Keeping a pair "together"

[Hamtastic]

I've been having some small issues with my robo pair not getting along as perfectly as they used to lately. Poms has been extremely helpful, but I figured I'd post this here in case it will be a useful strategy/info thread for someone else.

So my 2 robo girls are now 5.5 months old and I've had them together since they were tiny babies. They've never had a big fight, but I once discovered a tiny scratch on Dora's nose after I handled them both for taming. They basically just don't like to smell like anything other than themselves and can squabble over it otherwise. Mostly their issue is not any overt bullying where one is losing weight or ending up with wounds. Both look healthily plump, same weight, no injuries that I can detect. Mostly they just kind of "flip" each other and chase and jump on each other sometimes and rarely they screech at each other briefly--but very rarely.

In conclusion, I've been trying different things to make their life together smoother and ensure that they stay together longer instead of separating down the road.

Cage set-up:

• ZooZone1 with 2 5.5" wheels
• 1 huge sand bath
• 1 litter critter bath,
• 1 2-floor play/sleep house (they always sleep together right next to each other)
• large food dish where both fit with extra room
• lots of toys
• one level layout.

Current modifications I am trying on a suggestion I got:

• Open nest which is just a giant pile of extra Carefresh and Eco Bedding in a corner
• Added another sand bath container
• Took out the food dish and scattered food around the cage uniformly

I'll report how it goes after these changes.

I change the layout every couple weeks to keep them entertained, as I think boredom also makes them more irritated.

Now, as I was told, they could just be extra hormonal now and hence squabble more... maybe it's a temporary thing. But I like to be more safe than sorry!

Any additional tips and comments are greatly appreciated.

[Hamtastic]

Doing well so far! Friendly with each other. Had them out in a bath tub together, and they groomed each other and checked up on each other often, while cozying up in my sweater.

Since I took out the house they slept in, they started making lots of tunnels everywhere in the bedding (something they absolutely stopped doing a while ago) and sleeping in random places. Somehow that house satisfied their need for tunnels and nesting, I guess. But I think it might be more fun for them with tunnels all over, so I'll keep it this way for a while.

[Hamtastic]

For reference, this is their current cage set up. To the top right is a big open nest with an extra pile of bedding. They also have a mini-nest behind the wheels in the left corner. The paper roll keeps moving around from its designated spot between the two sand areas. I take the food plate out and scatter feed time to time. So far so good!

The second photo is one of the previous set ups, with one sand bath and a sleeping home (which they loved...)

[fluffymunchkins]

That cage set up looks brilliant
I hope they continue to do well together x

[mangoandmimi]

that looks great haha especiallylove the coloured carefresh ;D
i guess sometimes they have little squabbles, at the moment sapphire and topaz are getting very squabbly so they have literally nothing in their cage but 2 houses, large food dish big enough to fit a guinea pig in, and a water bottle and a sand bath. if they continue being naughty they will have 2 piles of bedding. scattered food and water bottle

[Hamtastic]

Thank you. The bedding is CareFresh in a couple colors on top of EcoBedding.