Can Sugar Gliders Live With Guinea Pigs?

Sugar gliders and guinea pigs have in common that they're both adorable and furry small animals, although that's generally where their similarities end. Although it's definitely OK to have both types of critters in your home, they don't belong in the same enclosures.

  1. Sugar Gliders and Guinea Pigs Together

    • Sugar gliders and guinea pigs alike are highly social creatures, but as animals from different species with totally different lifestyle needs, should not reside in the same cages. They undoubtedly can handle living in a single room, however, as long as their cages aren't shared.

    Sugar Glider Living Arrangements

    • Sugar gliders tend to thrive when they're kept in duos with buddies from their own species. Being around others comes naturally to sugar gliders, because it's how they do things in nature. If you have the means to maintain more than two sugar gliders, the more the merrier. If a sugar glider lives on his own, however, his human caretaker needs to give him a minimum of two hours daily interplay. Note that if you keep individuals of both genders in the same enclosures, reproduction is inevitable, unless they're neutered and spayed.

    Guinea Pig Living Arrangements

    • Guinea pigs are companionable critters, too, typically flourishing in tiny and cozy units of fellow members of their species. If guinea pigs have sufficient personal room, they usually manage well. Female guinea pigs living together often are successful. A fixed male can work alongside a female, or perhaps even a pair of females. Male guinea pigs together can sometimes get a little fierce and aggressive unless they're both neutered. Guinea pig siblings who have been together since birth, regardless of sex, usually get along just fine. Always make a point to keep mature males away from juveniles.

    Other Types of Animals

    • Although sugar gliders usually can live happily in the same rooms as guinea pigs, that definitely doesn't apply to all types of pets. Noisy, shrieking pet birds, for example, aren't usually a good idea for life alongside sugar gliders. Remember, sugar gliders in nature are preyed on by owls, and parrots' calls can sometimes remind them of the innate menaces of predation. Be careful about cats and dogs, too. If the presence of sugar gliders -- through a cage -- brings out a cat or dog's prey drive, then it's time to switch the cage to a more inaccessible location. Be just as deliberate in making living arrangements for guinea pigs. Like sugar gliders, guinea pigs also often feel apprehensive when close to cats and dogs.