Sadly....a common tale.....

[Holly]

...with Winter Whites it seems.....

Tonight we have had to separate Sparrow and Turner. I've been worried for a while about Turner's bullying of Sparrow and I've been watching them very carefully. Up until tonight no blood had been shed - they just seemed to squabble a lot, with Sparrow seemingly coming off worst. This evening, however, they were fighting as we went to get them out - and they didn't stop. After separating them Will noticed blood on Sparrow's tummy

We thought we were doing everything right - big cage, two of everything, scattered food, half-cage cleans and always handling them together - it hasn't worked

Sparrow is now safe in one of our spare Gabber Lux's and Turner will go into another one tomorrow. The one bright side is that we now have a Rex for one of our baby Syrians

We'll be keeping a close eye on Sparrow's wound - it looks superficial and he's been cleaning it so hopefully it will be ok. At least he's got a secure home where he won't be bullied anymore.

[Jane]

Awww poor Sparrow You did everything right but with some hammies it just seems that they're not meant to be together lol. I'm sure he'll be fine though

Atleast you noticed before anything worst happened too..and you MUST have been doing something right for them to stay together this long anyway

[souffle]

Oh dear well you tried and persevered as long as possible Holly and they will be just fine alone. Most dwarfies are perfectly happy that way. I think Sparrow will appreciate not being bullied and now they are fully mature with no mates around to dilute the aggresssion from their hormones it has just gotten too much for them. You are right to separate.

[Spuds Mum]

We had exactly the same problem a few weeks back with our WWs, Smirnoff & Ice. In the end we had to separate as Smirnoff was spending all his time cowering and running from corner to corner chased by Ice! He wasn't allowed anywhere near food and Ice would take any food he managed to get right out of his mouth poor thing!
The positive side for us has been that, since they have been separated, Smirnoff, who was always a lot smaller than Ice has come on in leaps and bounds and has put on a lot of weight (not too much) and is obviously happy in his 'batchelor pad' alone. I guess, just like people, some wws just don't get along. I'm sure you have done the right thing for both of them.

[babyboos]

it is getting more and more common with Winter Whites - better a happy single than a petrified dueling duo

[Holly]

Well, Sparrow seems to be in his element in his new pad. He's made himself a comfy bed (not where I put it ) and he's been pottering about and is eating well. The wound looks like it's healing and, last night, when I went to get him out he was waiting by the door! This is unheard of for him - he's usually so timid we have tio find him cowering somewhere first... while Turner is straight into the ball without hesitation.

I'm coming to the conclusion that we should have searated them before - I've got a feeling Sparrow will come into his own now he isn't expecting to be bullied at any second. I'm not so sure about Turner though - he seems a little bit lost....

[Bunsey]

awww, that's always such a shame. i'm really worried that i'll have to split max and paddy. they fight more now, and i have to keep an eye on them. if paddy injures max in any way i'll split them it's such a shame cos i love holding both of them in my hand! i've always thought paddy would be great to breed from, and if i had to separate him from max anyway, it'd be sooo tempting if i could find i good female... don't think i'd be allowed though

[souffle]

Kipton and Bingley are only 8wks and we are worried about them already. Kipon keeps jumping on Bingley even though he is the smaller of the two and then they squawk like mad and tussle around. I dont see them lasting long together. How old were everybodies before they had to be split. It is so nice to see and hold them together but I am not sure ours actually like being together! We shall see. Anyone keep a dwarf in a lux? Would it be OK for one dwarf? We just dont have room for another rex.

[Holly]

That's a shame both of you

Ours always fought like mad and, with hindsight, I left them together for far too long. I had my reservations but, as there was no bloodshed that I could see and many people told me that it's normal for ww's to be very vocal and tussle, I just kept an eye on them.

After the evening we separated them - after the big fight with the wound to Sparrow's tummy - we noticed that Sparrow also has a healed tear in his ear. I don't know how long before that happened but it makes me feel guilty still - the poor thing must have been so bullied for quite a while.

Ours were 6 months old when we separated and they are both thriving. Souffle, they both live in Lux cages and seem happy in them - I think they are big enough and, as they are so tiny, they still have lots of room to run around. Sparrow sleeps until about 7 pm now - before they were both up on and off all afternoon after about 2 pm, mostly fighting and annoying each other, I think.

It will be a shame if you do have to separate but it is a weight off the mind.

[Bunsey]

i have splodge in a lux and i'd call it the minimum size really. splodge is smaller than max and paddy with not being from a breeder. i wouldn't have space for another big cage if i had to separate, either, so they'd have to go into 2 smaller cages unfortunately