recycled into the garden waste bin or compost bins on my allotment.

Our C&C cage is cable tied together, so it doesn't fall apart.

Keeping them inside works really well for us. We are lucky to have room for them - they have our old playroom. I feel like I'd forget them if they were outside, but they are part of our family life inside and they won't let us forget them. I do know people who successfully keep guinea pigs outside.

The C&C cages are £££ if you buy one ready made. If you get the wire storage squares from Wayfair (or similar) then use flooring protector from Wickes to line it, they cost very little. I also cable tie the trickier areas together on mine as well as use the connectors they came with. I don't use fleece as bedding, I use Aubiose.

If you e got kids have guinea pigs.

A high percentage of rabbits hate being picked up and will kick and scratch.

We have two female guinea pigs kept outside. They're delightful! We handle them every day. Have a 6ft outdoor hutch.

We have 2 bunnies and 2 guinea pigs. The guinea pigs are messier but easier to look after. The bunnies are litter trained but they're also very destructive because they chew and dig at anything they have access to. No hutch is big enough for a bunny to live in full time so you would either need a bunny proofed room indoors or a shed type arrangement outside.

They are both prey animals so don't like to be picked up.

Rabbits need a lot more space and exercise than they are usually given, and they are not particulalry cuddly animals. They have good claws and teeth on them. Guinea pigs make much more rewarding pets.

My preference for small animals is rats - they are lively, intelligent, affectionate - house them right, and they are great fun. But not to everyone's taste.

Thick as two short planks tho' 😄

Guinea pigs 💯

This rabbits are unpredictable they can bite and kick - I have owned about 50 guinea pigs, 10 rabbits, 10 hamsters and 10 mice in my time - I’ve said to everything rodent wise except guinea pigs now and I’ve owned (different ones!) for about 45 years! Never ever had a guinea pigs who couldn’t be handled or who bit, rabbits have the nickname thumper for a reason!

Guinea pigs, ideally a trio.

(But rats make better pets and aren't as long a committment. Rats are fantastic! Such playful and friendly pets)

Rabbits are hard work, need a lot of room and you can’t keep single ones. Also not recommended for children. Please go on for www.saveafluff.co.uk for more info. It’s a really good website. My vote is guinea pigs but they also need a lot of room