Hamster Showing Signs of Loneliness?

[35NinjaGirl]

Hi!

So I had to separate my two Roborovski boys a week ago after a fight led to a deep wound on one of them, Jake. He saw a vet that night, he's completely fine.

His brother Finn, though, has barely come out of his nest since they've been apart, and he hasn't had a run on his wheel. I think he's eating less than before, although because they used shared a food dish it's kind of hard to gauge. I'm worried about him - do hamsters get lonely? Is there anything I can do to help him?

[35NinjaGirl]

Please can someone offer some advice? I weighed the food left in Finn's bowl, and he's barely eaten in 6 days. I'm very, very worried about him. He seems ok when he comes out if I poke the bed, but he only stays out for a minute or so.

If it isn't a reaction to being alone, what else could it be? I've had them for 4 weeks now, and for the first three days I used fluffy bedding because I didn't know how dangerous it was. I took it out as soon as I found out, but could he have eaten some and got it stuck in his intestines and it only now be causing symptoms?

[cypher]

Hamster don't get lonely but some do get very stressed by cage changes & can take up to a couple of weeks to adjust & settle down again so that could be part of the problem however if Finn really has hardly eaten anything in 6 days then you're right to be concerned. How much has he actually eaten & is he drinking OK?
It is possible he could have eaten some of the fluffy bedding & have a blockage that's causing him problems a vet should be able to tell if that is the case so it might be worth getting him checked over.
Hope that helps a bit.

[racinghamster]

Hi NinjaGirl. Behaviours can change when they are separated and they either carry on regardless, or may seem more likely to hide or revert to being more aloof.

I don`t know what you currently feed your robos, but perhaps make sure the mix is a dwarf mix and that any extruded biscuits are broken up smaller as robos tend not to eat large things. Add millet in the form of canary seed if you don`t already feed the Burgess Dwarf mix as this contains Canary seed. Millet spray is also loved by robos and other dwarf hamsters. I cut off around one inch of the stalk and my Russian dwarf shreds it in seconds!

Use ripped up (like confetti) plain white toilet paper for nesting. The fact that your robos are probably still settling in, Finn may be the more wary of the two hamsters, so give him time now to rest and adapt to being on his own. If they are in your room, you will be able to monitor and hear them playing around during the night. Let them do what they want to do and re assure them just by talking to them and encouraging their play when they are running around.

Robos can be a law unto themselves anyway! Leave some millet scattered near Finn`s nest and near open ended tubes and watch for him digging or rummaging for it from a distance away, rather than leaning over the cage, just to monitor his actions.

It`s good that the vet gave them a check up. But they should be fine now. x

[Thin Lizzy]

Remove the fluffy bedding if you haven't already!
That's a long time and very little food. I'd get him an appointment with the vet as soon as possible.