Are Guinea Pigs Or Rabbits Better Pets? | Similarities and Differences To Determine

Petting is such a passionate behavior of people. But, there are so many options around you to pet. 

When taking into account guinea pigs and rabbits, the question comes “are guinea pigs or rabbits better pets?” as they both are so adorable to pet. 

There are similarities between these two little devils. In terms of similarities, they are friendly, need proper housing, love to live with companions, and so on. On the other hand, there are differences in diet, size, life expectancy, sleeping, etc. 

Considering the aspects of petting them, things need an explanation to decide which one is better as a pet. So, let’s do it to help you to adopt the most desirable pet between guinea pigs and rabbits. 

Are Guinea Pigs Or Rabbits Better Pets? : Similarities

As I have mentioned before, there are similarities and differences between these two. To determine which one is most suitable as a pet, we have to discuss both sides. 

Are rabbits or guinea pigs more friendly? In terms of friendliness, both are amicable. They love to make affectionate with their owners. But, it happens in a slow and steady process. 

Are rabbits more social than guinea pigs? Both guinea pigs and rabbits are asocial pets. They love to roam with people and their own species. So, it is recommended to pet at least two of the same species at a time. 

As they both are adorable pets, they need proper housing. But there are differences in their housing implementation. 

In the diet section, both animals are herbivores. They eat plants, grass, and other leafy plants. Almost 70% of the diet chart is the same for both. 

Both guinea pigs and rabbits need proper grooming once a day. They need special medical care as being pet animals. They have hiding habits because of their prey nature. Sometimes they incorporate unhealthy and illness due to the place they hide. 

Are Guinea Pigs Or Rabbits Better Pets?: Differences 

Appearance and Looks

Due to their cute appearance and long ears and sweet faces, rabbits have captured the hearts of millions of people. Undoubtedly, rabbits will prevail in this segment. 

The shape of the guinea pig is not the same as that rabbit. Also, guinea pigs don’t have such long two ears as rabbits.

There are more than 50 species of rabbits, whereas the guinea pigs have 13 breeds. 

Behavior and Habitat

• The guinea pigs always live with human beings. They are not wild animals. Guinea pigs basically roam around people and live in cages from the very first of their life. 

Rabbits, on the other hand, adore living in natural settings like grasslands, meadows, woods, deserts, and wetlands in addition to being domesticated pets.

• Which is easier to take care of? Rabbits love to roam around bigger spaces. They are not caged pets at all. But, there is no need for such big spaces for guinea pigs to roam. They are quite ok in a cage. 

So, the rabbits need extra care for proper grooming. 

• Another behavior thing about the rabbit is, that it could be destructive for many reasons. But, the guinea pigs are calm. 
• The rabbits need to exercise on a regular basis, so need to spend more time on it. But, guinea pigs are not like that. 
• Guinea pigs create more noise than rabbits. Guinea pigs also love to listen to music. 

Size and Weight

The average size of a guinea pig ranges from 20 cm to 40 cm. In addition, they weigh around 1 pound to 3 pounds. 

On the other hand, the smallest rabbit is found at 20 cm, whereas the largest one is 50 cm or 19.7 inches. In addition, the weight of the smallest rabbit is found only 0.9 (0.4 kg) pounds, whereas the biggest one is found at 4.4 pounds (more than 2 kg). 

Lifespan and Reproduction 

The guinea pigs basically live 4 years to 8 years. They have on average a gestation period of 68 days (59 to 72 days) and give birth on average 4 pups in a litter. The pups come with formed fur because of the long gestation period. 

On the other hand, rabbits have a longer lifespan than guinea pigs. The average lifespan of a rabbit is 8 years to 12 years. But the wild rabbits do not live more than 4 years. 

They have a shorter gestation period too. Rabbits give birth on average after 30 to 33 days. Due to shorter gestation, the children are born without fur along with closed eyes. 

Sleeping

A rabbit has straight around 8 hours of sleeping daily and wakes up at twilight with energy. 

But, a guinea pig has random snaps of sleep day and night. 

Like rabbits, we have another comparison between Guinea pigs and hamsters. You may check this out on “Is A Guinea Pig Or A Hamster Better? | 7 Factors to Consider”

FAQs

Which is easier to take care of a guinea pig or rabbit?

The Guinea pig is a gentle and docile pet. They don’t roam so much and move to and fro randomly. They are not more aggressive as rabbits. There are lees of hassle in taking care of guinea pigs due to their calming nature. 

What smells worse rabbits or guinea pigs?

Though rabbit’s urine has a strong smell, it could be managed. Rabbits are clean animals. On the other hand, guinea pigs spray around their habitat to keep the track of the location, as they have poor eyesight. 

As a result, there are more intensive smells that come from guinea pigs. 

Can rabbits be in the same cage as guinea pigs?

This is highly discouraging. There are a lot of differences in their behavior. So, it could be destructive to put both rabbit and guinea pig in the same case. The rabbit could scratch and attack the guinea pig for any reason. 

Final Verdict: Which Should Be the Better Pet

So, are guinea pigs or rabbits better pets? There are different aspects to deciding this. The rabbit is cleaner, has a longer lifespan, and is also nicer in look. But they are aggressive in many cases. Also, petting rabbit is expensive. 

On the other hand, guinea pigs are calm in nature, less expensive, and need less care than rabbits, but have less lifespan. Summing thing, both are adorable 

But in a long run, if you think about spaces, care, and hassles, guinea pig could the preference.