Jareth and Ludo have had a fight.

billybobbs · 07-11-2012, 03:16 PM

I've only had my boys a week and they were about 12 weeks old when I got them. They have been playing together happily and sleep together in the same bed. They have two spinners, two food bowls, logs and plenty of space. I decided tonight to clean their cage as it needed doing and they seemed to have settled in ok. When I put them back in their tank they both sniffed around and almost instantly started fighting. Jareth was chasing Ludo and biting his back end and pinned him down.
I put everything back in the tank where it was, nothing much had changed so I don't know why they have all of a sudden started fighting. Before they came to me they were living together with their father in a cage so maybe in this last week or so there has been too many changes and maybe I should have left cleaning the tank out for a bit.
They are now both out of the tank and both in temporary bin cages.
I would like to reintroduce them at some point but I'm not sure if I should.

This has been a hell of a week, I had to seperate my chinese boys recently too. They are happy living seperatly but I know roborovskis thrive with company.

Help please, I'm really not sure what to do.

**kyrilliondaemon** · 07-11-2012, 03:50 PM

Was there any blood? If so, I'd keep them separate for a bit. If there was no blood I'd let them try more time together.

The problem was probably that you did a full cage clean. It was strange and that can upset pairs/groups. I know this is a bit late, but its always best to only do partial cage cleans with pairs/groups, it reduces the risk of upsets.

Reintroducing later is definetly worth a go though, or at least I think so

racinghamster · 07-11-2012, 11:58 PM

I agree that full cage cleans can upset, or seem to upset that fine balance pairs and groups have because removing their scent totally seems to confuse that balance they have. I always just spot clean my robo and syrians cages even though they live singly! I still don`t like to remove their smelly bits altogether! With a pair or a group, it`s even more vital. Sounds as though you have dominant and a subordinate character and the dominant one has taken badly to the change. I can`t say if I would personally re-introduce them if you feel the same thing could happen again. Sometimes it`s better just to bite the bullit and keep them single.

Whitehologram · 07-12-2012, 12:00 AM

Daisy gets very upset if I do a full clean of her cage too and often wont go into her house at all. I try to remember than and only replace half her bedding instead of doing a full clean.

billybobbs · 07-12-2012, 02:16 AM

They still kept some of their old bedding and shavings so they still had their scent in there, maybe it just wasn't enough. I wouldn‘t have completly removed it all because I know it might of upset the balance in there. I dont really do full cage cleans often because of the amount of cages I have. They both have some of their original bedding in their bins now so to keep the scent.
Does anyone recomend me putting them both back in but using the split cage technique for a while? I have heard it can be successful, I don't mind keeping them singly, thats not a problem. I just want to be sure I've done all I can to try keep them as a pair. I woulnt do this with anyother species, when I did my reasearch before getting them It kept comming up that they love company.

**kyrilliondaemon** · 07-12-2012, 03:59 AM

The split cage technique definetly can't hurt

I'd want to give them another chance and that would be the way I did it. If it fails I'd also consider waiting until they're about 6-7 months old and giving them another try then when they're past the worst of the hormonal times.

Ren · 07-12-2012, 04:45 AM

I wouldn't wait that long. It is dangerous to introduce hamsters together if they've been living alone for even 7 days. I am not sure about the split method either as they'd both set up territories on each side as "theirs". It is possible that you just need to let them figure out who's boss.

Try this advice: Dwarf Hamsters: Introducing a New Dwarf to a Dwarf You Already Have

**kyrilliondaemon** · 07-12-2012, 05:24 AM

Actually Ren, after about 24 hours it becomes risky. The longer you wait the higher the chance they'll have forgotten each other but it still can work out fine. Its not the safest thing in the world but its definetly worth a try, and if someone has been hurt already it might be safest if they were kept apart until said hamster had healed.
The split cage method is also usually combined with changing which side of the split each hamster inhibits reguarly so they can't become territorial over their side - because its never theirs for long enough.

billybobbs · 07-12-2012, 06:40 AM

The way I've been looking at splitting their cage would be to obviously split the cage equally and keep changing them over from one side to the other so none of them get the chance to claim any space as their own.

Lougarry · 07-12-2012, 07:00 AM

Peaches and Marmalade periodically fall out but are then miserable apart and get reunited. Pompompoms dealt with this situation far more often than me - they've only had one separation since they've been here, which I think was as a result of changing their substrate (the farm shop was out of stock of Megazorb). I followed Poms' approach of dividing the cage with mesh (so they should smell each other through the wire) and taking out toys etc, apart from wheels and sand baths, so they had few distractions. After a couple of days they were looking scruffy and dejected so I removed the barrier and they've been fine again since.

I think your method sounds fine.

Good luck!