Robo hamsters FIGHTING?? Pleaase reply urgently :( - Page 3

Cathii · 03-11-2012, 02:14 PM

Well we have out old gerbil cage, but it will need a good scrub before hand... I'll have to make something temporary.
Do you think they could still play together, or should i separate completely? Like you said, they are friends most of the time but sometimes they have put their noses up and chased, and it looks like Salt has had 2 bites.

**kyrilliondaemon** · 03-11-2012, 02:29 PM

Er... I'd separate to be sure, but I'm nowhere near an expert.
Hopefully someone with the experience to judge by situation can help, but if not, I'd follow the rule about blood. Its the safest thing to do really.

Good luck sorting the gerbil cage... We're paranoid and keep spare cages around at all times now we have a group lol. Its always best to be ready to separate unfortunately.

It might be that the separation could only be temporary though. We're trying to reintroduce our girls now and we've got hopes for it working out.

Cathii · 03-13-2012, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyrilliondaemon

Er... I'd separate to be sure, but I'm nowhere near an expert.
Hopefully someone with the experience to judge by situation can help, but if not, I'd follow the rule about blood. Its the safest thing to do really.

Good luck sorting the gerbil cage... We're paranoid and keep spare cages around at all times now we have a group lol. Its always best to be ready to separate unfortunately.

It might be that the separation could only be temporary though. We're trying to reintroduce our girls now and we've got hopes for it working out.

I separated them for the night because I had little time and was so worried.
I just put them back together on my bed, and they have just curled up together in their pink elephant, and look very sleepy! Do you think I should separate them until the new wheel comes in the post, or see how they get on before that?
Thanks for all your help by the way!

**Hamtastic** · 03-13-2012, 12:49 PM

In my experience, very short separations without anything major changing don't do much to correct bullying behavior in the long run. Things could go smoothly for a day or two and then devolve back to bullying. I'd give them more time to settle and especially for the victim-robo to start feeling a bit more confident and then try again with another wheel. One caveat being that it worked for Leela for some time, because she would get some "crazy" "hormonal" days (not sure how else to explain them) and chase Viola time to time, but then settle down again and be fine. Taking her out for that period of time was helpful twice. Then of course Viola decided to grow up and try out the role of the Boss herself, and the roles reversed

Cathii · 03-13-2012, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hamtastic

In my experience, very short separations without anything major changing don't do much to correct bullying behavior in the long run. Things could go smoothly for a day or two and then devolve back to bullying. I'd give them more time to settle and especially for the victim-robo to start feeling a bit more confident and then try again with another wheel. One caveat being that it worked for Leela for some time, because she would get some "crazy" "hormonal" days (not sure how else to explain them) and chase Viola time to time, but then settle down again and be fine. Taking her out for that period of time was helpful twice. Then of course Viola decided to grow up and try out the role of the Boss herself, and the roles reversed

Okaii, thanks - I will wait until the wheel arrives, then see how it goes. How long would you recommend I keep them seperated for? And also how long can they be separated before never being able to live together again?

**Hamtastic** · 03-13-2012, 01:12 PM

That's a tough one, but if it doesn't stress them out visibly, you can have them meet daily in a play pen or a bin to hang out together. I'd give them a few days in a split cage or two cages and then try them again in a cleaned empty cage (not too large, maybe mini-duna size) with no toys, scattered food, water, and possibly no wheels for a while (a few hours). There's no particularly "Right" answer though, as I've learned. Some robos just don't get along, and it comes through eventually no matter what we do. Some need a bit of an adjustment and then they get on well (or just need to get a bit older).

I'd follow Tammy's advice here:
Oak Farm Rabbits and Rodents

Cathii · 03-13-2012, 01:51 PM

I've just had a look at the website - I will probably go with her advice if they seem stressed out meeting each other in the playpen - if I can find something the right size to divide the cage.
Any signs of stress you can share with me? ^_^

Cathii · 03-13-2012, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyrilliondaemon

It might be that the separation could only be temporary though. We're trying to reintroduce our girls now and we've got hopes for it working out.

I hope it works out for you! It's not nice having to separate robos -_-

**kyrilliondaemon** · 03-13-2012, 02:26 PM

Thanks. We're fine with it working out either way though.
We didn't go into owning pairs/groups expecting it to be perfect (and got spare cages sorted before anything else), so as long as the hams are happy so are we. Either the girls live together happily (and we fork out for a bigger travel cage before travelling with them), or they don't, if they don't, either we buy another big cage or we find one of them prefers smaller and we don't need to get anything else. Either way the girls will adjust to however it works out and all will be fine

Best of luck with yours, and if you get stuck with splitting the cage you could always try and make your own divider. Its what we did with the ZZ2 the girls currently share.

Cathii · 03-21-2012, 09:45 AM

Here's a link to my new thread...
Robo Hamster Bullying...