Should I separate my hamsters

[Michelle E]

In December I bought 3 male roborovski hamsters, they had a big cage and three of everything and had always got on ok. At the beginning of March Pickle got attacked by one of the others and had a bite to his bum and a damaged leg. I'd seen them chasing each other and heard squeeks but assumed they were playing/finding their pecking order. I felt aweful for not taking Pickle out the night before when I was worried it was getting a bit too frequent.

Now Pudding and Sausage having been living alone for about 6 weeks. They seemed fine initially and slept together but recently they have established their nests at opposite ends of the ground floor and Pudding seems quite terratorial and often chases Sausage away from the food. They have two big bowls next to each other and treats are put equally in both. When they fight there is squeeking, standing on back paws, bearing teeth etc but there haven't been any injuries. Sausage keeps trying to tentatively crawl into Pudding's nest to snuggle up and sometimes he will allow it.

After what happened with Pickle I don't know if I'm worrying too much but equally I don't want to be irrisponsible and wait for an injury before taking action. I can section their cage into two but I know I would never be able to reintroduce them and Sausage seems to like being with Pudding.

Any help or advice or similar experiences would be really appreciated.

[Oshawott]

Hi Michelle, before I comment let me say I have no experience with dwarfs so wait for others opinions before listening to my advice, but you say there is a ground floor; implying there are multiple levels? I've read in other threads that multiple levels can cause territory fights among the dwarfs, so I'd recommend removing them. I have also read that scatter feeding (spreading the mix around the cage) instead of putting it in bowls can prevent a ham from dominating the bowls.

As I said, best off waiting for more experienced advice; but these are some of the things I have read. Hope everything is going well! Best of luck.

[Hamtastic]

From my experience with robo groups, it's looking like it's going toward a full-on falling out, unfortunately. I would keep a close eye, because what you are describing eventually does lead to biting, which may not be obvious (it can be a nip on a bum, or a bite on a stomach). Look for any signs of blood on objects in the cage.

Falling out like that is pretty normal, sadly for us and for some of the hamsters, but they should hopefully all be okay living on their own with cozy homes and more toys to compensate for their "alone-ness"

You can always try either of the hams in the current pair with Pickle on a neutral territory, such as in an empty bin. They might get along!