Hamster Separation Anxiety?

[eeks]

I had a question that I was hoping to get some input on -

So, I bought 2 male robos about 2 months ago (and about a week apart). After a day or so of acclimation (having them in one cage, divided in half), I put them together, and all seemed well. They would play, sleep together, etc. After about a month and a half, though, they started fighting - I think this was a result of having only one wheel.

So, put them in a larger, divided cage for a week, gave them each their own food, water, wheel, and sandbox. After the week of "cooldown time," I put them together again, but one hamster (the smaller one, ironically), was still being dominant, so I've separated them into their own cages.

Now, a week later, I'm noticing the the less-dominant hamster is, while alone, becoming even more easily frightened and submissive. Is this normal when being removed from another hamster? Is this a tiny, fury version of battered wife syndrome? Any thoughts?

(As a final note - last night, a friend gave me essentially an 80 gallon small animal cage - 16"x16"x7'. Would the hamsters be more likely to get along given such a massive enclosure, or is it a pretty lost cause?)

Thanks for any input!

[souffle]

The problem is more that as they mature they become more territorial. The most successful single sex pairings are usually siblings which yours are not. The separation and reintroductions will be confusing for them and the fact that they are separate but still share a cage means the submissive one is aware that the other is somewhere about as he can smell him but he cant see him so he is living on tenderhooks in case he shows up. This might be why he appears unhappy. I would suggest they need to be separated completely. The huge cage may help but if would have been better to keep them together with scatter feeding, 2 of everything plus half cage cleans and paired handling to keep the scents of both together. One is usually dominant but as long as both are happy, feeding well and healthy with no blood drawn it is usually OK to keep them together through a bit of tussling and squeaking. If they draw blood it is usual to sepaate for good. As they are now separate I dont think they will make it back together though the occassional couple do. He may cheer up a bit soon. Check him well for any abcesses etc which could be making him feel poorly and changing his behaviour. Is the big cage glass as that size would be very hard to clean and you might have a job finding them in it. If it is barred make sure they are very close together as robos can get through tiny spaces.

[Bunsey]

when you say you separated them cos one was being dominant, what do you mean by that? how was he being dominant? some level of dominance is perfectly normal and there's no need to separate robos unless they're rolling around in a ball with teeth locked into each other, head-butting each other's testicles or you see blood on one of them

[djbuttonpusher]

I had a similar problem with my winter whites. After splitting them up, the dominant hamster would stay in his house for days and hardly eat. We gave him some space and he has returned to his old ways, minus the bullying!

[poohbearhamsty]

ive also notice that after 3 weeks my hamster were starting to fight so everytime i saw them i went over and sorted them out i continued to do this and now i have noticed they are fighting less but they do still squabble but i just think its just bickering........ 8)