Hamster Central - View Single Post - Young dwarf hamsters

Horrible Crowes · 04-04-2021, 04:28 PM

Hey,

We recently acquired 2 young winter whites from a local breeder, they are males and are roughly 5 and a half weeks old and so quite young still, they are from the same litter.

We introduced then to their new cage (large zoozone) on Friday morning, they slept for most of the day apart and on the first night we noticed quite a bit of squabbling - the more submissive hamster was quite vocal and was being chased and hiding from the more dominant one.

Throughout day 2 they seemed to switch between sleeping together and sleeping separately, but every time the dominant one moved into the nesting area of the submissive one there would be a minute or so of squeaking whilst they settled and on occasion the submissive one would move to a different nesting area.

Night 2/day 3 we noticed a lot less squabbling throughout the night (at least we didn't hear it) but I'm worried the more submissive one simply hid himself away. In the morning they were sleeping separately again and when the submissive one came out tentatively to have a walk, the dominant one stirred and chased the submissive one the moment they set eyes, the submissive one hid in a small tunnel for a few seconds before exiting and being chased once more this time into his hidey burrow where he stayed.

Throughout today they've both been out and about at separate times, we got them out and held them for the first time and seemed very content with us, we have noticed the dominant one seems rather skittish and energetic, the submissive one seems very nervous and tentative and I'm worried that he is going to be too nervous/timid for his cage partner. They've been sleeping separately for most of the day but have within the last few hours have been in and out of the submissive ones main nest together, each time they encounter each other though there's a round of squeaking from the submissive one which lasts around a minute before there's silence.

It feels like the submissive one is scared of encountering his cage partner and I haven't seen them play together properly in the 2/3 days we've had them, although we saw no activity last night as they woke late.

They are quite young and so this could be adolescent squabbling and there were no injury signs when we held them earlier but I'd like to think the submissive hammy isn't being bullied into hiding and only exploring when the dominant one is done. We have 2 wheels, a handful of toys, a water bottle, 2 houses and a burrow box, we've got 1 food bowl and plan to buy a 2nd.

Any thoughts on whether this is normal adolescent behaviour or is this more akin to bullying?

04-04-2021, 04:28 PM
Horrible Crowes Newborn Pup Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 9	Young dwarf hamsters - fighting or establishing dominance? Hey, We recently acquired 2 young winter whites from a local breeder, they are males and are roughly 5 and a half weeks old and so quite young still, they are from the same litter. We introduced then to their new cage (large zoozone) on Friday morning, they slept for most of the day apart and on the first night we noticed quite a bit of squabbling - the more submissive hamster was quite vocal and was being chased and hiding from the more dominant one. Throughout day 2 they seemed to switch between sleeping together and sleeping separately, but every time the dominant one moved into the nesting area of the submissive one there would be a minute or so of squeaking whilst they settled and on occasion the submissive one would move to a different nesting area. Night 2/day 3 we noticed a lot less squabbling throughout the night (at least we didn't hear it) but I'm worried the more submissive one simply hid himself away. In the morning they were sleeping separately again and when the submissive one came out tentatively to have a walk, the dominant one stirred and chased the submissive one the moment they set eyes, the submissive one hid in a small tunnel for a few seconds before exiting and being chased once more this time into his hidey burrow where he stayed. Throughout today they've both been out and about at separate times, we got them out and held them for the first time and seemed very content with us, we have noticed the dominant one seems rather skittish and energetic, the submissive one seems very nervous and tentative and I'm worried that he is going to be too nervous/timid for his cage partner. They've been sleeping separately for most of the day but have within the last few hours have been in and out of the submissive ones main nest together, each time they encounter each other though there's a round of squeaking from the submissive one which lasts around a minute before there's silence. It feels like the submissive one is scared of encountering his cage partner and I haven't seen them play together properly in the 2/3 days we've had them, although we saw no activity last night as they woke late. They are quite young and so this could be adolescent squabbling and there were no injury signs when we held them earlier but I'd like to think the submissive hammy isn't being bullied into hiding and only exploring when the dominant one is done. We have 2 wheels, a handful of toys, a water bottle, 2 houses and a burrow box, we've got 1 food bowl and plan to buy a 2nd. Any thoughts on whether this is normal adolescent behaviour or is this more akin to bullying?