Can chinchilla be friend with guinea pig?

[Evelyn]

My friend have a guinea pig and she wanna bring him over and put him in the same cage with my chin. just for a short time to see if they would play. I'm not sure if its a good idea. But I'm so new with all these rodents so I don't know the god reasons to refuse her. Any suggestions? The guinea pig seems to be healthy and they have him for about five weeks.

 

[starleomach]

I would not do it.

 

[Olallie]

I wouldn't do it simply because the chinchilla has sharper teeth and is quicker than a guinea pig, the poor guinea pig might not be quick enough to defend himself, if attacked.

 

[mistywaterwoman]

They can't communicate, and would not socialize together even in the wild. Not a good idea.

 

[Ash]

They can't play together. Chinchillas eat poop, guinea pig poop isn't going to be good for the chinchilla. Also, they "play" in two totally different ways. Chinchillas bound around and bounce off of things. Guinea bodies aren't made for that, and would probably be scared of all the rambunctiousness of a chin.

 

[Laurie]

I tried this when I got my first chinchilla as we had a guinea pig, and Artie was absolutely terrified of our chin Bobo. I definitely do not recommend them playing together at all. Chins are WAY too active and hyper for the guinea pigs and it just isn't a good idea.

 

[jrosler04]

In NO way I am condoning this.. but I wanted to say, I had a friend (who actually got me interested in chinchillas years ago) who kept a chinchilla in the same cage as her guinea pigs.

I personally saw it a horrible idea, as the chinchillas are jumpers (as we all know) and guinea pigs aren't. She finally ended up seperating them after the chinchilla did a flying leap off of one of the shelves & landed on the guinea pig & injured it (broken leg I believe)

Guinea pigs require a large amount of vitamin C & often are fed lots of fresh veggies & grasses, and we all know this isn't neccesary for chinchillas.

IF your friend wants a playmate for thier guinea pig, they need to get a new guinea pig of the same sex, do a quarantine, and then introduce them.

 

[Lily&Lucy]

I have never owned guinea pigs but my friend did and they are just so much different than chinchillas that it just does not seem like a good idea. Her guinea pig was much more subdued in comparison to my chinnies. I would think that the chinchilla would overwhelm the guinea pig at the very least.

 

[Peep_erz]

Before I knew any better my roommate and I did a playtime with Polo and her guinea pig. The guinea pig cried and tried to hide the whole time while Polo hopped around, wall surfed, and almost trampled the poor gp.

From first hand experience and now thorough research I would have to say a big fat NO.

 

[Carol~Anne]

When I was at my most clueless state I did let my first chinchilla (Pip) play with our guinea pig. She had one of those open pens so when Pip was out for playtime he would always hop into the guinea pig's pen and visit her. He'd mostly just sit on top of her hidey house or bounce around her pen but sometimes he'd hump her and then I'd chase him out. I didn't really think much about it until I mentioned it online and someone sent me a pm telling me that having them both together was not a good idea and that guinea pigs carry certain bacteria that is harmful to chinchillas. Not really sure if that is true or not but after that I decided not to let them be that close again just in case.

 

[Whimsy]

I definately would NOT put the one in the other's cage. First is the territorial issue.
Aside from that, I have known of chins and guinea pigs "playing" together in a neutral area. I know nothing of harmful bacteria related to the interactions, but their dietary requirements are certainly different enough to disallow them to remain together.