As rodents, guinea pigs and rats can get grouped together in many different environments such as pet stores.
Some owners even have they two species as pets in the same home.
Guinea pigs and rats share some similarities.
They are both rodents and because of this they have a need to chew all of the time.
Their teeth are constantly growing and so they need to grind them down by chewing on food that keeps their teeth the length they need them to be.
If they don’t, their teeth get very uncomfortable for them.
They both need exercise and love to run. They need the space to explore and are very inquisitive animals.
So with this in mind, can guinea pigs and rats play together?
Unfortunately, just because they are from the same animal family and they share certain similarities, doesn’t mean that they can play and hang out together peacefully.
Guinea pigs and rats are very different animals.
They very different characters and have quiet conflicting attributes which if put together in the same habitat, would not end well!
Rats are…
Rats are quite aggressive creatures who like to dominate their environment.
They are predators who are omnivores who like to eat pretty much anything they set their eyes on including animals and plants.
When in the wild, rats will prey on small animals such as guinea pigs and would seek to attack them.
Even in captivity, there is a risk that they would strike out at your guinea pig, even if you think you know them well.
Guinea pig are…
Guinea pigs, on the other hand are nervous animals.
As prey animals, they have survived by escaping the clutches of predators for generations.
They have done this by being quick and smart and by working together in packs and sensitive to their environment.
A guinea pig would not react well to a rat being in the same environment.
At the minimum, it would most certainly scare them!
How should guinea pigs and rats be kept?
Although they are both social animals, they should only be kept with their own species.
Some owners keep them with other species such as guinea pigs and rabbits.
But most certainly, a guinea pig and rat should not be kept together.
Should they ever play together?
If you want to see if they would play together, they need close supervision from yourself to ensure that they do not fight.
If there is even a hint of aggression then they need to be pulled out and separated.
This is not recommended though, and at the least they should be kept in separate environments. The rat in a cage and the guinea pig in a good sized c&c cage or hutch with a run.
They will enjoy this much more and it will save any scares or unsavory behavior between them.
