# Rats and Guinea Pigs



## Malarz (Sep 7, 2014)

This is a straightforward question: can rats live together with guinea pigs? Or play together? Is that unsafe for either?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

They cannot live together. Rats need vertical, guineas need horizontal. Additionally guineas and rats have different dietary needs. They should not play together as there is zero benefit (they cant talk, dont have similar behavioralism and wants) and multiple reasons not to (stress, territorialism, and even rats preying on guineas).


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## Rattenstein (Nov 14, 2014)

I can't imagine they would play together, I've had guinea pigs in the past, and they're nothing like rats, I doubt they would get along. They would probably attack each other. I don't know if you mean to put them in the same cage or not, but that would be a terrible idea, they have completely different dietary needs, you wouldn't want them eating each others food. You could of course have both species in the same house, just in separate cages, but they wouldn't play together.


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## Daisygirl721 (Oct 26, 2014)

I have had a rat named Felicity who had a best friend that was a guinea pig. They never lived in the same cage because the pig would always play rough, but they played outside together all the time. They got along great! they even cuddled.


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## Malarz (Sep 7, 2014)

My question was only theoretical. I do not plan to have a guinea pig. That day I saw the cutest little, white piglet in a pet store. I started to wonder if ratties could spend time together with her. That's start prompted my question. After all you see all those videos of rats interacting with other species, even with cats! 
I did some digging in the forum archive, and found this question was asked in 2007. The answers were about the same as start you have said here. 

What if rats and guinea pigs were brought up together since babies? Would they retain their prey/predator instincts?


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## Lita (Jul 10, 2014)

The issue of them being together would be less of a predator prey. Yes the rat might have a kill drive, if you have a particularly wild rat, but a guinea pig is very large compared to a rat. Chances are the most one would do is attack and injure a guinea pig. A guinea pig has some big teeth as well, and can easily hurt a rat if it got a chance.

Animals do not do well cross species. Cats and dogs, which most people have together, and many farm animals are special in that they have been bred for a very long time and have adapted to us as well as each other during that time. Small exotics have not been bred for near as long or in such a special circumstance.

Guinea pigs are very delicate little things. Their backs are easily injured. They are extremely social, almost to the same level as a rat, but they have a different social structure then a rat. Rats are aggressive, like ferrets, in their behavior and play. Guinea pigs are skiddish, very much the prey animal, and more likely to posture their way through a dispute then have a physical altercation. Those that react violently are often to be met with an even more violent response. They don't have the brain or memory banks of a rat, and while they can learn things (and are by no means stupid) they are not on the same level. It would be like having your 6 year old play with your 6 month old, alone. Someone is going to get hurt because they simply cannot understand each other. One does one thing and the other takes extreme offence. (Example, I have a blind guinea pig. He was raised alone, and was not known to be blind until I got him, at least a year old. I attempted to introduce him to my pigs and he panicked when they touched him. In response they reacted and the end result was a horrible and frenzied fight. This was between guinea pigs, but the one did not understand basic guinea pig "talk" and as such could not react properly. A rat would likely have a similar issue.) Rats also have stronger immune systems. I know we all stress the URIs and the tumors and things but you see how many people home treat their rats with a huge success rate. A guinea pig can be dead within a couple days from URI if not treated with medication from the vet. And many things that other animals can catch or carry may not be fatal to them (such as certain viruses found in rabbits) but will kill a guinea pig with no issue. Now I don't think taking a quick picture is deadly, if done smartly, but I still wouldn't recommend even that. I know our rats were curious about the pigs but I would never let them anywhere near each other.

Overall, theoretical or not, it isn't a good thing to even consider or entertain the idea. People entertain the idea and someone invariably tries it, and if it doesn't end in failure then they become one of those people who advocates cross species co-habitation, like those that keep rabbits and guinea pigs, because "it worked for me". I'm sure there are people who have had rats and mice live together, but 99% of people will tell you it is one of the worst things to try and do.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Because we are dealing with rats there is no right answer. Rats are learning animals so it depends very much on what they have learned. When Fuzzy Rat was a tiny pup we also had a litter of mice and my daughter put them together to play, the mice being a little older were nearly the same size as the rat... they pretty much just avoided each other. 

When Fuzzy Rat got older she would jump into the mouse play pen and steal their food, but she never bothered with the mice. When our part wild rat came home after being outdoors on her own for 5 months I actually got a nasty bite blocking her from attacking a mouse... She saw mice very differently... as something to kill on the spot and most likely to eat. No mouse would ever survive a single second encounter with her. I would suspect that some people who raise their rats and pigs together under careful supervision might have some good luck with it. And some rats are just inherently friendly and curious and not likely to attack other animals, but I'd also suggest that if my part wild rat ever met a guinea pig, she'd likely kill it on the spot and then try and drag off and eat the carcass later. And by the way, our part wild rat was perfectly friendly to her human family, you would never know she killed or attacked other animals and human strangers until after it was too late... She was both a perfect sweetheart and a stone cold killer at the same time... 

It might be fun to have your pigs and rats playing together, but once you actually see a rat attack another animal, you'll know things can get really bad really fast. It's like the way rats play fight in hyper speed, only with lots of blood.


Best luck


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