I have a couple of questions before we get hamsters

[BRIANNAM]

hello i dont own any hamsters yet but my sister and i are thinking of getting two for me and her they would share a 10 gallon tank and were thinking dwarfs (we met a few types of hamsters and agreed on those) we saw that same litter boy and girl dont mix well and we dont want to breed i want a girl she wants a boy we'll figure out together either boys or girls but i have a few questions
do you have to get two of everything (i.e bottle wheel food bowl)
also is it OK for boy and girl from the same litter to live together
also if you could send some tips for new hamster owners

-Brianna

[Thin Lizzy]

Hi Brianna and Welcome to HC.
No you can't keep a brother and sister together as she'd end up pregnant.
Also, many dwarfs do live well together of the same sex but, it's advised to have a spare cage should they end up fighting as they'd need to be seperated and kept seperated.
You'll need 2 of everything like toys, wheels, houses, water bottles, dishes etc. No levels as this can end up with one bullying the other.

[Drago]

Hello and welcome to hamster central

Unfortunately, as mentioned above, siblings of different sexes shouldn't be kept with one another otherwise they will end up breeding which is definitely not good! However, a same sex sibling pair would work much better. Like said, make sure you have two of everything and your hideouts always have two exits. A ten gallon would definitely be too small for any single hamster let alone a pair Though pairs aren't ideal or natural, if you're set on getting one, you'd be much better off getting something like a 40 gallon breeder so they have lots of space. I wouldn't recommend two food bowls, scatter feeding is best as one of the hamsters in the pair can hog all the food even if it's kept in separate bowls! It may be more worthwhile to get two separate 40 gallon breeders or large bins and to keep one hamster in each rather than subjecting them to living in a pair. Unfortunately a good majority of pairs do end up falling out so it may be better to never even subject them to such stress in the first place. Good luck figuring out your possible ham situation, and good on you for being responsible and joining a forum! Make sure to ask if you ever have any other questions, there are some super experienced dwarf owners on here who I'm sure would love to help

[cypher]

Hi & welcome to HC

Lizzy & Drago have covered most of the basic things you need to know about keeping pairs, another thing to bear in mind if you & your sister are planning on having one ham each is that a pair must never be separated not even for a short out of cage interaction time, they would always have to be out of the cage together with both you & your sister, if one of you was to handle just one of the hams then put it back with the other the difference in scent could be enough to cause them to fall out & fight so pairs really aren't ideal at all if you want one each.
Consider how much space you have, I'm not so well up on gallon tank sizes but I think as Drago said the 40 gallon would be better for just one ham, maybe consider sharing the one ham between you or if you have the space get two larger tanks & a ham each to live separately.

[Cinnamon Bear]

I'd suggest that you and your brother get two hamsters in two separate cages. Generally you should be experienced with hammys before considering a pair as it can be stressful monitoring their behavior as most have fall outs and need separating anyways.

You could have an injured hammy and have vet bills coming up if they do fight and hurt each other when your not around or sleeping. But if you have already decided on a pair then take the precautions already posted.

Sorry if this is a duplicate suggestion on the above posts