Hamster Expantion

[hammie13]

Alrighty, I have read some posts on here and have found some great advice. I have 2 teddy bear hamsters and one rat. My hamsters are new to me, I have only had them for a few months. However, right now i have them in a 10gal aquarium with a mesh lid, a critter castle, and a wheel. They seem kinda crowded. I have been looking at habitrail cages (safari) and they seem a bit smaller than the aqurium, plus i wanna try and some some money. (broke grad student) I was thinking of conecting my aquarium with a small cage, maybe a crittertrail one. Does anyone have any advice on this?

[Paww2k4]

You have to syrian hamsters together?

[hammie13]

umm. well, yes. I recently found out you are not supposed to do that, but i was mislead by the people at the pet store. I usually have rats, hamsters were a new thing. I admit i didnt know enough before getting them, i mistakenly thought they were like rats and social. So far i have not had any problems with them together, and i tried to move them into separate cages and they both seemed depressed till i reunited them. Do you think it is possible for them to live together??

[hammie13]

i think mine right now are just too young to fight. I am looking into getting them some separate cages soon. That is also part of my first problem. I have always liked aquariums but they are not as portable as i would like. the habitrail seems nicer, but i have heard bad things.

[jennawing]

I think by the time they get to be about 2 months old, it is going to be detrimental for them to be seperated. Fights will break out at night when you are asleep and you might very well wake up to find an injured or dead hamster. You can always keep their cages close, get them out in their balls together- that will allow them to interact when they choose, and not be infringed on.

A lot of people (including me) are using plastic bins now to give their hamsters more room. Here is a recent post on it: http://www.petshub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18336

[hammie13]

ok, i just got done setting up the new cage. now they each have their own, and that seems to solve the space problem. when i was at the pet store i found a guy near me who breeds hamsters. He only sells to those who can provide a good home, i think i will get my pets from him now. I may be getting some dwarf hamsters... still deciding.

thanks for all of your help everyone.