russian dwarf hamster

[onecalledk]

hi

not sure if this is the right area to post this in. Have 2 male russian dwarf hamster who are approx 4 months old. I now need to rehome one of the males who has started attacking the slightly smaller of the two hamsters.

Does anyone know why after being best of buddies for the past 3 and a half months one hamster has taken a dislike to his little buddy! It started with squeeking all the time and this morning he drew blood!

have one very upset 8 yr old who cant understand his hamsters biting chunks out of each other. Have never kept hamsters before , have had gerbils who were fine with each other......

anyone looking to rehome a grumpyish little dwarf hamster ?

K

[StacNKel]

i once had 2 female ones, one ate the other one.... they never faught before that either. I hope you find a good home for him!

[spaceddaisy]

For some completely unknown reason pets at home suggest you rehome these animals in same sex pairs.

I had a pair of them and when they reach sexual maturity they fight, as does any other pair of russian dwarf hamsters I've ever heard about. These animals very rarely get on in pairs and shouldn't be rehomed together- I only found this out through experience and speaking to other owners.

I've yet to work out why pets at home think it's appropriate to home them together- it's upsetting when they start to fight, especially if it's not something the owner is expecting and if they're a child's pet.

[onecalledk]

For some completely unknown reason pets at home suggest you rehome these animals in same sex pairs.

I had a pair of them and when they reach sexual maturity they fight, as does any other pair of russian dwarf hamsters I've ever heard about. These animals very rarely get on in pairs and shouldn't be rehomed together- I only found this out through experience and speaking to other owners.

I've yet to work out why pets at home think it's appropriate to home them together- it's upsetting when they start to fight, especially if it's not something the owner is expecting and if they're a child's pet.

Completely agree and now have to have 2 hamsters in separate cages, had I known what happens when they mature I would have bought just the one and my little boy would not have been reduced to tears when the inevitable happened and one attacked the other. Managed to act swiftly and the "injured" one is now completely fine and happy but had it happened during the night then I dread to think what I would have found....

Very distressing and perhaps something that should be addressed by PETS AT HOME. God knows they spent long enough asking questions about how we would look after them !

K

[Sarah]

Pets at Home would take him back. I would love to have had him, but I am too far :( They often start fighting once their reach sexual maturity around 4 months.

[ClachanHope]

Pets at Home probably suggest same sex pairs to stop interbreeding or unwanted young.
These animals have reached sexual maturity and will fight.
Syrian Hamsters are naturally solitary animals, so will tolerate each other until about 6-10 weeks of age, and then the natural solitary instinct develops.
They may have been fighting before you actually noticed, as the fights start off small and increase in violence as time goes on. They probably fight more at night as they are nocturnal, another reason to have not noticed before.
If these are Dwarf hamsters they will probably advise to have 2 of the same sex together as these are a more sociable type, but different species of Dwarf should not be housed together as they have different temperaments and characters. In the wild different species do not live together, therefore if they are together in a cage it will cause stress and fighting.
When buying two or more dwarf hamsters to live together it is not necessary to get hamsters from the same litter but they should be roughly the same age and size (and sex if it not intended to breed them) and should have been living in a group community when bought.