Dwarf Hamster Aggression Towards Eachother

[JesserBee]

Okay, I know this topic has probably been discussed many times but I am having a few issues that I haven't been able to find an answer to on any search engine. So I have a male and female djungarian dwarf hamster. The male I have had since he was a baby and the female I got a few days ago fully grown. I have tried to put them in a new cage together and even the old cage after it was cleaned. Both times they fought and the first time even left my Bella girl bleeding on her inner back legs. So I tried to put a divider of screen wire between them in the same cage and the male ate through it just to get to her. But when I stopped and paid attention, if the male got close to the female then SHE attacked HIM. I'm not sure what is going on with the two of them and I have them separated in different cages for now but I would like to eventually breed them. Help?

[racinghamster]

Hi. I can`t give any breeding advice I`m afraid, but I did read that the female should be introduced to the male, rather than the other way around? Someone will correct me here if I`m wrong.

Anyhow, what you have are two hamsters that are different ages and possibly, there`s also a difference in size? This can sometimes cause the larger one to bully the smaller one, although your problem could just be down to the fact that you have a male and a female that won`t tolerate one another and it`s never, ever worth puting them in danger of injury. If one gets bitten, it could absess and cause a lot of problems for the hamster and for yourself in terms of veterinary trips to treat it.

have you got anyone who could mentor you in terms of advice if you plan to breed? :) Sometimes asking an established breeder for advice on this is better than just doing things yourself because a breeder will know what to expect with behaviour and pairing and when best to do this.

[cutehammies]

Hiya yep I have read the same as racinghamster then the female should be introduced to the male's cage cos the females are a bit more territorial. However it also said that generally (!!) the male will never even defend himself if attacked by a female, which doesn't really fit with your two cos you said that she was bleeding, so he must have bitten her. So hmmm. Sorry I can't help more, I just thought I'd say what I'd read?

[Sandrilene]

have u tried getting their scents in their cages then switching them into the others cage to help them get use to eachothers scent. when my dwarfs lived together always had to keep a bit of old bedding to spread around so they wouldn`t fight even though they lived together their whole lives. if they lose the others scent they will fight for the territory. but getting use to the others scent may help them get use to the other. as to breeding them or reintroducing beyond that point i can`t really help as i haven`t done it. some hamsters just don`t like eachother and it won`t work. for breeding i would assume you need them to have eachothers scent and she needs to be receptive to such ideas... possibly introduce them solely for that purpose them separate them again but again i`m not really sure on that.

[JesserBee]

Aha! I guess it just took them time to get use to eachother. I put a devider in their cage and today i let them together and they were perfectly fine. I watched them for quite awhile and they seemed to ignore each other. Hopefully the harmony will continue

[DwarfNome]

Well, if a female is not in heat, she will fight off the male. If she is then she will usually show that and cooperate. That's probably why they fought before and they are fine now. However when introducing two hamsters, you have to draw the line when blood is involved. I really think you shouldn't try and breed them anymore. Not that it is just wrong because of genetic problems, but that your female was injured.

Please understand that I'm saying this because I care, not trying to be rude! :)