Fighting

[Timmo]

My two russian hamsters that have been kept in the same cage for the last 2 weeks have started fighting quite alot recently. What should I do?

How serious is the fighting? If blood has been drawn, you need to separate them immediately. If not, I'd just keep a very close eye on them, unless one of them is obviously being bullied and/or prevented from eating/drinking. Are they Campbell's or Winter Whites?

[Timmo]

They're campbells and alfie (fatter one) seems to be the one starting the fights.

Campbell's aren't as vicious as WWs so I guess that's good. Is Alfie preventing the other one from eating? Have you tried separating them when they fight? I find a good way of telling how serious a fight is by sticking a finger between them to break it up. If its not serious, they'll stop fighting. If they carry on fighting (and you still have a finger!), you might want to consider separating them.

My first pair of Campbell's fought and I ended up separating them in the end even though blood was never drawn. Jason was obviously scared of his cagemate Rajko and over a period of days, it just got worse and worse and Rajko pretty much stalked him all over the cage. Jason was so much happier on his own! He lives alone in a Gabber now and is a happy little boy.

Alternatively, I currently have a group of four Campbell girls together and they've been squabbling for the last two weeks. Nothing serious though - they're easily stopped by a finger or some food - but I'm keeping a close eye on them in case they do need splitting up.