is it okay for my hammy?

[hammyterry]

hello everyone!

i was just wondering is it safe and fine for my syrian male hamster to have a partner? cause my sister really wants a partner for our hammy but i'm not sure about it.. can someone give me an insight on what should i do?

thanks!

[HammieandMerlin]

Hi there,
Syrian Hamsters are solitary animals, so it's not a healthy idea to keep them with any other hamsters. You can keep two, but in separate cages : ) Hope that helps

[evel_lin]

If you put two Syrian hamsters together then they will fight and potentially kill each other, your hamster doesn't need a partner, you're all the company he wants

[TraceyH]

No way! they'll probably end up ripping each other to bits!

[shiny]

When you say partner are you talking about getting a female & breeding them or getting another male as a friend?

As other people have said, Syrians are solitary animals. They do not need friends & enjoy having time with you. If you put in another male or a female, they will fight & really injure each other badly or even kill each other. Your sister is maybe thinking about animals that need to be kept together like guinea pigs as they would naturally live in groups.

Breeding Syrians is not something you should do unless you know all about breeding & have homes for babies to go to. It's really something best left to the experts.

You will find info about all this stuff on this site.

Please don't worry that your hamster is lonely, I'm sure he has great fun with you

[Zebbie]

When you say "partner", your hamster will think "rival" - he will not appreciate another hamster being around, scentmarking his human's hands, potentially stealing his hoard or competing for food, and just generally hamstering it up on *his* home turf.

He might well be interested in some hamstersex - but he won't miss it if he never meets a female on heat, and almost certainly the extra work, responsibilities etc for you as the owner will massively outweigh his twenty minutes of fun (assuming the female hamster even accepts him straight away and doesn't seriously injure him instead). If you don't know the genetics of your hamster it is a risk to breed from him as you could produce damaged young, and even if you don't then you will still have to house and rehome the litter (and your sister will have restrictions placed on playtime with her pet for a month or so while she is pregnant and guarding her litter).

In general, he'd probably much much rather you bought him a seed stick and a toy than got another hamster on his behalf.

(And of course, all this assumes you were planning on different cages - two Syrians in one cage is effectively just a fight to the death after they have passed puberty, even if they do not kill each other outright one would be expected to bully the other so much that it can't eat properly and lives in constant stress in one corner, which will obviously affect its lifespan and make them both miserable)

[hammyterry]

oh! that's so scary! but that's for syrian type of hamsters only right?

anyway, thank you so much for all the replies. i learned something today i really appreciate it! thanks again!

[The Hamster's family]

Originally Posted by hammyterry

oh! that's so scary! but that's for syrian type of hamsters only right?

anyway, thank you so much for all the replies. i learned something today i really appreciate it! thanks again!

No... chinese also if I remember right... For other species (robo and dwarves), they will mate just as fast but MIGHT tolerate another of the same sex if they come from the same litter... but might also turn agains each other. That's why you always need a 2nd cage ready 'in case' they fight. If they do, you to separate them as soon as you see it cause they might injure each other and kill each other. So no male and female togeter + no to putting 2 hasmters togeter !!!

Annie =D

[Jessie]

Originally Posted by The Hamster's family

No... chinese also if I remember right... For other species (robo and dwarves), they will mate just as fast but MIGHT tolerate another of the same sex if they come from the same litter... but might also turn agains each other. That's why you always need a 2nd cage ready 'in case' they fight. If they do, you to separate them as soon as you see it cause they might injure each other and kill each other. So no male and female togeter + no to putting 2 hasmters togeter !!!

Annie =D

I only have one campbells dwarf who is alone, all mine are in groups, even my males all live together, with mine I have never had issues other then trying to re introduce my male this time. but they can fight so it's best to have another cage even with dwarves just in case you need to seperate them .

[hammyterry]

ohh okay.. i guess i will buy a new cage if we really decided to buy a new hammy. thanks a lot The Hamster's family and Jessie!