Help needed?!

[ref84]

I adopted two more robos on Sat that had been taken back to the petshop by their previous owner for "being too fast" (I had to take them!)

Unfortunately, we discovered on Sunday that they both had mites so took them to the petshop (Monday) who took them to the vets yesterday (Tuesday) and we have drops for them.

Anyway, they had been getting on brilliantly; running on the wheel together, sleeping together etc. But this morning we woke up to an almighty fight going on so we immediately separated them to save any injuries as neither was backing down.

Now I don't know whether or not to try reintroducing them later tonight - any ideas/suggestions would be grateful!! They've had a pretty stressful few days what with trips back and forward from pet shop / home / vets and want them to settle in as quick as possible. I didn't know if the drops would've masked their scent at all?

They are both male (checked many times!), around the 2-3 month mark.

Thank you!!

[pophammy]

I've never had Robos but It's very common for Dwarf hamsters to fight, especially when they reach maturity. We had to split our Winter White males up as well. Normally after being split up it's best to keep them apart; I'm sure they would be happy on their own. Perhaps someone with more knowledge of Robos can offer better advice!

[arikata]

Do they have a wheel and bed each? They can become terratorial over these (and the foodbowl) which can lead to fights. If you have two of everything and scatterfeed to prevent a scrap over who owns the foodbowl. Tammy will be better than me on how to introduce them together again!x

[ref84]

No, they only had one wheel and house. But we hadn't bothered with adding anything more into the cage as they were doing everything together and being really affectionate with each other. Plus, we bought them on the spur of the moment (as they'd been abandoned) only 3 days ago, so wasn't 100% prepared. Luckily though, we did have two spare cages!

Our first pair fought from when we got them home and these were totally different; like I mentioned (repeating myself now! ) really affectionate with each other right up until having this fight this morning! Which makes me wonder if the mite treatment had some sort of scent affect??

Hmm, either way am thinking it's best to keep them separate now as won't be able to get them a bigger 'sharing' cage for a couple of weeks so potential for more fights if they're still sharing wheel etc? Our others were much happier as soon as we split them but these two now just look lonely!!

Oh, and thanks for your replies! Much appreciated!!

[arikata]

I think it may be a good idea to give them a wheel and bed each. I had the same problem with Twix and Milkybar kid. they started fighting but stopped pretty much as soon as they got their own wheels and beds. Even hamsters like a little bit of space from eachother

[ref84]

Thanks for all the advice. We tried them together in a pen/run thing we've got and it didn't go down well with either hamster.

So think it's best now to keep them in different cages. Which is a shame as they were getting on so well before they were moved around a lot

[souffle]

It is often when they reach full maturity that they start to fight or some sort of stress such as the home move can just tip them over the edge. It may be best to keep them apart till they are both fully well then you may be able to re-introduce them using the cage swapping technigue followed by a split cage with a mesh between them, then limited together time ubtil fully re-integrated. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

[ref84]

Thanks, I will give it a go in a few months then!