Has anyone had guinea pigs and rabbits (not together!)

[Pegase]

I had a couple of rabbits when a child/teenager. One was pretty antisocial and bit, the other was the soppiest thing ever and super friendly. Am thinking of getting a pair of either rabbits or pigs now my daughter is a bit older and able to follow instructions! If you have experienced both, which would you recommend? I have no experience of guinea pigs, only rabbits.

Guinea pigs every time. Much easier to handle. They need plenty of space, but rabbits really need so much space (much more than any of us gave them years ago)

I had pigs. They lived a long time, way longer than they were supposed to. But like all pets, they became my mums redponsibility in the end as I grew out of girlhood and got busy with school and study. They were cute and I played with them a lot. But I won’t be getting any for my kids, too much responsibility and they ruined our lawn!

Guinea pigs are a lot easier in many ways, but they are not necessarily the most robust health-wise. A vet told me that these small animals can succumb very quickly and find it a lot harder to recover than a larger animal. They also shouldn't be outside in cold and wet weather, even if the hutch is covered. They ought to be, at least, in a dry and damp-proof outbuilding for bad weather but they will still need light and good ventilation. And access to some outside space on a lawn during good weather if possible. Again, they need shelter in case of rain/too much sun and watch out for foxes or neighbouring dogs getting in and killing them if left in an outdoor run unsupervised. (Can you tell I've encountered guinea pig trauma either myself or through friends!) I kept mine indoors in an indoor hutch (they don't really smell) and cleaned them out very very regularly.

They are very engaging pets and easy to tame and handle. Two un-neutered males together aren't a good idea though and as they are social animals they do need companionship if possible. I believe it's relatively easy to have males neutered though. Having said that, I adopted two neutered males from the RSPCA and although they'd grown up together they did fight after a while!.

I think a lot of them don't last very long because people think they can live outside, like rabbits, in all weathers and they really can't.

I had both growing up and I’m pigs over rabbits.. never have I been bitten by a pig, not growled at or anything short of cute excitement. They can’t really be toilet trained but their poop is solid so it’s not like it’s a sudden explosive mess, rabbits can be litter trained but.. well um that’s the individual rabbits choice.

There’s also such a variety of guinea’s too I had one that looked like those furry monster slippers and another who had a comb over of smooth long hair where he was otherwise short coated. Cares the same besides brushing and bathing long coats but again they’re fairly calm creatures so I was never bitten even when detangling them. They’re smaller and easier to hold for smaller hands too..

When you say not outside for pigs, is a shed ok for cold weather?

Was looking at something like this as includes a run as well as a house.

https://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/rabbitproducts/egluugorabbitthutch/

We definitely just had the horrid little hutches when I was a child

Also fully aware I'll be looking after them myself but that doesn't bother me really.

Ive got a pair of rabbits. The second one was a rescue. Dont buy from a breeder get rescue animals.

You couldn't keep them in those hutches all year for several reasons - they would fig out of the run (it says the cages have mesh, but I'm not sure that includes the run). You couldn't keep them anywhere sunny in the summer as they would boil. I had a terrible time keeping mine cool as they loved to sunbathe. You need to be able to get at them at least once a day to check for flystrike.

The Omlet hutches are really small (and £££)

I have just one older piggie girl now , she will be kept indoors apart from going out in the run when it's nice.

Mine had a wooden playhouse that DH adapted for them. I put a rabbit hutch (on the floor , legs cut off and a door cut in the end) on one side , and a big plastic box (one for holding garden cushions, two doors cut) in the other side with a divide in the middle when I had 2 groups (at one time we had 2 sows and a Boar+2 sows groups)

But they came inside for winter nights , and out to their cosy shed by day time

We bought some Bunny Business runs and put some hidey boxes in .
Our plan is to put the rabbit run inside the big run for our sow .
I would use the Omlet inside the big run so they have a place to hide , but only in summer .
If they feel cold or unhappy they'll just hide away .

I've never kept rabbits but i love piggies and I love the fact they are noisy, greedy, totally dependant , quite vunerable , don't do anything strenuous , don't bite (by and large) and are very cuddly .

Guinea pigs need a lot of space (rabbits need more though) . In Summer mine would go out into their runs , they had shade and we always made sure there was a nice breeze where possible . Sometimes they couldn't go out till late afternoon. The Pighouse was always shady (its under a tree) , good ventilation.

Omlets are rubbish and overpriced, for pigs or buns.

I'm a rabbit person personally, but I don't mind them being scatty, greedy, doing things they shouldn't and the occasional nip!

Mine are currently free-range indoors with their own bedroom. I have my current bun coming home with his new wifebun tomorrow as he was recently widowed - always adopt don't shop! - I have yet to see how the wifebun copes with indoor life as she was picked up as a stray, but she's a sociable girl so hopefully will be all good and she won't destroy the house.

I do have an outdoor set up for them too, it's a custom made 6x4 shed (with a big window and a shelf inside they can run up a ramp and look out the window, windows have shutters and mesh, door also has an inner mesh door), then there's a hatch I can open and they run through a short tunnel into a 10x5 full height roofed aviary. It cost a packet, but is solid as heck! Sadly the guys that built it have gone out of business now (their demand for custom builds was so long their waiting list was getting out of hand).

FYI I don't have kids at the moment, I have rabbits. The fact my only spare bedroom is the "rabbit's room" is something my mother regularly brings up as she can't come over and stay without booking a hotel!

My old pair, who passed away at 12 and 13 years old respectively, didn't like small children. One would run and hide, the other would stand her ground and bite if necessary. They loved adults though!

There's some Rabbit Welfare Association recommended manufacturers here, many would also work for pigs, but you wouldn't want too many ramps for piggies.
www.thebigrabbithutch.co.uk/outdoor-housing.html
*note no Omlet!

I have both.

Guineas are harder work day to day. Few can be litter trained, so their whole cage needs cleaning out each time as they tend to pee and poo everywhere. I use wood pellet cat litter covered in washable incontinence pads and change the pads three times a week, clear out the pellets as needed. They also need a wide range of fruit and veg every day as they can't synthesis Vit C, so it takes time preparing their meals.

Rabbits take more to set up - mine have a shed and huge run, but easier day to day. They use litter trays, so have 4 in their shed which I clean at least weekly. The floor and levels are covered in incontinence pads, but they, too, can just be cleaned once a week if that. We let them out in the morning, and shut them in in the shed at night. They don't have the same Vit C need so I just give them one veg a day along with their nuggets and hay.

The guineas are curently indoors but will go out into their own shed when it's ready, and the weather's warmed up. But they won't be able to go into their run for at least half the year.

The other thing to consider is that rabbits are not a good mix with young children. Their back legs are really strong, so if they're not held securely enough they can break their own backs.