Male/female confusion

[kiania]

I've read around the internet and the places I've looked have suggested that for pairing, male robos seem to be less likely to squabble and so recommended for newbies. I've been sceptical at that since I first read it as every other species I've worked with so far (bar some primates) generally have far more aggression (and smell) in males than in females. I've been reading another forums that says that coming-of-age hamsters get more aggressive (understandable), more so in males.

Ergo, I am now very confused. Is there a difference between a pair of males/females in terms of likelihood of squabbling/aggression, smell or any other factor? Or is it up to personal preference/what is in 'stock'?

[SnickersTheFirst]

Usually it depends on individuals but mostly in hamsters, it's said that males do better in pairs. This is also said for gerbils, rats and rabbits.

[kiania]

Ah, I have no experience of gerbils/rabbits. Or rats for that matter - although from what I read, male rats are more stinky.

That said, I've read (I think they were talking about Syrians though) that female hamsters, due to the heat cycle, get more smelly than males - would this be true in robos? Or does their size (or elsewise) make it all much of a muchness regarding smell?

Not that smell is necessarily an issue - I just can't seem to find anything written about it, and hence am curious to know before I decide on which sex to go for (now that I have names for girls or boys), as well as saying to the OH, "Oh, but you know <sex> is totally less smelly, so you should let me have them". If that doesn't fit, then I'll stick with the, "Oh, but you know males are totally more friendly to each other, so you should let me have them" - you see this argument works both (and any other combination of) ways

[Nikorusama]

My robo doesn't smell much at all! My syrians smell more and my female Syrian probably smells more than my male but for some reason I can smell more ammonia from Kaiji and I don't smell any from vanilla. My male rats stiiiink! I love them to pieces but it doesn't impress my OH or anyone else that visit for that matter.

[SnickersTheFirst]

I had a single male Robo and he didn't smell at all.

I'm pretty sure it's only female Syrians that smell when in heat.

[kiania]

So males have a higher chance of staying as a pair, and there is no smell difference between the two sexes? Excellent I think I liked my male names more than my female names as well!

Now just to find a breeder...which is proving extremely problematic. My OH is suggesting the two I saw at P@H today, they had an agouti and a pied in the same cage (no idea if they were male or female) - which is my ideal pair, I'd love one of each! Still, I emailed the guy from Wessex Hamstery (any idea if he's still selling? I haven't received a reply yet - admittedly it has only been 3 days, and it is christmas, but I'm eager to get organised! ).

[SnickersTheFirst]

I'm probably bias as I hate Pets At Home and stores like that. But I'd look for rescues or breeders tbh, it's worth the wait!

[kiania]

Oh, I am planning for the beginning of March No impulse buys - we first saw robos back when the OH was on loan to the Americans for 3 months, and we saw them in Petco...OH, after cooing at the cats (he's a cat person, I'm deathly allergic to cats + a rodent/dog person, so no cats for him), and the ferrets (our mutually decided substitute for cats - once we get a garden and our own house, so we can ferret-proof!), he spotted the robos. It was then that I pounced, and now he's regretting ever calling them cute, mwahaha *coughs*

But yes, having looked at the show schedule, I'm fairly sure it is out-to-get-me Ferndown is probably the closest in terms of schedule/location, but it is a bit early really (well, couple of weeks earlier than the schedule). I had hoped to hear back from the Wessex Hamstery man, as if he has a litter for the first week in March, I'm going through Wessex (ish) to get to a symposium in Bristol (ie, ideal!). The Andover show would also be good, but I'm at a workshop on the 18th of April (and 17th - that is TBC though, so hopefully the day slides onto the 19th ).

Also considering Tammy up at Oak Farm, but that is a 3 and a half hour one-way trip - even for a breeder, that seems like a mission. The longest I've travelled with the hog was 2 hours, and after wriggling about to get comfy, she slept the entire way wrapped up in her pouch and blankets - I'd be worried about transporting smaller animals even further.

The P@H opposite me (oh the joys of living opposite a retail estate!) is very good, but don't sell robos (and I wouldn't buy one - no idea if they use Simon's Rodents, but I wouldn't like to risk it!). The mahoosive one across town is...how to put this delicately...god awful. They have a good vets there - or at least, their head nurse is great, the vet is hesitant but knowledgable, the rest of their nurses are, well, I wouldn't trust them with a brine shrimp. The rest of the store is not good at all - I went in today to check out their new magazine on my way home, and they had a rabbit that was stereotyping in their adoption centre (which only had one piece of paper for one rabbit, when they had 5 rabbits - so four had no 'reasons' for being there ). Massive rabbit, but I'm in the middle of moving, and so the landlord would notice a massive house-rabbit glomping around the flat Hasn't noticed my roach colonies yet, shh!

There needs to be more robo breeders that aren't ridiculous distances - not for my convienence, but for the robo's themselves!

[Hamtastic]

With any hamster pair (of the allowable sort, like robo + robo, winter white+ winter white, and campbell + campbell), there is a chance of fighting and falling out. It's independent of sex and in some sense of age. There is a certain time period around when hamsters reach early adulthood at 3-4 months of age, when hormonal changes can start causing squabbles, and it's a common time for siblings to fall out. But two hamsters can coexist peacefully for much longer and then suddenly one will decide he/she does not like the other for some reason.

I wouldn't say that boys or girls will be better in pairs, as from my research into this question the answer is inconclusive. Both can be happy and comfortable and loving to each other, or they can end up fighting a lot and require separation. It's all on individual basis.

I would say if you can afford to house two hamsters separately if they end up fighting, I would always give a pair a chance. Then watch them carefully for signs of trouble, which will be screeching and small scrapes and bites. If those signs occur: it's time for a temporary and perhaps permanent separation. If you are not prepared for a separation to start with, I'd go with a single hamster. Note though that robos do seem much happier in colonies, but there are always exceptions who are content on their own.

My personal experience and that of my friend's (Also known as Hamster Soap Opera):

Mine:

• Leela and Dora live together until 5 months of age, when Dora decides she does not like Leela and fights her. Separation happens (permanent)
• Dora is content for a long time, Leela is not.
• I introduce two 5 week old baby girls to Leela and she accepts both.
• One girl becomes protective of Leela and starts chasing the other away when they reach around 3 months of age. The other girl gets a bite on her bum and is separated. Leela and the dominant girl are still happy together.
• My Dora is still completely anti-hamster-social, as I've tried introducing 3 new hamsters to her, and she violently rejected each and every one, and yet she lived with Leela in peace until 5 months of age.

My friend's:

• She adopts an elderly female roborovski and then a young girl (Bud) later. She introduces them together, and they live adoring each other until the elderly hamster passes.
• My friend buys a young female for Bud, and they don't get along. The new female turns out to be pregnant and gives birth. Two of the babies are the ones I took at five weeks of age. Mom stays with the remaining daughter in the most loving robo relationship I've ever seen to date.
• The girl I took who was bullied by her sister moves in with Bud and surprisingly they hit it off, even though both are no longer babies. Knocking on wood, they've been doing well for 2 months now.

As you see, it's not straightforward at all!

[kyrilliondaemon]

Yeah, if you can get a pair and house them separately if needed I'd get a pair and give them a chance.
We have a small colony (four) of a different species living together, but we also have two lone robos (of different sexes), so we've got social hamsters both together and alone, and in all honesty I think they all deserve the chance to have company.
Skip and Whizz (our robos) went without company for months and are both genuinely happy alone, but once in a while you get one who'll be depressed alone, and if you had the bad luck to get that one you'd probably be out to find it a young friend later anyway.

Oh and given that all our hamsters other than Skip are female - Just so you know, I find its only the syrian who smells at all in heat (and for some reason she doesn't always stink then either, just sometimes lol), so our hamsters support the idea that its only syrian girls who smell when on heat.

I do know what a nightmare it can be living too far from breeders though, none of ours are breeder hams but we looked into it and would have bought from one if I hadn't ended up with a nasty injury preventing me from driving long distances indefinetly.
I think it'd be worth getting from a breeder if you can, pet shops love to mix unrelated hamsters (like our group - we're 99% sure they came from two litters), and hamsters being littermates does matter. Good luck getting to a breeder though!