How likely is fighting?

[Apple22Over7]

Hi all,

Long-time lurker, but I've not posted a lot on here.

Back in June my partner & I got two female Russian dwarf hamsters (pics on my intro thread here: Greetings from Nottingham (UK)!). We bought them both at the same time, I believe they were from the same litter although I could be wrong on that - the pet shop wasn't too forthcoming with details and I was too excited about getting my hamsters to listen properly). We housed them together in a small plastic cage originally, but after a couple of weeks I thought it was too small for the two of them and so we made them a larger bin cage.

We knew going in that housing two hamsters together couple possibly end in fighting and having to split them up, and whilst we planned for that we crossed our fingers and hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Well, 5 months since getting our two gorgeous girls, we've observed no evidence of fighting at all. Every so often they'll curl up next to each other to sleep (so cute!), but generally they just seem to muddle along barely even acknowledging each other's existence. Sometimes to the point of one climbing on the other's head to get to the top of a toy..

My question is, how likely is it they will end up fighting some day? Most stories I've read indicate that fighting is more typical in very young hams, and the "scare" stories I've heard from friends/colleagues is that they got hamsters and had to split them up two or three weeks after purchasing them. Can I be confident that my two girls will continue to live together peacefully? Have we got over the "fighting stage" (if there even is one)? Or is it still likely that they will end up fighting at some point?

Thanks in advance for your help

[Hammy_]

Yes fighting usually starts when young (the ham teenage period) but I wouldn't cancel it out altogether as it still is possible. If you have a spare cage (just in case you spot fighting and can remove one and house them alone immediately to prevent further injury/ trauma) it should be fine. Hammy

[Wisper]

I'm not a Robo expert but I have had two girls in the past. They lived together quite happily till they passed away of old age. Had the odd falling out but never enough to make me think I needed to separate them. So sometimes they do just keep getting along.

[cypher]

It's so lovely that your two girls have stayed friends & are happily living together.
From what I know it's usually as they begin to mature that they tend to have a higher chance of falling out, often one will be more dominant than the other & that dominance can progress to fighting or they just grow up & want their own space.
It sounds as though you may well have struck lucky with your girls but they can fall out at any age so you just have to remain vigilant & keep your fingers crossed!

[Apple22Over7]

Thank you all so much! We have a spare cage just in case, and we're always vigilant in looking out for any signs of fighting or bullying but as far as we can tell so far they've had no issues

Thanks again!