Hamster interacting with a Guinea Pig.

[reedtwick]

I already have a hamster and I want to buy a guinea pig. If I buy one it's possible for them to interact with each other? *They wouldn't live at the same cage and the contact would be for a short time with supervision!*
Sorry for my bad english.

[Drago]

Hello, unfortunately, no matter how social a particular animal may be, you should never allow cross-species contact. In fact, when it comes to hamsters in general, you may not even want to allow same species contact! Guinea pigs and hamsters would never come across one another in the wild, and hamsters are naturally solitary so they wouldn't get anything out of being introduced to your guinea pigs. It would be best just to play with your hamster yourself, and let your guinea pigs spend time with one another

I'm not super experienced with guinea pigs, so someone on here who is may advise you better and in more detail, but guinea pigs should never be kept alone. Guinea pigs kept by themselves develop neurological problems which ultimately lead to a premature death after a life of suffering. Worry not as having two guinea pigs is really no more work than having just one, plus two is always much more fun! If you cannot get a pair of guinea pigs, I'd recommend holding off on getting them. Best wishes :)

[cypher]

Definitely don't have a ham & guinea pig interact, they can live in the same room as long as they're kept apart but that's as close as they can get, guinea pigs are social animals so you can't keep one, you do need to have at least two so maybe do some more research into keeping them & check out a good guinea pig forum before you decide about keeping them or not.

[dreamtree1234]

Greetings, Reedtwick! I have both, and I most certainly agree that regardless of how sociable each are, they should definitely not interact with one another. It is potentially dangerous and most definitely stressful for them to do so. Enjoy each of them separately, but please do not ever have them play with one another even for a short and supervised time. Hope this helps.

[flowerfairy]

Good luck with getting a guinea pig. I would advise getting two as they are very sociable animals and rely on each other very much.

As others have said it is best not to mix species.

[chesca_27]

I would avoid interaction between them. I have both a hamster and a pair of guinea pigs. They need to be kept in pairs as they are sociable animals. In addition, they have completely different diets and environments. Guinea pigs are also gigantic compared to hamsters and a guinea pig could easily crush a hamster.

[AprilPearl]

Not a good idea. My friend tried introducing her guinea pig to her hamster and apparently the hamster tried to bite the guinea pig. Sounds as though both animals were freaked out by the experience. Personally, I have kept both at the same time in the past, but never allowed them to meet.