Help with group of 5 hammies

[rifkygirl]

Hi all,
Very new to this site, but need some help and advice on my friends RH.. I have only kept syrians myself, so only know about them, but have got group of rats, but didn't know if it was the same for RH.

Basically she has a group of 5 RH, in a very large cage, although recently she has noticed that they have been picking on one in particular, and couple of days ago, she noticed that he had blood coming from the tail and under the arm. She says that it's all healed up now and no more blood, but should she seperate this one of from the group?? We are wondering also why this would happen.. Im thinking it could be the time of the year, i.e. mating season..

Any advice on this situation would be of great help, like i said i only have syrians so can offer no advice, although have given her the offer of a spare cage if needs be..
thanks all

[Hope]

The general rule of thumb is that if blood has been drawn it is deffinately time to separate. As the next time it could be even worse. Hams can fight to the death. I have one russian living on his own for this reason and he is very happy being the only ham in his domain! I would definatley tell your friend to take the poor little chap out and let him have his own space, he will most likey be alot happier.

[SarahJ]

I think its time to remove the ham from the group, next time it could be a lot worse for him. He will live happy by himself and like hope said hamster can fight till the death!

[nooboo]

i do hope they are all one sex living together!! which would ruel out time of year (but as to hamsters thats every 4 days its not really a time of year!!)

i hope that as russians its campbells she has, winter whites dont usually do so well in larger groups, and i would really hope not a mix of the two... sometimes even hybrids can cause a great problem as they dont quite speak the same language as each other that can lead to disaster.

5 is also not such a good number for a group, general rule is to keep numbers even, it seems to help prevent one being ganged up on as much and easier if you need to break the group down into smaller groups.

as said its best when blood is drawn to separate out the hamsters, though as it has been so long now without futher injury it seems hard to do you never know when a fight will break out again and if it will be lethal injury in future.

i think she maybe needs to keep an eye on them to see if she can find if there is a bully in the bunch, or one that is being picked on by all others, sometimes just removing one can help the group, other times if many have been picked on they continue to be nervous and so fight any other cage mate.

[fluffymunchkins]

they may have got on well together before, but as they grow older and mature, attitudes tend to change and fights break out!
5 is quite a large number and if was me i would probably spilt them into two smaller groups.

[allie_freedie]

I agree a split will be best for the little one! If your friend does decide to split them. let us know how it all goes =) good luck!

[rifkygirl]

Thank you all for your replies.. I have a spare Hammie Cage here that she can have and will suggest to her about splitting the group up, also i'll direct her to this site as well !! Things do change a lot, i.e. opinions since the time i've had small furries, and i think possibly she wasn't well advised on the number of RH she can have together.. She says they are cambells, but just reading the post back about hybrids, this may be possible they are, as they were not brought from a breeder. so you think splitting into two smaller groups is better than just the one being picked on to be on his own??

[fluffymunchkins]

yes because it will make it most likely they will fight. So they can all have company still!
But of course if one ham does stir up trouble, or a ham becomes bitten or wounded it would be best to put keep them single. As they most likely are too dominant, prefer to be alone or will be targeted if wounded.
Thats really nice of you to offer the spare cage, i hope everything goes ok. Pet shops won't advise very well, thats why its always best to come to sites like this :D