Pairing Chinchilla and Rabbit

[tylerthedruid]

I recently was given a chinchilla by my mother. It has a 7-shelf cage that is about 5 square ft at the bottom, and is about 5 feet tall. My ex Girlfriend is moving to another university at the end of the summer and leaving me with her pet rabbit that she refuses to take with her out of sheer laziness and lack of compassion for other living things.

The rabbit is a very kind rabbit, but has been known to attack people when they touch it's food bowl. I've heard that rabbits only bite people because they think that they're incapable of hurting something as large as a human.

1. Can the Rabbit be put in a cage with the chinchilla?
2. Is there a way to seperate the food they eat? Can they eat the same food?
3. Has anyone else tried this sort of thing?
4. Isn't it illegal to abandon a rabbit? What other choices do I have if I can't put the rabbit and chinchilla together? I don't have much room for another cage, and won't put either animal in a tiny cage because they're both pets, not livestock.

If they get along, it would be really neat. The rabbit would sort of live on the bottom shelves, and the chinchilla would have it's own space in the top. My parent's dog is extremely gentle to the the chinchilla, so I assume that animals are naturally gentle to small animals. Perhaps the rabbit will be the same?

Also, it isn't reccomended to house two animals of different species together by the pet store. However, I've seen plenty of cases where housing the same species together wasn't a good idea - so I don't really think it matters so much if Chinchillas and Rabbits are compatible.

[Crazy Chin Lady]

I know a lot of pet stores put different species of animals together, but in my personal opinion, it's just not a good idea, PERIOD! I really don't know where they get off thinking it's ok to do that...

For one, the food is completely different. Another, why risk the rabbit kicking with it's back feet and hurting the chinchilla or worse??

And you said the rabbit bites when someone comes near it's food bowl? It makes me wonder what would happen if another pet came near it?

That's just my opinion. I'm sure other people will weigh in on this.

[canadiancritter]

I dunno much about chins, but you could always try house training the rabbit

[Chinchi]

NO - big nono!
Don't put them together!

They are two VERY different species, and it WILL end bad!

They can't understand each other, and you can't give them the space to get away from each other...
Also, they don't eaven live the same place out in the wild.
If you absolitly want to put animals from different species together, they should always come from the same area in the wild!
(Also why degus and chinchillas can't live together...)

They can't eat each others food. Again because of the fact that they do not live the same places in the wild, so their diet isen't the same.


If you do not want to keep one or the other, you need to give it away, or give it to a shelter!

If your problem is space, you could try bulding your own cage.
Then you could make 2 cages in 1.
I can try and draw what I mean, if your interested?

The thing you said about housing the same species.
Not all animals like each other. It's the same as with people. So just because you get to animals af the same species, like chinchillas, that dosen't like each other, this dosen't mean that it's okay to put a rabbit and at chinchilla together.
They might tolerate each other for some time, but if the rabbit gets annoid, it can really hurt the chinchilla. And the chinchilla can hurt your rabbit too.

I'm not quite sure, but don't rabbits run around in the daytime?
Chinchillas run around at night, so that would totally stress out both animals too...

[Dragonrain]

Rabbits are crepuscular - they are most active early in the morning and later at night. (around sunrise and sunset)

I agree - don't put a rabbit in with a chinchilla.

Quote: he rabbit would sort of live on the bottom shelves, and the chinchilla would have it's own space in the top.

What makes you think the rabbit would stay on the bottom? The rabbit would probably love the top area of the cage! Lots of people I know have rabbit cages with upper shelves for the rabbits to hop up to, and the rabbits love it!

Rabbits can be territorial and it's sometimes hard just to get two rabbits to get along. There is a huge possibility that it will just harass the chinchilla, maybe even hurt it. And I don't know much about chinchillas, but it could probably do some damage to the rabbit as well.

I think if you want to keep both, you can either build some kind of a stacked cage to save on space - like one cage on top one on bottom, but they are seperated. You could also litter train the rabbit and rabbit proof the room, and let it free roam instead of caging it.

If you can't seperated them, you should probably rehome the rabbit. Maybe if you tell your ex that if she leaves it with you, your just going to find a new home for it, then maybe she would change her mind and take it with her? On the other hand, if she's too lazy to care for it maybe it would be better for the rabbit if you just find it a good new home. You could also do a search for rabbit shelters in your area, and bring it there.

Good luck!

[Jade]

Everyone else has given great responses, so I'll simply echo the sentiment - don't cage different species together.

[tylerthedruid]

Sounds like a really bad idea to put them together.

I thought about letting the rabbit roam the room. It's litter trained to some extent, but leaves dropping occassionally.

I'm going to look into building a new cage for him. The cage she keeps him in is way too small, and the rabbit is a nice rabbit and deserves a larger place to live.

[ChinnyMom]

Do not even house the animals in the same room. no contact whatsoever. The rabbit will give the chinchilla pasteurella. It is airborne.

[Chinchi]

Do you know chinchillas can get this?
Most deseaces can't go from one species to an other...

[Dragonrain]

Hmm, that's interesting. Are chinchillas extra susceptable to pastuerella?

Some rabbits get sick from pastuerella, but others can be carriers of it that show no symptoms of being sick at all. That's one of the reasons it can be confusing when rabbits get sick, because they can test positive for pastuerella even if that's not really the problem.

But when I was reading about rabbits and pastuerella, I read that it can be passed from humans to rabbits, because humans can sometimes have it on their skin. I would think that if pastuerella was a big deal in chinchillas too, that they may also be able to get it from humans?

I'm just wondering, I really don't know much at all about chinchillas, other then that they're cute!

[Skratikans]

pasteurella in general can be caught through close contact..i dont see how the bacteria is airborne though

[ChinnyMom]

It is an airborne disease that rabbits carry which is deadly to chinchillas. http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/past.shtml


Read this:
http://www.chins-n-quills.com/forums...=rabbits+chins


I have not read up on it enough to know exactly what happends, all that I know for absolute sure is that rabbits carry the disease and can most definitely pass it to chinchillas which in the end WILL kill your chinchilla.

[ChinnyMom]

Quote: Originally Posted by Skratikans i dont see how the bacteria is airborne though

I have gotten this from a person on a chinchilla forum.
http://www.chins-n-quills.com/forums...8&postcount=12

Quote: recent studies have showed that the bacteria may remain viable for up to 12 hours in moist areas such as wet bedding or carpet, up to 12 min on dry areas. Pasteurella may also be spread through aerosolized saliva when an animal sneezes. So it can be spread much like a upper resp infection.

[Chinchi]

That dosen't answer my question.
I asked if it can go from one species to an other...

[ChinnyMom]

I don't understand.