Adopting Two 4-MO Syrians from a Shelter (Can they live together??)

tayhawks · 03-24-2018, 07:23 PM

Ok, so I found two hamsters relatively close to where I live at a no-kill animal shelter. I believe they are Syrians: they do not look like any other hamster species. That being said, there are two of them up for adoption. They are 4 months old and were born in the shelter and have not lived anywhere else.

Currently, they are living together in an enclosure. I have not actually seen their enclosure, so I cannot 100% know this. I do plan to go meet them before adopting them, of course, though.

Basically, I want to adopt both of them because I want both of them (both brothers) to have a great home. I know Syrians are not supposed to be housed together once they get to be about 2 months old, but I want to know if these two could potentially live in harmony.

If this has never been the case and never will be the case with Syrians, I am prepared to buy a separate cage for them. I already have a 44 gallon tank setup for them, but I had the tank from when my prairie dog was a baby, so it wasn't an extra expense.

Just let me know your thoughts, please. I am new to this site and to having a hamster.

souffle · 03-25-2018, 12:19 AM

No they cannot live together even if they are together now. They still see themselves as babies at the moment but they will reach maturity soon and the hormones will kick in. It is not fair to force them to stay together. Adult syrians are solitary bu nature and will be stressed by living with another.
If you cannot separate them and keep them alone it would be great to adopt one. That would leave the other one alone and it would get a home as a singleton too so you would do both a favour. Let us know what you decide

tayhawks · 03-26-2018, 05:58 PM

Thank you! That's what I thought.

I've decided to adopt both of them if they both appear to be healthy, so I decided to just build a DIY cage where they could live right beside each other without knowing about the other. So it'll be like two separate cages side by side, but again, they can't see or get to each other.

souffle · 03-26-2018, 11:45 PM

I'd do two separate cages. Much easier to clean and work with and also being even next door but attached can still stress each other sue to the movement and scent drifting from cage to cage.
Two large bins would make fab cages

Pebbles82 · 03-27-2018, 04:52 AM

Agree with Souffle - two separate cages would be better. If you make bin cages you could stack them on top of each other. Even a divided diy cage would be a bit too close proximity really. Ikea do a 78cm samla bin which is very cheap. Personally I think it's a bit on the small side for a Syrian as it slopes in a lot at the base, but it could do as starter cage and then think about upgrading them if necessary. It can be hard to find bins big enough that are also tall enough. If you have a good depth of substrate in the Samla bin the floor area will be wider the higher up you go with the substrate level

I'd suggest 6" of substrate at least which would mean ventilation being higher up the side of the bin too.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90102971/

The lid is sold separately and you will need a lid or they'll escape. You cut the centre out of the lid and mesh it.

Have you seen them yet? You seemed a bit unsure of the species. Either way a samla bin would be good. Just thinking though, if they are Russian dwarfs they can live together. Maybe go and see them first.

SKB_Hamsters · 03-27-2018, 08:45 AM

That is so lovely that you have decided to adopt both of the hamsters and give them a wonderful home.

CMB · 03-27-2018, 08:46 AM

All the best with the adoption of both hamsters.