Guinea pigs and hamsters - yes or no?

[tinypatters]

Hi everyone,

I've had the chance to adopt some guinea pigs come up, and wanted to get more opinions. I have kept guinea pigs before, but never kept them side-by-side with other animals.

I have some hamsters that are kept by my kids, and they suggested that it may be easier to keep all the pets in one place i.e. like a free-run enclosure in a room. It would obvs be fun for the kids to be able to watch all the pets run around (and possibly interact with each other).

I've read that guinea pigs and hamsters shouldn't be kept together (source: Can You Keep A Guinea Pig And A Hamster In The Same Cage? ), but haven't really found many other good articles that talk about these 2 specific rodents.

Have you kept guinea pigs and hamsters together in the same cage/enclosure before? If so, did that work out? What did you do? Any tips and suggestions would be really helpful in me making a decision to adopt these cute little cavies!

They have very different foods & needs and Guinea pigs are much bigger than hamsters. Guinea pigs won't climb but hamsters will.

You can’t keep guinea pigs with hamsters. They’re completely different animals with different needs and diets. There’s no reason why they couldn’t live in the same place in separate cages but you can’t keep them together.

You say you’ve kept guinea pigs before and you’re already looking after hamsters. How can you possibly think this is a good idea?

You can’t keep Guinea pigs and hamsters together. They have totally different needs, diets and sleeping patterns.

We’ve got 2 Guinea pigs and a hamster. We don’t keep them in the same room because they’re not actually that keen on each other.

Hamsters plural? Are the hamsters currently living together?

No, of course you can't keep them together.

It's not hard to find this information. Any reputable pet shop/ vet will tell you this. Or indeed Google and the article you have already found.

Your children suggested it because they like the idea but you're the adult and you know the needs of the animals. Don't do this just because your children fancy it. It's obviously not a good idea.