Hamster Central - View Single Post

AmityvilleHams · 11-02-2020, 05:36 AM

Breeders and pet stores aren't necessarily good sources of information unfortunately.

The overwhelming consensus from hamster owner experience and the natural behavior of these hamster species in the wild is that social housing of any hamster species just should not be done. While not everyone experiences the absolute worst, you are always adding unnecessary stress whether visible or not. That stress in turn leads to less happy hamsters as well as hamsters that are more likely to become ill.

Even without obvious signs of fighting that stress is guaranteed. However, the chances of fighting to any extent are practically guaranteed themselves. Because of this massive risk it is always more responsible and kinder to the hamsters to just house them alone regardless of species.

It's also worth mentioning that housing hamsters socially places restrictions in terms of how you handle the hamsters involved, their out of cage time, and even things like what goes inside the cage. Those limitations are not present with hamsters housed alone and should also be considered.

11-02-2020, 05:36 AM
AmityvilleHams PM Fluffy for custom title Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 4,545	Re: Dwarf Hamsters living in pairs. Breeders and pet stores aren't necessarily good sources of information unfortunately. The overwhelming consensus from hamster owner experience and the natural behavior of these hamster species in the wild is that social housing of any hamster species just should not be done. While not everyone experiences the absolute worst, you are always adding unnecessary stress whether visible or not. That stress in turn leads to less happy hamsters as well as hamsters that are more likely to become ill. Even without obvious signs of fighting that stress is guaranteed. However, the chances of fighting to any extent are practically guaranteed themselves. Because of this massive risk it is always more responsible and kinder to the hamsters to just house them alone regardless of species. It's also worth mentioning that housing hamsters socially places restrictions in terms of how you handle the hamsters involved, their out of cage time, and even things like what goes inside the cage. Those limitations are not present with hamsters housed alone and should also be considered.