Are they playfighting?

[lucyeleanor]

Hi,

I have just joined as I feel I really could do with some advice.

I bought two 12 week old female Russian Dwarf Hamsters from a petstore 2 days ago. They were in the petstore together for 6 weeks, and litter mates before that. They were the last two left. Initially, both were very timid, and still do not like being disturbed - sometimes coming out of their bed hissing.

One, Crumpet, is more dominant, confident and friendly. The other, Muffin, is more timid, spends more time hiding/sleeping, but is still friendly. Their cage is a nice size, with 3 levels, 2 food bowls, a wheel, a hidey house, a jamjar (initially for potty training but they much prefer to cuddle in it) and a long crinkly tunnel.

They do spend a lot of their time cuddling up, they sleep together, and they like to spend most of their time next to each other when they are both awake.

But, yesterday they started to fight, or what seemed like fighting. Quite a bit of squeaking. Crumpet, the more dominant, would pin Muffin down and chase her around. I think I have seen it happening the other way around too? It only happens for probably less than a minute, once last night and once tonight. I don't sleep in the same room as them so I don't know what happens during the rest of the night.

I have checked them both for bites/blood, as when I was googling it most people work on a basis of no blood-no foul. But they both seem unbitten.

I just wanted to make sure that they are going to be ok? Should I consider seperating them now or wait and see if it escalates? I don't know how to tell the difference between playfighting and real fighting? Or is it just establishing dominance? It would be a shame to seperate them as they have been together for so long and can be so affectionate.

Thanks for any replies,
Lucy x

[Rhubarb]

They could be getting territorial over the levels on the cage? I've read on here before that it isn't really a good idea to have shelves in a cage with more than one dwarf hamster.
Maybe someone with more knowledge about dwarves will be able to help you?
I wish you the best in finding a solution, :3.

[billybobbs]

Rhubabrbs right, levels in the cage can cause upset. Also it's essential they have a wheel each as they will fight over who gets to use it. It can be quite hard keeping a pair and you would probably be best off with a large cage or tank with lots of floor space, 2 of everything and not too much stuff for them to get territorial over. Try make sure the house has 2 exits so one can escape if things get nasty.
You might want to get ready to seperate them though, alays have a back up cage when keeping pairs.
I've always done things by the book with my pairs, I tried everything to keep them happy but I've had 3 pairs to seperate now. So it goes to show even if you try really hard to make them live together sometimes they just wont, so don't feel bad if yours have to live seperatly. Good luck with them, hope it goes well hun x