Just got Teddy and Bear today

scoobs · 06-20-2017, 05:05 PM

Hello everyone,

After an unfortunate passing of my SO and my hamster Scoobs, we took some time and decided to get another hamster. Went to the store and picked out a long-haired Syrian hamster, but when he was removed from his cage, his brother got really scared and upset. As littermates, we decided to get them both.

They currently stay in a small crate where scoobs (Russian Dwarf) used to live, but we expect the arrival of a much larger house for them (24"x47"). It is separable if they end up fighting, but we hope that they become lifelong friends.

Hope everyone and their hamsters are doing okay today!

souffle · 06-21-2017, 03:25 AM

Seriously what was the pet shop even thinking about! Syrians are strictly solitary and you must keep them alone after around 6 weeks of age.
They are only together because they are babies and serious fights will happen soon. Even in the wild they are solitary.
If you cannot have two decent sized cages ( the separated cage will cause stress as they will smell each other through the divider) I would suggest you return one to the shop and have words with them advising that they should not be selling pairs of syrian hamsters.
Research Syrian care now on the forum so you can care for them properly.

AprilPearl · 06-21-2017, 03:31 AM

Sadly many pet stores are incompentent and keep syrians together. You must separate them, or they will fight to the death.

Hope to see Teddy and Bear

cypher · 06-21-2017, 03:44 AM

Hi & welcome to HC scoobs.

As has been made clear you have sadly been seriously misinformed by the pet shop staff, I hope you have the space for two good size cages & are able to keep them both separately as I'm sure it would be difficult to have to let one go, those are the only options though, if you have any questions about keeping syrians just ask & someone will help.

scoobs · 06-21-2017, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by souffle

If you cannot have two decent sized cages ( the separated cage will cause stress as they will smell each other through the divider)

Yeah, the pet shop said that they're only okay since they're littermates, but all my research says otherwise. Do you think it would be okay if we had the single large cage separated with a large divider between them? Or how far away would they need to be from each other otherwise?

scoobs · 06-21-2017, 07:47 AM

Oh and by the way, I was made aware that it sounds like my SO passed away, but I really meant (my SO and my) hamster, as in both of ours. Not the passing of both. Sorry

Crystalroborovski · 06-21-2017, 09:44 AM

Congratulations on your new fur babies, I'm sure you love them both very much!

As everybody is saying above Syrians are solitary animals and will fight to the death once they reach adulthood. Unfortunately they won't become lifelong friends- it is against their nature. They may not be fighting now but that is only because they are young. Splitting the cage may not be such a good idea because they could probably still smell/hear each other which would be very stressful for them. You should probably get another appropriately sized cage if you still want to have them both, which I assume you do.

Hope they both settle in well!

AprilPearl · 06-21-2017, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scoobs

Yeah, the pet shop said that they're only okay since they're littermates, but all my research says otherwise. Do you think it would be okay if we had the single large cage separated with a large divider between them? Or how far away would they need to be from each other otherwise?

Not your fault. Pet shops can be worryingly ill informed! I wouldn’t put them in the same cage, even separated. An accident could happen and, even if it didn’t, living in such close proximity they would be able to smell each other strongly which would be very stressful. Their home should be a place they feel safe.

Also, if you divide the bigger cage you have ordered into two, the floor space each hamster has would be too small.

Not sure exactly how far apart the cages should be. Others will probably be better at advising on this. When we have kept multiple syrians at once, we had one on either side of the room to be safe. That may have been overkill, though. Just have the cages as far apart as you are able and I am sure that will be fine.

scoobs · 06-21-2017, 01:55 PM

Thanks for all the help everyone. We have since purchased a new crate with ample space for Bear, but Teddy remains in the smaller 170in^2 crate. We were thinking of getting a second 170in^2 crate and connecting them with tunnels since Teddy enjoys the tunnels a lot. Would that be a good idea? Or should we just purchase another large crate for Teddy?Money isn't too tight but we're both college students with part time jobs.

dreamtree1234 · 06-21-2017, 02:02 PM

Hi and welcome to HC, Scoobs! So sorry to hear about the passing of your previous hammy Scoobs, but congrats on getting Teddy and Bear. As many have already previously stated, unfortunately the pet store owner had totally misinformed you. Even though you may love for your two new hammies to become lifelong friends since they are littermates, they will inevitably end up killing one another if kept together. Therefore, I would definitely separate the two as soon as possible and get another Syrian appropriate-sized cage so they can be housed totally separately. It will not be alright for them to only be separated by a divider since one could possibly escape to the other side without your knowledge and they can also smell and hear one another causing severe stress. I have family that have two Syrians, and they keep them on totally opposite sides of a large room. If that is possible, I would strongly suggest to do the same. I would also purchase separate wheels, water bottles/bowls, play toys, etc. so they don't have to share these either. I hope that you are able to still keep both Teddy and Bear separately since I know that you must have fallen in love with both already. Sorry that you weren't aware of this prior to buying each hammy, but if you ever have any other questions, please never hesitate to ask. Good luck with everything, and I look forward to seeing you around at HC, hearing more about your Syrians, and of course seeing lots of pics whenever they settle in more. BTW, Eros waves to her new friends Teddy and Bear.

Edit: I just noticed that you were posting while I was typing this post. I definitely would not connect the two via a tube either. Sorry! If Teddy enjoys tubes a lot, I would just find a way to incorporate them in his cage layout without involving Bear's cage at all. I hope that this helps.