Living together

C4PHaM · 08-08-2013, 11:16 PM

Ok so I have a male hamster in his cage about 5-6 months. I want to buy a female hamster from the same store and the same cage as the male one. If I put the female one into his cage, will my male hamster attack the female one? I know they won't in the pet store but will he claim the land and fight with the female one? Plz tell me.

icklemunch · 08-08-2013, 11:55 PM

This is not a good idea.
What species of hamster are they? If a syrian they should never be housed together they are solitary animals and will fight to the point of serious injury or worse.
A male and female will breed, and if coming from the same place are likely to be siblings. An inbred pup isn't a good idea. There is a much higher risk of health problems.
If you want another hamster you need to buy another cage and house them seperately.

Kirsty1987 · 08-09-2013, 12:11 AM

Don't do it. Why would you want to put a female in with your male anyway?

Gizmoandfriends · 08-09-2013, 02:15 AM

Why would you want them to live together? Not like humans who need a partner lol

racinghamster · 08-09-2013, 02:29 AM

Male and female hamsters should NEVER be housed together unless for breeding purposes and breeding is not something a novice should be doing without being mentored by someone who does breed. Syrians are solitary hamsters, as are Chinese hamsters as breeding them can be very tricky.

Hybrid Russian dwarf hamsters should never be bred because of the health issues they have. They should be kept as pets only and not added to the already huge numbers looking for homes in rescue centres.

If you already have a male hamster as a pet, I would advise placing your care on him and even if you did get another hamster, I wouldn`t buy from a pet shop.

It`s common sense.

C4PHaM · 08-09-2013, 02:48 AM

how bout male and male. BTW my hamster is a roborovski hamster.

Nush · 08-09-2013, 06:08 AM

Hi C4pham, is there any reason you wanted a second hamster?
Generally robos can live in pairs but if your hamster is already settled in his cage, it wouldn't be good to just add a new robo in there even though that robo might be his bother. You'd need to acclimatise both hamsters to each other by putting a barrier in the cage and making sure the hamsters can't get to each other but can smell each other.

If you want to keep two dwarfs together, you will need a large cage and two of everything (wheels, house, water bottle). Because the hamsters can become territorial.

But even if you take these precautions the hamsters can fall out and you'd need to separate them very quickly. You would have to have a separate cage at the ready well before this happens.

So there is a lot of caution and effort into getting a second hamster that's why I was aksing whether there was a particular reason you wanted to get a second hammy.

C4PHaM · 08-09-2013, 08:01 AM

Well my reason is I felt sorry for the hamster that I got now. Like I owe him something. I want to get him a friend. So I decided to take care of him about 5or 6 months before owning the second hamster. What do you think. Why don't the hamsters in the pet shop fight. Curious. That means I need to also buy a new cage too?

POLAR WHITES · 08-09-2013, 08:06 AM

Syrian hamsters in the pet shop don't fight if they are younger than 6 weeks after this time they become territorial. Dwarfs can be kept together in some cases with careful introduction. each Syrian must be given a cage of they own and you mustn't let them play together as fights can break out and they can fight until the death.

Nikkigrace · 08-09-2013, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C4PHaM

Well my reason is I felt sorry for the hamster that I got now. Like I owe him something. I want to get him a friend. So I decided to take care of him about 5or 6 months before owning the second hamster. What do you think. Why don't the hamsters in the pet shop fight. Curious. That means I need to also buy a new cage too?

You don't owe your hamster anything more than what you are already providing him. He has a loving home with you and I'm sure you are providing him with all the food and warmth in your home that he needs. He has been living on his own for a while now and will be more than happy to stay on his own, he will get interaction from you and stimulation from things he has in his cage such as a wheel and toys.

Hamsters are not like people and do not have the same feelings like we do. I would suggest that you don't risk upsetting what he is used to by introducing a male who he may or may not get a long with. I have robos living on their own and they are absolutely fine because they are used to that and live happily with interaction from me