Introducing guinea pigs to other pets

Question
Hi there!
I am about to own an albino guinea pig and I was wondering how they would interact (if at all) with other pets like the ferret I also own, who also gets along well with the dog. Both the guinea pig and the ferret are about year old. If so, would you have any tips about introducing them?
Thanks,
   Cathy

Answer
Dear Cathy,

In the wild, guinea pigs are prey animals, and as such, very rarely get on with animals that are not their own kind. The only occassional exception is dwarf rabbits. I would not recommend introducing your guinea pig to your ferret, and certainly not to your dog. The risk is that at some point natural instinct will kick in, and the dog will chase the guinea pig; this will almost always result in a dead guinea pig; either from shock, or because the dog is too rough with it.

Having said that, you can still have a guinea pig living happily in your home with the other pets, so long as they are not allowed to "play" together. When I lived with my parents, we had three guinea pigs and a dog. The dog was very interested in them when they were running around, and would watch their cage, but he wouldn't attack them. To handle the guinea pigs though, you will have to shut the dog in another room. Dogs are intelligent animals and seem to understand the uncrossable boundaries of a piggy in a cage. Once a guinea pig is on a person's lap, on the floor, or in a run in the garden, though, the situation is very different. Any dog, no matter how gentle and loving, would chase a running guinea pig.

I have no experience in keeping ferrets with guinea pigs; you will need to research the instincitve behaviours of both animals. As guinea pigs are prey animals, they are very defensive in a fight, and will sometimes play dead (except with other guinea pigs, and then they fight back). If ferrets are also prey animals they may be okay; but keep a close eye on them.

Good luck, and if you have any other questions ... just ask!

Jenny.