Violent robo

[sar+ste]

We are very concerned about one of our robos called Gene. Gene lived with his two sons Harry and Alex quite happily for eight months. He has recently become violent and aggressive towards them. On Christmas night Gene bit Harry so hard the poor hamster was covered in blood. We removed Gene but whenever we try to put him back in he immediates chases after Harry smelling his bottom and then trying to attack him. He is also biting our fingers with enough force to draw blood. We are eager to return Gene back to his family but have to abandoned all reintroductins due to his aggressive behaviour. Is this normal? do you think he can reunited with the others?

[leejarratt]

Hello and welcome to Hamster Central,

I'm new to owning hamsters but from what I have read so far, I don't think you will be able to re-introduce your robo to the family without any of the hamsters getting seriously injured or worse.

I'm sorry but I think you will have to keep him seperated, I think this is fairly common that hamsters suddenly start fighting with each other after they have lived with each other for a long time.

Again I'm sorry to hear about your hamsters :(

Lee

[zara825]

If you really want to re-introduce him, wait until the injured robo is healed-injured ones tend to get picked on! Do it on mutual ground, say an empty bin with just shavings, scattered food and water. If it goes well. gradually reintroduce toys, making sure they are very clean-free of any particular hammys scent.
How old is Gene?
Be very careful and keep a close eye even if they do reintroduce successfully. I thought my robo reintroduction went well until one morning Sam had battered Freddie and half of freddies leg fell off. This incurred a major op and big vet bills, so if he really is being violent, it is probably best to keep him on his own. Both mine live happily separately, and they have both become much more human friendly since.

Good luck :)

[sar+ste]

Thankyou for your replies.

I think we will have to get Gene his own cage. We had been relunctant to get another cage as we already have two. But this morning we found Gene had escaped from his makeshift home. Luckily we managed to find him quickly, hiding behind a bookcase. After chasing him round the lounge we managed to catch him and return him home.
We bought Gene in Dec 07 with another hamster Sam which we were told they were both males. In March Samantha had five babies and we bought Gene his own cage. When the babies were a few weeks old we had a go at seperating them. The three boys were put with their dad (Gene) and the two girls with their mum. They had all been getting well and their have been no more babies so I presumed I have sexed them correctly.

[souffle]

I think the problem is that the sons have now reached full maturity and their father is now unwilling to tolerate them. I would keep him separate from now on and keep an eye on the two sons in case they start squabbling too. I hope he recovers well and all remains calm.