Hammies fighting

[Bobbybz]

Hi,

I would like to seek help regarding this matter, I've adopted 3 sapphire winter white dwarf hamsters from my friend. All are male. One of them i suspected is a runt, as he is always being bullied by the other 2. Upon inspection, i can see his testicle area has bite marks.

After putting them in a new bigger cage, Savic Hamster heaven, the small one is often so call provoking the rest by but in the end he would always be on his back in a surrender mode.

I would then check on him and fresh bite marks can be seen clearly with blood coming out at his testicle area.

Currently I've separated him from the other 2 after reading that he might die with the constant stress and attacks after reading in the forum regarding this matter.

So here comes the question, am I doing the right thing? When I read regaring the fighting among hamster, there is none that states what kinda injuries is sustained. So is mine is already to the point of no return for them to live together? Its kinda sad looking at him all alone in his cage with no company.

P.S. I do have knowledge in looking hamster as I have look after a few Syrian breed with no problems but his is the 1st dwarf species I've adopted.

[racinghamster]

Hi Bobby, I would say you have made the right move by giving the one being bitten a seperate home. Don`t worry about this. Dwarf hamsters can be notorious for this type of behaviour and regradless of whether they are related or not, they can still turn territorial and nasty against one another and it`s really not worth keeping them in a trio when this is going on. Trios are more volatile anyway than a pair, but even a pair can need seperating at any time. There are no hard and fast rules, but spot cleaning (instead of doing full cage cleans) and not allowing them any other levels or shelves within their cage helps. Double up on wheels, scatter feed and have two water bottles.

If you read through some posts on here already in the sections that mention dwarf hamsters, you will find that it`s quite a common thing. How old are your males now?

Your little runty guy will settle now and be happier doing his own thing. So just let him play and sleep and give him his own time. The other two should settle, but keep a close eye on them incase removing the wee one upsets their balance. It shouldn`t, but you can never tell what`s going through their little minds!

Hope this helps in the meantime.

[Bobbybz]

Hi RacingHamster,

Thanks for the reply, for the small guy, it seems he is more happy living a bachelor life right now but he still shows the fear of presences around him. He would tend to be in defense mode though not biting. Lately he is more use to human presences that he will not curl up in one corner or hide in his house. But still a sad figure. When he was with the pair he was very small and skinny. not he is growing in size and weight.

Age wise, my friend could not remember the age of this trio, but i bet they are fully matured? Their story is that, there were 4 of them. 2 pair so called. His buddy was accidentally killed when my friend's hubby accidentally step on it while they were searching for him. His buddy was hiding under the carpet. He never saw it coming. So 3 was left. The Alpha male which I i can say rule them all, looks the same like the small guy. so this made me to believe that they are related. The other, has a darker fur tone. It made me curious regarding why can't siblings stay together. But reading some articles found, he had to be separated for his own good.

Thanks for informing me, what I did was corrected as his alone happy figure in cage was quite sad.

For the pair, they do wrestle around, with the Alpha male in a dominant position and the other on his back. They do live happily. They have their own bath room, that's all they have for themselves. Had 2 water bottles, both only keen in drinking from one. Luckily for me, they do not dominate any levels or house or food bowl or water bottle but a precaution i would take note regarding this. But for now trying to potty train them. Tried doing spot cleaning but they seem docile. Like you said they can go wacko anytime.