To separate or not to separate? (Russians)

[JellyBean]

I've had two male Russian Dwarfs for about a month now. Got them from Pets at Home where they were housed together. For the first week or so it was fine, they'd cuddle up together etc but then Boris started chasing after Dimitri and when he caught him he'd do some aggressive grooming which lead to Dimitri squeaking. This continued off and on till about a two weeks ago when it stopped. Got up this morning and checked on them to find Dimitri on his back with a small red mark (possibly a bite) on his side with Boris standing next to him.

Despite how Boris treats him, Dimitri doesn't seem stressed and still curls up with Boris and runs around with him. I've tried separating them once when Boris would not leave him alone (at all) but Dimitri started running around the cage non stop till Boris was returned.

The vet said to leave them together unless more red marks appeared but I'm not so sure...

I would def separate them if it weren't for the fact that they still curl up together and Dimitri doesn't seem at all stressed (cept when Boris grooms him)

They have about 4 houses in their cage and two of everything except the water bottle.

The bite just seems to be a red mark (no bleeding) but it's hard to tell as it's covered by fur and they don't particularly like handling yet.

Advice pls?

[ClareNdarhams]

I've had many pairs of Russians, I've had to separate all of them, except one pair... If it was my I would definitely separate them. Especially if Dimitri is squeaking (love the name by the way!) Once one of one of my pairs killed the other within a week. I wouldn't risk it :S I think you should leave them for a day or so and maybe add another house and spread the food more, remove all platforms and see how it goes. If they still chase eachother definitely separate! :S xxx

[fluffymunchkins]

It sounds like normal dominance behaviour from Boris, which is why Dimitri isn't bothered afterwards.
The squeaking is also normal, some hamsters are more vocal than others, they often make it sound like bloody murder but really theres no harm done.

However, the red mark is a sign that things are becoming escalated. If it were me I would remove everything but the necessities from the cage, to remove anything that could start fights. And watch them very closely for any more signs of injury or escalation. Then gradually add more toys as they calm down, but remove it if it started fights again.

Any more signs of injury and I would seperate before serious harm is done.

[JellyBean]

Oh lord sorry for the delay. Just want to thank you guys for the feedback. I've now removed the platform that came with the cage and since then no real fights. Still the odd squeak but it rarely last more than a few seconds. No visual bites or anything either.
Strange to think all of that was over a platform that was more than large enough for the two of them...

[Jennajayjay]

Hi guys I was wandering if anyone had some advice for me also.

I have two Russian Dwarfs (Thor and Loki).. only had them about a week or so ago. They have pretty much been good together (the odd squeak or run away from each other, but still cwtching up together to sleep) up until today. Came home from work a few hours ago and heard almighty hissing from their cage.. Didn't think anything of it for a bit but for the next few hours everytime they were anywhere near each other they would hiss and squeak, the smaller one, Loki, would get in a defensive position and the bigger one, Thor, would attack.

I watched them for a while not knowing when it became serious enough to seperate them (we have two cages), until I saw Thor repeatedly try to bite/scram/attack Loki's genitals. I read somewhere online that when the go for each others genitalia its generally a sign to get them the hell away from each other. Me and my partner seperated them mid fight, and they are now in different cages.

Was I right to seperate them or should I have waited a day too see how they got along? I was terrified that I would wake up in the morning with a badly injured or dead hammy, and so thought that given we had the other cage anyway it wasn't worth the risk.

I picked the little one up to go in the other cage and he was terrified, shaking and trembling so it was definately not a 'play' fight.

Any advice you can give me would be great! Should I try to re-introduce them to each other, or leave them seperate..

Thanks guys!

Jen
(a stressed hammy mum!)

[Roxie]

I think you've done the right thing Jenna, these fights do sound pretty serious and could quite easily escalate into something not very nice at all.

I'd recommend keeping them seperate. They'll be fine and happy on their own so don't worry about that