a newbie with hamsters

[Spazzy]

Hi everyone.

my friend and i just got 3 hamsters about a week ago and we have some questions that we were wondering if anyone can answer. first, let me say that they are Russian drawf hamsters, and 2 are male and 1 is a female. we suspect that one of the males is the smallest in the litter (they are all siblings).
Questions:

1) The female keeps running in circles, whether around the cage or around herself. Is this some sort of a neurological disorder? She seems to get rest still and seems to be eating and hopefully drinking, but would how would this almost constant running affect her? Sometimes when we hold her in our hands, she just keeps turning and turning and turning in a tight circle.

2) The older male seems kind of 'plump'. Is there any way to thin it down? Or should we just let him be? We have a wheel and he runs on it sometimes...

3) Both the female and the older male seemes to be picking on the little male. Sometimes it's a very short fight, if even a fight at all, and sometimes the fighting could get quite physical with the 2 hamsters rolling halfway across the cage and grabbing and pawing/scratching each other. Now the little one is squeaking much more than before. He would squeak a lot when they fight and sometimes even squeak when the others get close. What should we do about this situation? We don't want to separate them forever. Should we completely scrub the cage clean and start over again? Maybe put the little one in first and let it spread its scent before putting the other two in?

Thanks for any help with our hamsters!! http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif

[petcrazy]

Hi Spazzy

Glad you joined the petshub, welcome

I'm not sure why your little girl hammie keeps running in circles. The only thing I can think of is that she may be very stressed.

There are a lot of people on this board that could probably help you with that question.

Are you planning on breeding your hamsters?
I'm assuming you are since you are keeping them together. Also if you are new to hamsters may I suggest you find some web sites on breeding or even some books to help you.

This is just my opinon but I think if the little boy is getting beat up and is scared everytime the other hamsters even come near, he would probably be better on his own.
I would separate them if he is that upset.

As for your plump boy http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif
make sure the food you are feeding dosen't have to many sunflower seeds in it or to many peanuts. They are high in fat and may put some weight on him if he is eating a lot of them. I also really love those hamster excersize balls. You can put your little hammie in there and let him out for 10 or 15 mins each night.

Well good luck to you and your hamsters
I'm interested on what others have to say about your little girl who keeps turning.

take care

[susany]

Hello,

I agree with petcrazy, are you planning to breed? Just for your information, inter-breeding are highly not recommended, as their off-springs will be unhealthy.

For the female turning in circles, is her rump infected with some fleas, mites, scratches, wounds? Itchiness or irritation might cause this behavior. And she might be turning in order to reach her rump. Try washing her rump. If it isn't any wounds, i suspect some fleas or mites.

As for the plump male http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif, try using a wheel-ball. Yinx recommended that to me and my San has since slimmed down. Worth a try.

Also, for the poor little boy. I agree with petcrazy. If he is always beaten up, separate him. I think he must be really stressed up after all the fightings and quarrels.

Lately, i am having problems with my hamster too. You can read the message titled "Due to Aging" to know more of my situation with my San.

Like petcarzy, if any hamsters people can contribute about the turning of the female hamsters, i would love to know about it too.

Alright, all the best to your hamsters and good luck!

[Spazzy]

Thanks for all your help, guys! http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif

My friend and I decided to go back to the petstore and exchange the little guy for another hamster because the situation was just getting really bad. It got to the point that he would start squeaking when the other two are 1/2 way across the cage. We picked out another hamster, a pure white female http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif Although there was little fighting in the beginning, they all get along fine now. http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif

Susany,

hmm... I don't think our circling female has mites or fleas. She doesn't really run around herself that much. She just runs in circles around whatever area is given to her. So, in the cage, she runs around the cage, if we divide the cage in two, then she will just run around her half, and if we take her out and put her in some other box, she will run around that box. When we went back to the petstore, the lady there suggested that it might indeed be a neurological disorder :-\

About breeding, we didn't seriously consider it when we got them at first (it was a whimsical decision to get hamsters in the beginning). But now that we have them (and different sexes), we are actually hoping that they would mate. Now, there is only 1 male in the cage and we're pretty sure the new female we got is not from the same litter. I don't think _anyone_ can catch up to Spazzy, our female circling friend. http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif so we're not worrying too much about it.

new question:
So the new female hamster and our male hamster get along pretty well, and they run on the wheel together sometimes. However, sometimes they both get on and try to run in opposite directions, so eventually, the lighter one (the female) would get pulled up by the wheel (turned by the male) and she would fall and tumble around and smack into the beams that hold up the wheel and get caught between the beam and the wheel and just all these .. 'things'.. that makes us say 'ouch!! doesn't that hurt??' But she just goes back on the wheel like nothing has happened and doesn't show any signs of injury. Should we be worrying?? Could this potentially be really dangerous?? Or do they know what they're doing?

again, thanks for all your help. http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif

Oh! their names are:
Pudgy (the slightly plump male)
Spazzy (the circling female)
Snowy (the pure white female)
http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Moa]

Hi,
I agree with what my former writers have said.
IMO u shouldn't keep 2 males and 1 female together as the males will start fighting over the female once they have reached sexual maturity. It is better to keep 2 females with one male as u have now.
U will probably end up with a lot of babies quite soon.
The mothers will be able to conceive again the day the first babies are born, so keep in mind if u don't want too many babies u will have to seperate the male from the females. :-)
Ciao
Moa

[Yinx]

Hi Spazzy,

This is in response to ur wheel question. If the wheel doesn't have any gaps in it, it should be safe. This way, at least the female hamster will not get its' legs trapped in any of the gaps.

However, if ur wheel does contain gaps, u might like to get another wheel or cover the gaps with a piece of cloth/paper.

[Spazzy]

Thanks for your suggestion, Yinx. I tried putting a piece of paper around the outside and now they're running easier. But that also makes it scarier because they are running much faster than before. So fast that sometimes the little female would get flung right out of the wheel if the male is running on it at the same time.

And just today, I notice the female is walking with her left hind leg lifted. It seems to be hurt but I don't know how badly. She still scratches herself sometimes with that leg so I assume the bone is not broken or anything.

Anyone have any suggestions as to how I can help her heal? Anything I can do for her? Or anything special I should feed her?