As per the general rule of thumb, it is believed that hamsters and rabbits do not get along with each other. The personalities and nature of both these creatures are totally distinct. Therefore, they are highly incompatible with each other. Both feature totally different ways of communicating with each other.
While rabbits happen to be social creatures, they require other rabbits to satiate the need for being social. On the other hand, hamsters do not necessarily require the assistance of friends or other siblings around.
Do you wish to establish a healthy and friendly relationship between your hamster and a rabbit? It might not happen. Let us know more about this topic in detail.
Can Hamsters Live with Rabbits?
Rabbits cannot live in the same cage as hamsters. This is of their unique feeding and social behavior. Hamsters have the natural tendency of being territorial and standoffish. On the other hand, rabbits tend to be socially active pets that like cuddling with other animals that they would trust.
Hamsters and rabbits living together will turn out to be a complete disaster for all members of your family. Therefore, you should not aim at keeping these two rodents together.
Rabbits are known to enjoy grooming, roaming around, and simply being a part of the place. On the other hand, a hamster that is thriving in the same space will become frightened or aggressive because of observing rabbits constantly doing some activity.
You should also note that hamsters are quite small in comparison to the size of the rabbits. As such, when hamsters observe such a large creature roaming around the place, it will cause stress. Moreover, if your rabbit will end up hopping and accidentally landing on the hamster, it could lead to major injury to the poor creature.
Reasons Why Rabbits and Hamsters Cannot Live Together
Some of the reasons why it is not possible to keep rabbits and hamsters together are:
Rabbits are More Active Than Hamsters
There is no denying the fact that rabbits are more active than hamsters. Because of the constant running, hopping, and zooming activities of the rabbits, it becomes quite stressful for the hamsters that are less active.
Irrespective of how much your hamster exercises or remains active, it will never be capable of matching the activity level of a rabbit. A rabbit is capable of playing all day long and will not get bored or tired. On the other hand, hamsters will enjoy calmly sitting and chilling in their favorite places while rarely getting out of it.
All rabbits are expected to be energetic and active all the time. However, if your rabbit does not appear active and lively, then your pet might require some help.
Rabbits are Significantly Larger Than Hamsters
Rabbits tend to be larger in comparison to hamsters. The average weight of a fully-grown bunny is up to 6 pounds. Moreover, giant-sized rabbit breeds can weigh up to 20 pounds. On the other hand, hamsters only weigh around one pound.
The significant difference in the overall size of hamsters and rabbits makes these creatures highly incompatible to live with each other.
Hamsters are Highly Timid Than Rabbits
Both rabbits, as well as hamsters, turn out to be prey animals. This implies that both of them are slightly timid. As these are prey animals, both of them remain naturally scared of any animal or being that could potentially cause them harm. This implies that both creatures are afraid of animals that would be larger than them.
As hamsters tend to be quite small, they virtually think about themselves being in danger all the time. By nature, hamsters are timid. Therefore, it is increasingly difficult for such a fragile creature to be in the company of a giant rabbit.
Both Creatures can be Aggressive
While rabbits are not aggressive beings, they still know ways to defend themselves upon feeling the threat. In the company of a hamster, they will not provide any warning and will no doubt at all while being threatened by some territorial hammy.
At the same time, hamsters like being highly territorial. These are tiny as well. This implies that they mostly observe larger rabbits as dangerous. As such, they might choose to react aggressively towards a rabbit. This, in turn, will trigger aggressive behavior in rabbits as well.
Rabbits are Friendlier in Comparison to Hamsters
Rabbits are social beings and friendlier in comparison to hamsters. Moreover, you can force each of the animals to adopt each other’s traits. Rabbits love interacting with human beings. Moreover, they also seek attention and spend ample time having fun and being in social company.
Hamsters cannot be regarded as highly friendly pets. It is most difficult for a hammy to live with another hamster in the first place. They might end up fighting each other. In some worse cases, one hamster might damage or kill another hamster in its company.
Rabbits are Herbivores and Hamsters are Omnivores
Rabbits only consume vegetation as they are herbivores. Even the pellets that are made for rabbits tend to be obtained out of vegetation. Hamsters tend to be omnivores. This implies that they are capable of consuming both vegetation as well as meat. In most cases, pet owners feed hamsters dried insects for supplementing their need for pellets.
Can Rabbits and Hamsters Play Together?
Hamsters and rabbits cannot and should not be allowed to pet together. This is because both of them can turn out aggressive for each other under specific circumstances. Hamsters might get frightened rather than be playful with rabbits because of the diversity in behavior and size. In case you have both hamsters as well as rabbits as pets in your home, you should never allow them to play together at the same time. They should be kept free of each other’s region as much as possible.