Is there anything I can do?

[de4life]

Hi guys,

There's a pet shop near where I work, a place called *****. I often go in there to pick up bits for Hjalmar, yesterday I went in to get a couple extra toys since he's had a bin cage attached to his normal cage now and has room for more. However, I saw something in there which disturbed me a little. There were 4 Syrian hamsters - of a fair size - in the same small glass aquirium. They didn't look like they were of the same litter (there was a long haired white one, a black one, a grey one and a golden coloured one) and some looked a bit older than the others. The black one was especially quite small.

I watched them for a while as they were all awake, and noticed they seemed to be fighting quite a lot. It was nothing terribly vicious, but they did appear to be biting each other and fighting over the one water bottle and one wheel in the aquirium. I asked the staff member how old the hamsters were, he said they'd come in the day before and were about 11 weeks old.

I was under the impression that 8-9 weeks was the max you could really keep syrians together, and having 4 in the same fairly small space seems pretty unfair to me. Chances are they'll be sold fairly quickly, but, I was still quite disturbed by seeing this. Am I right to feel unhappy about the way these little guys are being treated, or am I just overreacting? I wanted to take them all home and give them their own space but I haven't got the room or the money for such things and it wouldn't actually change the way hamsters are generally treated there.

The people in the shop seemed kind enough people and the guy assured me that if they are seen to get vicious towards each other they will be seperated, but what if they attack each other at night when the shop is unattended and it's too late? It's playing on my mind, but maybe i'm just overreacting do you guys think I should do something or is there nothing I can really do?

[souffle]

It is always a good idea to express your concerns to the store manager. They do sound a bit old to be together especially is the are squabbling. If you don't get any adequate response then contact Customer services and write to them. The hammies are likely being monitored though by the staff because they would not sell them easily if they were injured and stock is money to them.

[Demecat]

Sadly, **** has a reputation of not being the best of pet shops. Apart from contacting the rspca or complaining to the shop's manager, I really don't think there's much you can do.

Please don't be tempted to buy them thinking that you're rescuing them. Buying them just opens the door for them to get more 'stock' and doesn't resolve the problem.

[de4life]

Originally Posted by Demecat

Sadly, **** has a reputation of not being the best of pet shops. Apart from contacting the rspca or complaining to the shop's manager, I really don't think there's much you can do.

Please don't be tempted to buy them thinking that you're rescuing them. Buying them just opens the door for them to get more 'stock' and doesn't resolve the problem.

Yeah, that's why I didn't buy them... just felt bad for them because they're in such a small space and seemed to be fighting a lot. Hopefully they'll be sold to loving owners quickly.

Was surprised that they had 11 week old hamsters in as new, it seems quite old.

Also, apologies for adding the store name, didn't realise I wasn't allowed to!!

[Emma&Bee]

I have seen 7 Syrians in one cage in a particular shop. The shops response was they sell them so quickly that they dont have the time to fight. (yeah of course they dont) there were also 3 Russians together fighting. In the end i had to get someone and insist they separated them. They woman who came to do it realised they were not going to survive if left together then went on to tell me she hated Russian Hamsters. I always want to leave with all the Hamsters. But remind myself its better to get them from breeders and leave those poor ones behind