# rabbit living with quail



## SARGE07

I have a rabbit living in a large run and was wondering if its ok to keep quail in the same run ? 

any info would be good, at a local farm tey have rabbit with chickens so i cant see a problem

thanks sarge


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## pigglywiggly

bun would be treading in quail poo all the time nad licking it off his feet,
plus wont they spread paracites etc like coccidiosis to the rabbit?

same as the chooks at the farm would.........


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## Shell195

At the sanctuary we have 2 huge nasty rabbits(spayed) who live in a cat run and cabin which they share with a male Bob whites quail. He cant be put with females as hes very aggressive to them all but him and the rabbits are best friends and cuddle up in a heap to sleep. They have been like this for a year now with no problems at all.
Im not advising you rush out and do it but it can be done in certain circumstances.


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## miss_ferret

slightly hesitant to put this (flaming and so on) but here goes: 2 of my rabbits share there run/shed with my 4 jap quail and have done for the past 2/3 years. i have no problems, they pretty much ignore each other. if anything the quail have improved things (from my point of view anyway) as they pick up leftover rabbit food. 

only things id make sure of is that you give them seperate sleeping areas and food bowls. if you can do it, put the quails food bowl somewhere the rabbits cant get to. at first my rabbits where obsessed with getting at the quails corn and as there more than capeable of puching the quail off, this did not lead to happy quail. we got round that by putting in a small ledge that the quails could get on but the rabbits couldnt and by scattering there food over the floor which also had the good effect of encourageing the quail to scratch about for food.

what kind of quail where you thinking of?


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## Devi

I keep chinese painted quail and if a bunny hopped on one of them they'd have broken necks! 
It may be ok with the larger species, ignoring the disease factor, they run quick, but then they also die from stress, I'm guessing a rabbit would introduce a bit of that?
Personally I think they'd not get much from it on either side.


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## SARGE07

The quail are the larger breed the Mexican quail, and there food and water would be out the way of the rabbit I will see how it goes and let you all know thanks for the info


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## shadow05

SARGE07 said:


> I have a rabbit living in a large run and was wondering if its ok to keep quail in the same run ?
> 
> any info would be good, at a local farm tey have rabbit with chickens so i cant see a problem
> 
> thanks sarge


 
i dont see why not obviously make sure that they are both okay physical and make sure that neither of them has any disease they could pass onto each other.

it all depends on how your rabbit would take sharing its home because some of them dont.


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## *Shana*

Firstly your rabbit should be living with a friend of it's own kind. It's very important that rabbits are kept in bonded pairs so they can groom each other, play together and snuggle up together if it's cold. Can you imagine spending your whole live living with aliens because in effect that's what you're putting your rabbit through.

Secondly as already stated quail carry all sorts of germs that your rabbit won't be able to fight. Also your rabbit's living environment would be very poor due to all the waste that quails produce and it would be very diificult to give each animal the correct diet whilst keeping them seperated.


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## Devi

*Shana* said:


> Firstly your rabbit should be living with a friend of it's own kind. It's very important that rabbits are kept in bonded pairs so they can groom each other, play together and snuggle up together if it's cold.


Missed the bit that it was one rabbit. Rabbits are social creatures and in the wild live in groups of up to 10, they do not do well alone and do need a buddy.


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## shadow05

*Shana* said:


> Firstly your rabbit should be living with a friend of it's own kind. It's very important that rabbits are kept in bonded pairs so they can groom each other, play together and snuggle up together if it's cold. Can you imagine spending your whole live living with aliens because in effect that's what you're putting your rabbit through.
> 
> Secondly as already stated quail carry all sorts of germs that your rabbit won't be able to fight. Also your rabbit's living environment would be very poor due to all the waste that quails produce and it would be very diificult to give each animal the correct diet whilst keeping them seperated.


 
i have seen it done before as long as u keep it tidy there okay to live together. if u pick ur rabbit up everyday and just give its feet a wipe they will be okay.they dont go after each others food either and even if they did wouldnt make much difference really. the college were i do my course at does it when the quial has no mates and the rabbit thats choosen to live with it is one that wont stand another rabbit but will accept a quail. which is weird?

i do agree that putting the rabbit with its own kind is the best but a rabbit living with a quail can be done but there is alot of things must be thought through first.


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## SARGE07

My rabbit has always been on his own , he was on his own when we had him and we tried to introduce another but he not happy with other rabbits . And I will speak to local farm and petting zoo cause they have rabbits ,chickens , and guinea pigs altogether with no obvious problems


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## goldie1212

i wouldnt accept any advice offered by anyone who houses rabbits with guinea pigs, so that petting zoo would have poor info IMO. i cannot see peoples want to try and house different species in the same set-up. if you dont have the room to properly house them as individual pets in adequate sized cages/enclosures, dont get them, give them a chance to live a decent life with people willing and happy to give them the room and care they actually need.


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## SARGE07

So you say rabbits and guinea pig shouldn't live together for years and the run they will be going into is my old dog run/ shed which is 8 x 4 foot so they have loads of room


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## goldie1212

no, rabbits and guinea pigs should not be kept together. look at the facts, and you will soon see why. the main issues are-
diet, guineas need added vitamin c in their diet, a lot of fresh veggies daily, and if a rabbit has too many fresh veggies it can cause them problems. it has also been known for rabbits to hog all the food, slowly starving the guineas.

illness, rabbits can harbour bacteria in their bodies which can cause possibly fatal respiritory illness in guineas. it has little effect on the rabbit, and apparently up to 50% of all rabbits are carriers, but a guinea exposed to this can become very ill.

injury, rabbits binkying, running, even smaller rabbits, can cause serious injury to the guinea. the guinea may also barber the rabbits fur, chew ears etc and cause sores. bites are also an issue as the 2 species simply do not understand each others body language.

i just do not see why anybody who wants the best for their pets would do this, guinea pigs and rabbits are social by nature, and need others of their own kind to communicate with and be around. it would be like you being shut in a cage with a chimpanzee for company and never seeing another human. you wouldnt understand each other, would still be very lonely, but hey, its another body in the cage so why not?!


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## matt_brooks

goldie1212 said:


> no, rabbits and guinea pigs should not be kept together. look at the facts, and you will soon see why. the main issues are-
> diet, guineas need added vitamin c in their diet, a lot of fresh veggies daily, and if a rabbit has too many fresh veggies it can cause them problems. it has also been known for rabbits to hog all the food, slowly starving the guineas.
> 
> illness, rabbits can harbour bacteria in their bodies which can cause possibly fatal respiritory illness in guineas. it has little effect on the rabbit, and apparently up to 50% of all rabbits are carriers, but a guinea exposed to this can become very ill.
> 
> injury, rabbits binkying, running, even smaller rabbits, can cause serious injury to the guinea. the guinea may also barber the rabbits fur, chew ears etc and cause sores. bites are also an issue as the 2 species simply do not understand each others body language.
> 
> i just do not see why anybody who wants the best for their pets would do this, guinea pigs and rabbits are social by nature, and need others of their own kind to communicate with and be around. it would be like you being shut in a cage with a chimpanzee for company and never seeing another human. you wouldnt understand each other, would still be very lonely, but hey, its another body in the cage so why not?!


I totally agree! Too many times have i been reading forums where people keep guineas with rabbits and the rabbit has kicked the guinea. This has resulted in a severly injured guinea or even a dead guinea pig. 

You should deffinatly only keep the same species together no matter how alike they make seem they will always have diferent requirements and needs.


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## shadow05

goldie1212 said:


> no, rabbits and guinea pigs should not be kept together. look at the facts, and you will soon see why. the main issues are-
> diet, guineas need added vitamin c in their diet, a lot of fresh veggies daily, and if a rabbit has too many fresh veggies it can cause them problems. it has also been known for rabbits to hog all the food, slowly starving the guineas.
> 
> illness, rabbits can harbour bacteria in their bodies which can cause possibly fatal respiritory illness in guineas. it has little effect on the rabbit, and apparently up to 50% of all rabbits are carriers, but a guinea exposed to this can become very ill.
> 
> injury, rabbits binkying, running, even smaller rabbits, can cause serious injury to the guinea. the guinea may also barber the rabbits fur, chew ears etc and cause sores. bites are also an issue as the 2 species simply do not understand each others body language.
> 
> i just do not see why anybody who wants the best for their pets would do this, guinea pigs and rabbits are social by nature, and need others of their own kind to communicate with and be around. it would be like you being shut in a cage with a chimpanzee for company and never seeing another human. you wouldnt understand each other, would still be very lonely, but hey, its another body in the cage so why not?!


i agree but they can live together as long as food is kept seperate. like say u make an area that only a guinea pig can get to and place the food in there and same for rabbit make a ledge that only a rabbit could jump on as long as they know they can get there and ur confident that they can then they can live together.

after this ur only problem is taking the risk of ur rabbit accidently harming the guinea pig or quil which i must say is rare. if ur rabbit is good natured but wont accept another rabbit then this is okay. but if the rabbit shows signs of not accepting the the quil or guinea pig they should be taken out a immeditely and of course never leave the quil in there alone for the first couple of days just do a visit thinhg and when ur confident the rabbit is not going to attack them and that they will be okay leave them in there but keep an eye out in case.

if she is housing the rabbit together with the quil in a big enclosure then thast will be no problem because they wont stick around each other much anyway.

if i had the choice of doing this with my rabbit i would do it. but i dont think hes good natured enought to do it because he use to pick on guinea pigs when he was younger so i would never put anhything like that in with him. if i could i would get him a friend but my mom says no so its unlucky for him. ive figured out that he likes my dog though but i never let her anywhere near him much because shes a gun dog and has a high instinct. but they enjoy each others company when they get the chance lol


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## pigglywiggly

keeping the food seperate isnt the only issues with co-habiting rabbits and cavies.

i`ve seen rabbits with their eyelids chewed off by cavies.

and rabbits killed by a cavy cannonballing into their sides and crushing their ribs.

the main issues aare diet difference
and
that rabbits carry illnesses that kills cavies. a cavy with bordatella/pneumonia etc isnt really clever, but never mind, they`re usually dead in few days from it


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## shadow05

cavy????

didnt get what u meant?


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## goldie1212

cavy=guinea pig

so what is your plan for giving the guinea pig a same species friend so they can communicate? or is that little fact being ignored? you gave the idea of putting the food in different places which could work, but the fact they can cause harm to each other, although even a good natured rabbit will binky as its a normal behaviour and this will also cause a great deal of harm if they happen to be near a pig when they do it. 

i just do not see a good reason to house them together, none at all, if for space saving then you shouldnt own the 2 species, if for the rabbits sake if they need a friend but wont get along in the same enclosure, have a double size enclosure and keep wire between them so they still have the company of their own kind but cannot harm each other, same for guineas if you have a non guinea friendly guinea pig. separate species should be housed with their own kind, there is no denying that the 2 species do not understand each others body language and vocalisations. now, if you could make a large enough housing for at least 2 of each species, ensure the dietary requirements are sorted, the 2 species cannot contract life threatening illnesses from living with each other and cannot do harm to each other then sure, go ahead. given this is not so with guinea pigs and rabbits, common sense should take over and owners need to provide what the animals need.


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## shadow05

goldie1212 said:


> cavy=guinea pig
> 
> so what is your plan for giving the guinea pig a same species friend so they can communicate? or is that little fact being ignored? you gave the idea of putting the food in different places which could work, but the fact they can cause harm to each other, although even a good natured rabbit will binky as its a normal behaviour and this will also cause a great deal of harm if they happen to be near a pig when they do it.
> 
> i just do not see a good reason to house them together, none at all, if for space saving then you shouldnt own the 2 species, if for the rabbits sake if they need a friend but wont get along in the same enclosure, have a double size enclosure and keep wire between them so they still have the company of their own kind but cannot harm each other, same for guineas if you have a non guinea friendly guinea pig. separate species should be housed with their own kind, there is no denying that the 2 species do not understand each others body language and vocalisations. now, if you could make a large enough housing for at least 2 of each species, ensure the dietary requirements are sorted, the 2 species cannot contract life threatening illnesses from living with each other and cannot do harm to each other then sure, go ahead. given this is not so with guinea pigs and rabbits, common sense should take over and owners need to provide what the animals need.


 
oh right ive never heard them be called that before learn something new everyday.

as for the rabbit hurting the gpig i agree with that there is no way around it at all. well that depends on the rabbit especially if u have one that doesnt binkly which isnt really good any way cause isnt it unusally for them not to binky?


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## Devi

shadow05 said:


> i agree but they can live together as long as food is kept seperate. like say u make an area that only a guinea pig can get to and place the food in there and same for rabbit make a ledge that only a rabbit could jump on as long as they know they can get there and ur confident that they can then they can live together.


The OP is specifically interested in quail though and there's no way you could make a spot that a rabbit could get to but not a bird. Plus quails need a protein and calcium rich diet and bunnys need mainly fibre in the form of hay. Quails benefit from live food like mealworms or crickets, I can't imagine that would be any good for the rabbit.
Neither of them would be very healthy at all on the others diet.


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## shadow05

Devi said:


> The OP is specifically interested in quail though and there's no way you could make a spot that a rabbit could get to but not a bird. Plus quails need a protein and calcium rich diet and bunnys need mainly fibre in the form of hay. Quails benefit from live food like mealworms or crickets, I can't imagine that would be any good for the rabbit.
> Neither of them would be very healthy at all on the others diet.


 
techincally u could u just have to make an area that a quail can get into but a rabbit cant thats all. the quail wont go and eat rabbit food anyway but just in case putting it somewhere on a ledge will be okay plus quials dont tend to fly much anyways.

the only danger that could possibly be of concern to the quail is the same as a gpig but because of there bone structure they are more likey to die outright. ive never heard of a quail getting kicked though but thats just me it probably has happned before.


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## pigglywiggly

a quail will eat rabbit food, dont know where you got that idea from.

and a birds bones are very fragile and light, so a small kick or knock from a rabbit and it`d be game over.


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## Devi

shadow05 said:


> techincally u could u just have to make an area that a quail can get into but a rabbit cant thats all. the quail wont go and eat rabbit food anyway but just in case putting it somewhere on a ledge will be okay plus quials dont tend to fly much anyways.


Quails most definately do fly. I have 21 of the things brooding in my bedroom and it's a struggle to keep them on the ground! Plus they eat anything, you have to clean up after them constantly or they'll eat their own poo.


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## shadow05

yea i just said that didnt i?

as for the quail eating rabbit food from wat i heard they dont bother the ones at my college never have and they all get feed in the same place. im really not kidding or anything in one pen they have a rabbit, guinea pig and a quail all living together and they have lived together for several years. and never had any problems apart from the other rabbit that use to be in there got old and very poorly (nothing related to quail) and had to be put down in the end because techincans felt that keeping him alive would be cruel for him and wouldnt be worth living the vet had said that it was best to pts now because he only had a couple of months to live anyway and that his life style for them months would be painful and uncomfortable.


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## pigglywiggly

quality college that :whistling2:


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## shadow05

i have only ever seen a quail fly once and that was when someone went to pick it up in class and it only sort of glided then.

i was just wondering something but im not sure about it.

u know with kichens how they trip there feathers so they cant fly. i wonder if they do they to quails too?

srry if that offendeds anyone or anything but its just made me think about it.


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## shadow05

pigglywiggly said:


> quality college that :whistling2:


it is actually one of the best around here.

ive seen other quails housed exactly like it is here.


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## pigglywiggly

what are kichens and how do they house and feed them?


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## Devi

shadow05 said:


> i have only ever seen a quail fly once and that was when someone went to pick it up in class and it only sort of glided then.
> .


Quails Flying

Now you've seen it twice!


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## pigglywiggly

mine fly too, maybe thats why they`re fitted with wings?


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## 123dragon

i used to have budgies and italian quail and the cock bird used to roost on the highest perch he could every night..
how do you think he got there, walk up the wall like spiderman lol:bash::bash:


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## shadow05

pigglywiggly said:


> what are kichens and how do they house and feed them?


 
srry meant chickens lol


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