round 1

[WaaX]

okay, i have had two hamsters since january, they are sisters and have allways lived together even after birth. they fight every so often, i blow on them real hard, it freaks them out and they stop fighting, well its never gotten out of controll before untill now....

i was on the phone with my girlfriend when i herad them fight, so i ran over there blew on them and seperated them..
thats when i realized mine had a half inch gouge in its back that was bleeding...
i was so angry and seperated the two cages i have (i have 2 critter trail cages, one and two) and put mine in the big once since it didnt do anything wrong.

well i put them back together about an hour later and my girlfriends went straight for my hamster and attacked it..

i dont know what to do, i dont want to seperate them because it hasnt been a problem before.

i know that you arent suppose to have 2 hamsters living together, but it has never been a problem.

please help.


btw, im new to the forums, i have two hamsters, both teddy bear. ones a gray one which is mine, whose name is azrael. the other one is my girlfriends, its cream colored with white spots, her name is damion. they are both female and are sisters, i have MANY pictures so if anyone cares to see them, please email me at WaaX@comcast.net
thanks :D

[Boovila]

well theres your problem, why are you asking for suggestions when you know they arent suppose too be together. you know this was going to happen and you STILL try to find a way around it? just seperate them for life. they arent happy together, they might seem like it but they are not,and thats why they faught, dont u notice, your are just keepin them together for your own amusment?? for your own pleasure. yo seriousley, they are your hamsters and do whatever you wana do wit them, but yo, your going to kill them..., and dont blow in their face, dont do that, thats horrible for them, makes them aggressive, they fight, because they are not happy living together and you still punish them???? inhumane...

[WaaX]

i would have to disagree, ive read on websites that they arent suppose to live together, i know this.
but the fighting would only be once in a blue moon, and they seem to be happy together just fine, they allways sleep together no matter where one is sleeping, they share the same hiding spots for there food, and they do honestly seem fine living together.

i guess i can seperate them, but i would hate to see that, they seem to enjoy each others company, and i often see them running on the same wheel at the same time (even though i have two wheels), so it really doesnt seem like they have a problem with each other except for when they do, they fight. and like i said, its only once in a blue moon.

so please, dont call me inhumane because i only blow on them, not physically harm them. both hamsters are not aggressive, they are both really tame, calm hamsters, ive had hamsters before and these are by far the best behaved ones ive had. my gray one does bite, but not to draw blood, just to nibble.


what i would consider inhumane is depriving them of water/food and clean living conditions, which is the opposite of what im giving them. i clean/change there bedding once a week, make sure they allways have fresh food, and fresh water. i dont even use regular tap water for them, i use bottled water (allthough im not too sure if thtas good because i would imagine they need the minerals) i plan on buying nutrient drops for the water and thats going to be bought next time i get bedding.

so please dont call me inhumane or think that i dont treat my hamsters properlly.

[Boovila]

no i dont think that your inhumane at all. sleeping in the same place....hamsters do that to be warm, hiding food in the same place.... they must think it is a good hiding spot or storing spot, and about running on the wheel together, this is commonly found in alot of hamsters,but this all does not mean they are seeming to be happy... how would u know if they are happy... its just like placing a hamster in a hamster ball, he runs, but is he running to explore or running to get out?....

[Padfoot]

My advice is to separate them. I've read a lot about both hamsters and gerbils and I've had expirience with both. Syrian hamsters are solitary and gerbils are social. It has been in gerbils living together for a long time that suddenly fights arise in wich one or both gerbils end up dead. If this can happen in a social species, why can't it happen in a solitary species? That they have been living together for a long time doesn't mean that they can live together forever. Rodents are very territorial animals and sometimes fights can arise easily over dominance of a territory. There is a person here in the forum (I don't remember who..) that is trying to breed friendly/tolerant syrians. He/she has a tank with about 8 (I think) syrians living together. Of course, she knows the risk she is taking by doing this and if an animal fights once, he/she take it out to live on its own. One of your hamsters already won a fight over her territory. They have probably been separated for more than 24 hours, so they have forgotten each other's scent. So these facts tell us that most probably they will fight again if they meet. And even if they don't, for how long will they go without fighting? What will happen if you are not around during the fight? It's up to you if you are willing to take the chance of getting one of them killed.

[WaaX]

nicely put, thank you. I see what you are saying now and I guess my only answer is to seperate them, I dont want either dead or hurt so I guess its best for them.

if I seperate them for a long time, and they forget who each other is, will they usually automatically fight?

[warrenob1000]

yes, they WILL fight. there is no way to successfully introduce hamsters--they are too territorial. you risk killing both hamsters and severely distressing the poor animal you're trying to introduce by doing this.

[Padfoot]

I'm glad to read that you decided to separate them. It's the best choice with syrians, specially if they have already fighted.

With gerbils, after 24 hours (give or take) of being separated, they forget each other's scent and they will fight, thinking that it is a strange gerbil, so you have to gradually reintroduce them again. There is no literature written about how long does it takes for a syrian hamster to forget the others scent since breeders always suggest to keep them separated. I'm guessing that 24h is about the time it takes them to forget. Since they are solitary, it may be sooner, but really I don't know... I do know that if you put 2 strange sexually mature syrians together they will automatically fight, unless they are male/female AND the female is in heat. if the female is not in heat, they will fight automatically... and even if the female is in heat there is a chance of fighting to occur.

[LilSnooPydOG]

I didn't read all of the posts so forgive me if what I'm saying has already been tooken care of.

They can't live together, simple as that. They may seem fine and all, but a syrian just can't live with another hamster. You may be gone one day and come back and find one or both dead. I'm sorry, but I just can't stress enough how bad things can be if they live together.

If you wanted your hammy to be able to have friends, you should have gotten dwarfs. That is, no syrians at all, just dwarfs. Didn't want someone to think I was saying get dwarfs and put them with your syrian!

I skimmed through the posts a little and it looks like you are going to separate them?

[WaaX]

yeah, the are allready seperated, its sad, but it for the better of them. my girlfriend is mad because i put mine in the crittertrailTWO and hers in the crittertrailONE but hey, both have equal space, except one has a little more height. oh well, but yeah, they are seperated. :xeye:

[Boovila]

u made the right choice, and yo, tell ur girlfriend the crittertrail one isnt bad at all. its just not as tall. i have the critter trail one for my black bearsyrian.