When to seperate "fighting" females?

[NaomiR]

My 2 girls (who live with a boy at the moment) are constantly at each other, yesterday I added an additional wheel but they're continually chasing each other rolling round and squeaking - are they really fighting or just playing?

I don't know if I should take one out or not??

[Bourne Valley Hams]

Robos do squabble and play fight a lot. As soon as any physically injury is occuring then you will need to take action. Bitten tails and bottoms are usually the first thing with robos.

I totally agree with BVH. All my robos do enjoy playfights (even my 3 week old babies!) but it was quite obvious when I needed to separate Bruce and Sylvester out as my other robos suddenly appeared with bleeding bums (almost like scractch marks) and chewed tails. Just keep a close eye on them for any marks.

Of course now, with hindsight, I know that Bruce and Sylvester were pregnant females (rather than males as I thought) so it was hardly surprising that they were fighting. Sylvester still has a chunk of fur missing that Bruce took out. But on a happy note, both mums gave birth to healthy litters producing 11 babies between them.

[Tammy22]

Hi Naomi,

i am guessing that you are hoping for them to breed as you have a male in with the two females?

I have not had much luck with colonies in all the time i have been breeding Roborovskis, i find that pairs work far better and are much more successful too.

Occasionally colonies will work out, but it much more harmonial to use just pairs.

If i was you i would split them up into a male and female pair and then a single female - or you can try introducing the female to another female so she is not lonely (not essential though)

You must make sure that you definately know the sexes though - if they are still young it can be very hard to sex them.

Also, if you are pairing up the single female, wait for at least 25 days to be sure she is not pregnant before pairing her with a strange hamster - male or female! - it could stress he out.

Hope this is helpful - just let me know if you need any more info.

Kind Regards,

Tammy x