Living in groups

**zak** · 01-13-2016, 11:59 PM

I would like to possibly keep my Russian Dwarf, Kaisha, and her pups as one group providing they are all females as long as her litter is no more than 5 otherwise I will need to rehome some of them. I will find out in a few weeks time!

What are the pro's and con's of hamsters living in groups? What is the likelihood of fall outs? What are some important things to take note of to prevent any problems future down the line? How many hamsters would live comfortably in a ZooZone 2? Would mam be happy living with them do you think or will she not want anything to do with them once they reach the age of leaving the nest? I will respect her decision if she kicks them out for good.

I am in the process of getting one of each item to prevent any falls out, setting up back up cages incase some start fighting and stocking up on essentials so I don't run out.

It makes more sense to me to have them living in same sex groups rather than housing them in pairs or singly because it saves space, money saving and they would always have their own kind to interact with. I know some of that may sound selfish but I am thinking of the bigger picture however, I will always do what is best for my hamsters if I feel he/she isn't doing too well. I just want to try group living first to see how things go and if it doesn't go according to plan then so be it.

I am thinking things through the best I can and I would like some advice to help guide me a little. I have more questions but I cannot think of them all right now.

Bertiebobbins · 01-14-2016, 02:56 AM

Is that right you're thinking of keeping six hamsters in a zoo zone 2? With one of everything for each of them? I'd be surprised if six wheels, bowls, hideys and water bottles even fit in a zoo zone 2 never mind the hamsters.

xbuttons94 · 01-14-2016, 03:44 AM

I'm don't know much about hams living in groups. I did have 3 Robos but fighting started within the first week I had them and they had to be separated. I'm not sure about the cage size you would need for the amount of hamsters you want to keep but someone will have good knowledge. 2 of our boys were happy wheel sharing and we did have a house with two doors on them so they wouldn't fight for entry. They did get on well but they fell out after a few months but not really sure why.. I think it just happens sometimes.

I also had a large food bowl for my robos so they could sit and eat at the same time with plenty of room and they were happy eating together for a while.

You have to be prepared to separate hamsters if fighting breaks out so a back up cage is a good idea. We have two emergency cages in case we have problems with any of the other ones. I hope this helped a little and I'm sure someone else will be able to answer all of your questions!

x

cypher · 01-14-2016, 04:07 AM

I really don't know about females continuing to live with young long term but generally it seems hard to keep pairs for any length of time & three or more is even harder with a greater chance of them falling out or one being bullied.
As for size I wouldn't keep more than two in a ZZ2, I actually think it's a nice size for just one!
If you seriously wanted to make a go of it I think you would probably need a large enough tank to get multiples of wheels/toys/houses/water bottles etc in plus still having room for them to move around, explore, forage etc.

racinghamster · 01-14-2016, 07:33 AM

Hi zak. My plan would be keep any female babies with the mum, separate off any male babies into their own small group or pair if only two baby males are born and separate out as and when necessary. However, if you can`t/don`t want to keep them all long term, you could decide to split them out when they are old enough (and not before) and depending on how many babies arrive, wait and see what you can cope with and whether you could have extra caging or if it would be a struggle?

The most important thing to prioritise if you do decide to rehome any, to do it on here.

Or know exactly who you are dealing with if giving away or selling them. Your doing a good job planning for their arrival and making sure you are ready for any surprises. I imagine they would live together for a fair while, but as you will know from reading about pairs and groups, it doesn`t always go to plan, but only they can determine that. Spot cleaning and never changing the dynamics is the way ahead. x

**zak** · 02-01-2016, 04:58 PM

Please accept my apologies for completely abandoning this thread. What everyone has said has been taken into consideration and I have now decided against group living. I tried playing around with some ideas but it didn't go the way I wanted it to. What I am going to do is spilt them up depending on how many boys and girls there are with a possibility of some of the girls staying with mam due to the odd number of pups providing she is happy about that and doesn't try to drive them out of the nest. I don't want any of them in trios!