Weird story

[whitelop]

I go to an animal supply store to get our rabbit food, hay and dog food. We know the people who own it and my husband actually works with the owners son. I got my bun there 3 years ago. They don't usually keep rabbits. They get dutch, lionheads and mini lops most often. They get 2 or 3 at a time and sell them, wait a few months and get a few more. So they don't have a huge supply of rabbits all the time, which I think is for the best.

Anyways, we went in a few weeks ago to get a mini bale of hay and something for the dog. I always look to see if there are bunnies, and there haven't been for months. There were this time. There were 3, 2 lionheads and 1 mini lop. I asked my hub if we could get another bun and he said no, of course. The guy who runs the store said we couldn't get them anyways because they were in quarantine. I kind of didn't believe him because it sounded odd. But I asked anyway.

He said they were in quarantine because they ate a guinea pig. I don't know if he was just telling me this for my husbands sake, so I would not want a rabbit. But, he isn't the kind of person who tells stories like that, that aren't true and he was speaking in a pretty hushed voice.

Does this happen? Do rabbits eat other animals, say if the animal is injured or sick or something like that? They're all babies, well taken care of, the right kind of bedding and a large enough cage. So would they really eat another animal? Or, was he just pulling my leg? I've been thinking about whether I should say anything about it on here or not, but I was thinking about it tonight.

Anyone with any experience with that kind of thing? Seems really strange. Sorry this is so long, just had to get all the facts in.

 

[Imbrium]

I know they can kill guinea pigs by accident, but I've NEVER heard of them eating one

 

[MiniLopHop]

Yeah, I agree. Given how repulsed my rabbits are when they smell meat I couldn't imagine them killing and eating a GP. Perhaps they killed it on accident, but I highly doubt the eating part.

 

[LakeCondo]

The only thing I can think of that would be similar, & I don't know if it's even true, is that maybe a rabbit eats its dead babies/afterbirth or whatever.

And even if they ate it, why quarantine? It doesn't make sense.

 

[whitelop]

Now that you mention it Brandy, my rabbit hates the smell of meat. When I cook, she hides in the corner until the smell from dinner is gone.

Orlena, I don't know why they would quarantine them either. They were still all together in the cage, sleeping on each other when I saw them.

So, I don't know if he was just telling me that so I wouldn't want one anymore. It was strange. But when I asked my husband, he said that the guy doesn't make stuff up like that. So maybe, the guinea pig was sick or something and died when they were already gone for the night and the bunnies took a bite out of him or something like that.
Its just a strange thing. I'll probably never know what happened to that guinea pig.

 

[Nelsons_Mom]

It's not uncommon for rats to eat cagemates who pass on (decomposing smell attracts predators, so they "clean up.")

However, I have never heard of rabbits doing this other than eating afterbirth.

 

[Kipcha]

I've heard of rabbits eating dead babies, but never anything like this

 

[agnesthelion]

whitelop wrote:

Now that you mention it Brandy, my rabbit hates the smell of meat. When I cook, she hides in the corner until the smell from dinner is gone.

g.

How enlightening. I could never figure out why Agnes hated the kitchen while I'm cooking. This has to be why!! I bet she hates meat smell too!

As far as the OP, never heard anything like that at all!

 

[missyscove]

That certainly wouldn't be normal. I could see them killing a guinea pig if they were housed together and there are cases where a doe may overgroom a kit or eat a kit, but I can't fathom a rabbit eating a mature guinea pig.