Can I Keep a Guinea Pig and Mouse Together?

Raising pets is rewarding and fun. As an enthusiastic pet lover, you might be wondering if keeping a guinea pig and mouse together in one cage is recommended.

Before choosing to house your guinea pig and mouse together, ensure you weigh the pros and cons of mixing the two animals and see which one outweighs the other.

I know you can be tempted to mix a piggy and a mouse, considering they are both rodents. But be sure first of what you are doing.

This article focuses on guinea pigs and mice and answers the question, “Can I keep a guinea pig and mouse together? Get the answer to this question today and here!

Can I Keep a Guinea Pig and Mouse Together?

It is not wise to keep a guinea pig and mouse together. And why is that? Letting your guinea pig share its cage with a mouse can bring more risks than benefits, as we will see further in the article.

For instance, a mouse is a carrier of many infectious diseases like Salmonella, which can kill your guinea pig. Hence, it poses a more significant risk of disease outbreaks. Ouch!

Guinea pigs and mice have different needs despite being in the rodents’ category. This is in terms of space requirement, food and their natural behavior. 

If allowed to live together, one rodent will be more privileged than the other since they all differ in their requirements.

Risk When a Guinea Pig and Mouse Stay Together

When a guinea pig and mouse stay together, it is a recipe for a catastrophe for the guinea pig in terms of its health.

Guinea pigs are fragile, meaning that infected waste from mice, e.g., urine and waste droppings, are enough to transmit diseases to your piggy.

Moreover, mice are the primary host of lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) and usually shed this virus in their urine, feces, and saliva.

Your guinea pig is not safe as it can succumb to Salmonella and LCM diseases which affect brain tissue.

Unfortunately, the latter has no cure unless you visit a specialist vet, and he may prescribe supportive treatments to your guinea pig.

Guinea pigs are herbivores, while mice are omnivores. While a mouse will eat anything it can find, guinea pigs majorly love hay and fruits. It’s impossible to sustain both pets because of their taste for different food.

Guinea pigs and mice are social animals. However, they’re happier and more comfortable when paired with their fellow companions.

Are There Any Benefits If Guinea Pig and Mouse Live Together?

Despite the high risks of rearing guinea pigs and mice together, there’s a likelihood of some benefits.

If your guinea and mouse get along and stay together, it minimizes your feeding time, space, and cleaning tasks.

Also, the cost of setting up a cage reduces since you have one cage and not two. You can supervise the animals from the same place.

Keeping these pets together also helps to break the boredom, especially when they are at peace with each other. They are both highly social pets.

Although you will benefit from housing your guinea pig and pet together, the risks are obviously many more than benefits. So, it is always to provide a different cage for each. Better you incur high costs than to risk losing your pet.

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What Animals Can Live Together with Guinea Pigs?

We all know how guinea pigs love having a companion in their house. What if you take that as a privilege and introduce your rabbit or dog to stay together with your guinea pig?

Would it be a good idea, or it’s another way of stressing the piggy? No matter how social guinea pigs are, they will never feel comfortable around a different animal species.

The only companion suitable for a guinea pig is another guinea pig. They should be both friendly towards each other and are stress-free.

Good combinations for guinea pigs include one male vs one/more females and two females. Two males may also stay together, but only if they were reared together and are agemates.

However, if you still need to house your piggy with another different pet, I recommend you talk to your vet or a pet breeder as he might know the household pets that can cohabit with your guinea pig.

Some pets get used to each other if they grow together from a young age, despite coming from different species.

Can You Mix Different Rodents in The Same Cage?

It can be tempting to house different rodents under one cage to save on cleaning time, space, and the cage setup cost.

In situations where you have two different rodents, which are social, same gender, same age, and closely related, they may cope well with each other.

However, get information from a professional breeder or vet on which rodents to combine and when. Housing different adult rodents that never lived together earlier in their lives will indeed fight and injure each other.

Remember the saying, “It is wiser to be safe than sorry”? It is hazardous and suicidal to mix different rodents in the same cage.

The natural behavior of rodents is different since some are predators, so that other pets will be prey to them. The ultimate results will be injuries and deaths.

Wrapping Up

Guinea pigs and mice are entertaining, social, adorable and docile pets to keep. They need attention, tenderness and lots of passion.

These pets admire and feel safe when close to their fellow ones, especially those of the same gender.

However, it is suicidal to keep your guinea pig and mouse together even though they are pocket pets. This is due to their food, behavior, housing, and space difference. 

In case you have limited space and time and you want your piggy and mouse to live together, be sure to consult a vet or professional breeder first before doing anything you might regret.