Introducing new hamsters?

[MismatchedMongrel]

:( So Ryka passed away.. I found her this morning. I got her and Mai about five days ago and Mai was alone and was acting sort of depressed..
So I went out and found another campbell/ww hybrid. Now I need to figure out how to introduce them.
I've never introduced hamsters before.
Mai: I've only had her five days, she's a timid ham and is about four months old.
The new ham: About three or so.
They're both WW/Campbell hybrids.
The first thing I tried was putting them in the nice clean cage and they did fine for a while but Mai started jumping on the smaller one. And that's about it. She would jump, flip the younger ham over and it would stay like that for a few seconds and then life would continue on.
I was a little worried... so I split the cage in half so that the two could get used to eachother, and I put a bar (like you'd find on a bird cage) down the middle.
Everyone has their own house, wheel, food and water bottle.
I figured I'd leave them like this fo ra few days so that they could get used to eachother.
Am I doing this right?
If anyone needs it I can do pictures and/or video :)
Thanks

[kyrilliondaemon]

Honestly, I'd not actually have bought another.

Chances are that Mai will adapt perfectly well to living alone and introductions can be really difficult to pull off successfully. Theres a very high chance the new one will never live with Mai successfully.

[MismatchedMongrel]

Honestly, I'd not actually have bought another.

Chances are that Mai will adapt perfectly well to living alone and introductions can be really difficult to pull off successfully. Theres a very high chance the new one will never live with Mai successfully.

Well.. its worth a shot. If not, I have a friend who is willing to take a ham... or else I'll just start over again with two new hams. We'll see what happens.
off topic:
You seem to perpetually be on the forum, I gotta ask, when do you sleep? o.o

[StarlightSerenity]

Well.. its worth a shot. If not, I have a friend who is willing to take a ham... or else I'll just start over again with two new hams. We'll see what happens.
off topic:
You seem to perpetually be on the forum, I gotta ask, when do you sleep? o.o

That sounds so utterly heartless :( So does saying that you will get rid of the new one if they don't get on.

Why are you desperate to keep a pair? Introducing another ham to Mia at her age is more likely to cause upset than anything. She would be perfectly happy on her own.

[MismatchedMongrel]

That sounds so utterly heartless :( So does saying that you will get rid of the new one if they don't get on.

Why are you desperate to keep a pair? Introducing another ham to Mia at her age is more likely to cause upset than anything. She would be perfectly happy on her own.

I got them FOR the pair. I'd rather have a pair or neither.

[kyrilliondaemon]

I'm not on the forums constantly, I just tend to use the laptop a lot in my free time (a foot injury means the outdoor stuff I'd like to do is out completely for the foreseeable future and has been for 8 months now). I'm off for a good few hours every night for sleep though, and time when we go out, and for shifts at work and stuff!

And er... Yeah its worth a shot but you should probably have considered the possibility it wouldn't work before buying another. It seems really mean to get rid of it if they don't get on. Also seems really, really mean to just go "oh well, I can just start over with two more". Is it really that important to have a pair of hamsters living together?
We have a group but thats for their sake not ours, if they all choose to live alone we'll split them and keep them alone. Same as we got Muffin because Whizz was definetly miserable without company (we'd spent six months trying to find a way to make her happy without it) but we planned to have them living apart if the introduction didn't work out and we'd never get rid of Muffin just because she's a daft hormonal girl and can't live with company right now.

The split cage method is your best chance though.


Edit - Oh and about "getting them for a pair" not the hams themselves. Thats really not right. We got our hams because we wanted them, and if you want the truth? Our robo rescues drove me absolutely up the wall for ages, they were traumatised by the people who'd owned them before (that was probably "so they had hamsters" too) and we had to allocate an hour for two of us to get them out of their cages just for cage cleaning or time out. To tell the truth, they tried my patience, Whizz still can sometimes, but I love both of them and have from the start, and I'd never, ever rehome either of them just because they're not quite what I expected.
A ham isn't "just a hamster" its a living creature that as far as I'm concerned deserves as much consideration as a human being. You wouldn't pass on a child if it needed a different bedroom to your other one, would you? So why do it with a different living thing instead?

[KatiePillow]

That is horrible. You'd compromise an animals care so you could have it your way? Do you not bond with them?
I don't get along with 2/3 of my hamsters, but they're my responsibility and I'd never replace them just so I could get some that act like I believe they should.
That's such a horrible attitude.

[BaileyandBeth]

I don't even want to be posting here because I've found this post quite upsetting but here goes.
You only want a pair of hamsters and will get rid of them if they don't get on? So you really have no interest in the welfare of an animal, only your own wants? Why buy any hamster in the first place? You can't just throw away an animal because it doesn't behave how you want it to. I suggest if you are going to rid yourself of these two you stop buying hamsters. You aren't keeping them for the right reasons and there is already enough hamsters needing rehomed.

[kiania]

I clicked on this topic with the thought of, "Oooh, someone is introducing new hybrids, wonder if that is even possible", as Nimh is a hybrid P@H adoption (and therefore was a billy-no-mates, and had no chance of me bringing another home - and me and my partner were discussing whether it would even be possible to re-introduce her - didn't think so, but was curious to know).

Now I'm just...sad. When we were in the shop, we both fell in love with Nimh - yes, when we went back to collect her, I asked to see the lone male as well (just in case), but it was Nimh who we fell in love with. And that was even before I'd handed over my credit card, let alone after 5 days :(

I can appreciate the want for a pair, but with the amount of posts I see about pairs splitting up, there are no guarantees anyway. Makes me wonder if you went and got a new pair, if they failed 3 months down the line, whether you'd still get rid of them then too?

[Lucinda]

I got them FOR the pair. I'd rather have a pair or neither.

Then don't keep hamsters...chances are the pair will split up sooner or later - more chance so if they're hybrids.

Being in a pair doesn't make the hamster any more loving or friendly. If you want animals that will live together, then I suggest you do your research and get pets that are social.

If the hamsters don't want to live together, don't force them.

My 2 hybrids were fine for a month, then had to be split up. Splitting them up made them happiest, so I did. I can't understand your logic.

[galaxymouse]

I had 3 hybrids and ended up with just one as the other two died from the cats but they were together for a good long while with no fighting or anything. They didn't even pat each others paws in play fisticuffs but Snowy was about 2 when she died. She was a VERY intelligent lil hammie always going straight for behind the bookshelf anf waiting for me to bring her out again. I NEVER tried introducing another hamster because she was happy as she was. If it was possible I would get my Snow Queen a friend but that would purely be for selfish reasons so it isn't going to happen because I love my irascable hamster.
If you decide to do it your way then that is your choice but remember you asked the question and you got the answer whether you like that answer or not.

[PICKLES09]

I know nothing about Hybrid Hamster's or introducing Hamster's together, I have Syrian Hamster's... I am quite upset by this post, and would ask you to be careful what you say, as we all love our hammies and would do anything for them... You cannot pick and choose how your Hamster's should live for your own personal preference, it's their well being that matters first and foremost...

[Onion]

Perhaps it would have been better if you had phrased things a little differently, asked for help and not said you wanted hamsters "for" a pair. To be honest, when Winter and Autumn came to me I was thrilled to have a pair but they didn't get on from the start. I split them up and they were much much happier alone than together, and because I cared about them I never tried to introduce a new one to either of them.

When Autumn died I cried for hours, and I had only owned her for a short time. Would you not be sad to see them go if you gave them away?

[kyrilliondaemon]

Onion - Unfortunately if you read the post you'll see that one passed away and the concern seems to have been buying another. The pair were also bought the day another hamster passed.

Sadly I do feel this person feels differently about hamsters to most of us on the forum, and can only hope the pair stay together.

*sends hugs to everyone who's been upset by this thread and the ideas in it*

[Onion]

I saw that, I was just hoping they hadn't thought about it in the way we do, and we could maybe make them see. Always try to see the best in people eh ;)

[kyrilliondaemon]

lol makes sense :)
I'll be optimistic and hope you're right :)

[jess_jolie]

As said above I really feel that you should put the needs of your hamster before yourself wanting a 'pair'.

My robo boy didn't get on with his cage mate and was bullied before being re-homed with me as his first owner didn't want him because he shy and she didn't want the fuss of caring for two hamsters separately. The poor guy is still suffering the scars from his first home and it makes me very proud to see how he is coming along with me. He isn't my ideal robo but he's mine and I adore him, it makes me happy to see him settling down and looking happier.

Sometimes I wonder about getting him a friend as I worry about his lack of human contact time - he is still nervous about being picked up and though we hand feed/occasionally have cuddles I worry about the lack of companionship. Especially as my Syrian sits and watches TV with me of a night-time. He'll be watching RENT with us tonight actually :) But I wouldn't because I wouldn't like to put him through the stress of that - sure it would be cute to have a robo pair but that would be for me and I wouldn't do anything that would upset him now he's finding his feet with us. I put his needs before how much I'd like to watch a robo pair play/cuddle together.

Rocky has a resp problem, Lightning is still nervous and Apollo's diet needs to be carefully controlled as he's a hybrid. They all have little problems but I adore them all and could only bear to part with them to a new home if I couldn't give them the level of care they needed. I wouldn't get rid of Apollo if he became diabetic - like Onion above I'd do everything I could to help him and if Lightning is never completely confident with us I would never replace him - Sam is a perfect example of a owner who've put the time and effort into helping theirs hams.

And though it sounds harsh, I think it's awful that you'd simply get rid of a creature that YOU bought and whose life and care is YOUR responsibility because they aren't exactly what you want.

Sorry of this is coming across harsh - I should really be more optimistic and hopefully Onion you're right :)

[Mona's Humans]

I'm just here to say that hamsters aren't a fashion accessory... My guinea pigs don't like to be cuddled - they love crawling on me, but hate hugs... sure i wish they did, but they don't - i'm not just going to give them away because they don't do as they are told though, nor am i going to pick them up daily and force cuddles upon them, to make them miserable. I'd rather have 3 happy piggies that did what they want than 3 miserable piggies that did what i want.

Would you like to be tied to another person that you didn't get on with for your whole life, never getting a moments peace just because i dont know, society believes marriage strengthens the community?

I hope for the hamsters sake that you have just explained this all wrong, but please Mai just lost her cage mate, and is likely highly stressed right now, let her settle before you try anything else.

If its a pair of animals your set on, get highly sociable animals instead, but be prepared for even them to fall out, the amount of times i have to separate and reintroduce my piggies is crazy because they are all hormonal at the moment. The bottom line is we are not god, we shouldn't force animals to do what we want, all we should and can do is provide them with everything possible to enrich their lives, treat them when ill, respond to THEIR needs and love them quirks and all.

That is all