If you have/have had pairs & it didnt/did work out...

[nessar]

Anyone that has had pairs, or groups, whether it worked out or not, could you fill this out for me? I'm hoping it will help me (and hopefully other people) learn more about dwarf hamsters in pairs, how sociable they are and perhaps how to prevent fighting. If I get enough data I'll take the time to process it and post the statistics.

Copy and paste and delete as appropriate, could you possibly do 1 for every pair you have, and try and stick to the standard answers so I can group the results.

Breed: WINTER WHITE / CAMPBELLS / HYBRID / CHINESE / ROBOROVSKIS
Sex: FEMALE/MALE
Size of cage: 2145sqcm or less (e.g mini duna/mickey max)/ 2145sqcm – 4000sqcm (e.g Cambridge / hamster heaven)/4000sqcm or bigger (e.g Alexander / Detolf)
Did the cage have different levels/was it a modular cage: YES / NO
Did it have at least 1 wheel and 1 house PER HAMSTER: YES / NO
Did they need separating: YES / NO
If YES, at what age: Under 6 months/ 6 months to a year / 1 year to 1.5 years / 1.5 years plus
If YES, what did they mainly fight over: Levels or sections/ Food / Wheel / Toys / Nothing in particular
If NO, did they seem to enjoy each others company? YES / NO
Would you keep this species of hamster in pairs again? YES / NO

thankyouu!

[CoolcatNatNat44]

Breed: ROBOROVSKIS
Sex: MALE
Size of cage: 70x40 imac bingo
Did the cage have different levels/was it a modular cage: NO
Did it have at least 1 wheel and 1 house PER HAMSTER: YES
Did they need separating: YES
If YES, at what age: Under 6 months
If YES, what did they mainly fight over: Anything
If NO, did they seem to enjoy each others company? ---
Would you keep this species of hamster in pairs again? yep

[purple_x]

Breed: HYBRID
Sex: MALE
Size of cage: 70x40 Zoo zone 1
Did the cage have different levels/was it a modular cage: NO
Did it have at least 1 wheel and 1 house PER HAMSTER: YES
Did they need separating: YES
If YES, at what age: Under 6 months
If YES, what did they mainly fight over: Nothing in particular
If NO, did they seem to enjoy each others company? n/a
Would you keep this species of hamster in pairs again? YES

I've done this based on the trio I started with when I had my dwarfies. There was dad and his 2 sons. One day the boys just started picking on dad for no reason so I removed him, after that the boys lived as a pair happily til they passed away.

[Vectis Hamstery]

Nessar, if you look in the Chinese hamster section there has been a similar survey done purely about Chinese hamsters by member Christmas Hamster (called Success of Housing Multiple Chinese). As I replied to that questionnaire on a different forum, I'll copy my reply here. My answers relate to Chinese hamsters. All cages are single level and not modular.

Val and Zac (now called Ross) 2009
Two brothers were separated from mum aged 3.5 weeks. They lived in a Savic Rody with 2 houses and lots of toys, but no wheels (too young). They had one squabble aged 5 weeks with no blood drawn. They were separated aged 5.5 weeks as Zac needed surgery to repair his eyelid which had been half torn off by his brother. There was no specific precipitant to the fighting.

Ruchins 2010
Three female siblings were separated from mum aged 4 weeks. They lived in a Rody with several cardboard tubes and toys, but no wheels. One girl wasn’t growing as well as her sisters and I observed her sisters bullying her so she was removed aged 5 weeks. The other two siblings needed separating soon after as one sustained a minor bite to the face. The bite healed well and the smaller girl grew well on her own. These girls mainly fought over food.
The three brothers from this litter lived happily in a similar setup to their sisters. One boy was rehomed aged 6 weeks old. The remaining two boys lived happily in the same setup and two wheels were introduced. They went to their new home aged 10 weeks. They still live together in a similar cage with 2 wheels and one level, and are shown together in the same show pen. They are the laziest hamsters I or the current owner (who has kept and exhibited hamsters for decades) have known which I think has helped. They are now ten months old.

Dobby and Cosmopolitan 2010
Following the success of the Ruchin boys, I thought I would try a pair of my own. The siblings from subsequent litters had fallen out early on so I tried to introduce two unrelated males under close supervision. Both were staying with me for health reasons and would never be bred, therefore wouldn't be taken out of the pair for mating. Dobby was 5 months old and Cosmo was 7 months old. I started with a Rody with 2 wheels and lots of toys, but they would not settle with each other. I then tried the mating tank (the smaller one shelf perfecto with the shelf removed with 2 cardboard tubes, no wheels and no houses). They settled for a few hours, but then wouldn't stop fighting. As I had been watching them constantly during the introduction they were separated with no harm done to either and went on to live singly.

Brighstone and Celebros 2011
Two brothers who were imported to the UK from Holland. They moved into a quarantine tank (50cm x 50cm) with log bridges and carboard tubes. Celebros started picking on Brighstone when the latter developed snuffles. Brighstone was removed to recover in peace and in the hopes that Celebros wouldn’t become ill. After they both recovered from the snuffles, they didn’t reintroduce and are living singly before Celebros returns to his owner following mating.

14 male/female pairs 2009-2011
I choose to put male and female pairs together for several days in a neutral tank for mating in order to give greater control over timing and parentage of litters, plus reduce the strain of consecutive litters on females and risk to males. I started off doing matings in a Savic Rody (unrelated male/female pairs) with lots of houses and toys. Despite close observation, my male sustained bottom wounds which have left him permanently scarred as the female was able to pin him in one of the houses. Since then I have used the small perfecto described above with two piles of kitchen roll, two long cardboard tubes (a male always has an escape route as the female can't guard both ends at the same time) and scatter feeding. These pairs have varied between 1 and 6 days in length of success. The longest pairing was of two chilled out hamsters (the female was never aggressive with other males either) and resulted in the Ruchins litter described above. One mating needed two water bottles as the male claimed underneath one as his nesting area - he was very dominant towards the female which is unusual.
I have found that mating pairs will often have a bit of a squark then settle, sometimes even snuggling together. Then after a successful mating, they will fall out big time (usually in the middle of the night). If the male is not removed at this stage, he can sustain injury. In unsuccessful matings I have found that there doesn't tend to be a big falling out, but just a grumbling and gradually increasing discontent.

Would I choose to keep Chinese in pairs? Generally no for boys, never for females. They appear to tolerate the presence of others rather than enjoy it and are quite happy living alone. I have found that they are more peaceful in pairs if kept in small bare cages (like the mating tank), so I prefer to keep them alone but in larger furnished cages.

[Noodle]

Breed: CAMPBELLS
Sex: FEMALE
Size of cage: All! They started in a Ferplast Gabry 50 for about 5 months, then moved to a mini duna for a couple of weeks (now waiting for a Savic Rody Rabbit)
Did the cage have different levels/was it a modular cage: YES
Did it have at least 1 wheel and 1 house PER HAMSTER: YES
Did they need separating: NO
If NO, did they seem to enjoy each others company? YES
Would you keep this species of hamster in pairs again? YES

[nessar]

Thanks everyone, thats a really interesting read. I'm surprised so many pairs have split!

Keep 'em coming!!

[mangoandmimi]

Breed: ROBOROVSKIS
Sex: FEMALE
Size of cage: 2145sqcm – 4000sqcm (e.g Cambridge / hamster heaven)it a modular cage: YES / NO
Did it have at least 1 wheel and 1 house PER HAMSTER: YES
Did they need separating: NO
Would you keep this species of hamster in pairs again? YES

Breed: WINTER WHITE
Sex: FEMALE
Size of cage: 2145sqcm – 4000sqcm (e.g Cambridge / hamster heaven
Did the cage have different levels/was it a modular cage: NO
Did it have at least 1 wheel and 1 house PER HAMSTER: YES
Did they need separating: YES
If YES, at what age: Under 6 months
If YES, what did they mainly fight over: Nothing in particular. topaz was just a bit too dominant and wanted the place to herself :P
If NO, did they seem to enjoy each others company? i really dont know to be honest, they didnt mind each other really, but sapphire tended to avoid topaz whenever possible.
Would you keep this species of hamster in pairs again? Possibly, depending on how much space or how many hamsters i have :P

[Pompompoms]

Breed: ROBOROVSKIS
Sex: MALE Jam and The Cloud
Size of cage: Several cages increasing in size in the hope of keeping them together.
Did the cage have different levels/was it a modular cage: NO
Did it have at least 1 wheel and 1 house PER HAMSTER: YES
Did they need separating: YES
If YES, at what age: Under 6 months
If YES, what did they mainly fight over: The Cloud was determinedly lone hamster

Would you keep this species of hamster in pairs again? I still do.



Breed: ROBOROVSKIS
Sex: MALE Dasher and Whizzbit
Size of cage: ZooZone1
Did the cage have different levels/was it a modular cage: YES I added a level
Did it have at least 1 wheel and 1 house PER HAMSTER: Wheel yes, house no I have open nests.
Did they need separating: NO (although they are now separated following a breeding program.
If YES, at what age: Under 6 months/ 6 months to a year / 1 year to 1.5 years / 1.5 years plus N/A
If YES, what did they mainly fight over: Levels or sections/ Food / Wheel / Toys / Nothing in particular N/A

If NO, did they seem to enjoy each others company? YES / NO N/A

Would you keep this species of hamster in pairs again? YES N/A

I have a new male pair of Whizzbit and Rolo aged 11 months and two months, a colony of seven boys together aged from 3.5 weeks to 11 months, a female pair ages three months and two months, and a group of five females aged 3.5 weeks to six months.

[CAB]

Breed: WINTER WHITE (must have been 15yr old at the time - now 2
Sex: FEMALE
Size of cage: no idea, was a large 3 tier thing
Did the cage have different levels/was it a modular cage: YES
Did it have at least 1 wheel and 1 house PER HAMSTER:NO
Did they need separating: YES
If YES, at what age:6 months to a year /
If YES, what did they mainly fight over: Nothing in particular
If NO, did they seem to enjoy each others company? N/A
Would you keep this species of hamster in pairs again? N/A



Breed: ROBOROVSKIS
Sex:MALE
Size of cage: think its a mini duna
Did the cage have different levels/was it a modular cage: NO
Did it have at least 1 wheel and 1 house PER HAMSTER: YES and NO, 2 wheels, a saucer runner, and one house, they very dependant of each other
Did they need separating: NO
If YES, at what age: N/A
If YES, what did they mainly fight over: Levels or sections/ Food / Wheel / Toys / Nothing in particular N/A
If NO, did they seem to enjoy each others company? YES always together, and since in the cage, not the tank and extra wheel, have only heard little, "oi your sitting on me kinda squeaks from house, not the full on grumpy squabbles.
Would you keep this species of hamster in pairs again? YES

[Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters]

1.
Breed: 1 WINTER WHITE and 1 HYBRID
Sex: FEMALE
Size of cage: Bin Cage 70x40cm
Did the cage have different levels/was it a modular cage: NO
Did it have at least 1 wheel and 1 house PER HAMSTER: YES
Did they need separating: YES
If YES, at what age: Under 6 months/ 6 months to a year (One was younger than 6 months the other older)
If YES, what did they mainly fight over: Nothing in particular
If NO, did they seem to enjoy each others company? N/A
Would you keep this species of hamster in pairs again? NO

To be fair you probably shouldnt count this one for many reasons: 1 I didnt know one was hybrid when I got them so they were different species. 2 The younger one developed neurological problems (skizophrenia) which is what caused her to attack the other.

2.
Breed: ROBOROVSKIS
Sex: FEMALE
Size of cage: Bin 70x40cm
Did the cage have different levels/was it a modular cage: NO
Did it have at least 1 wheel and 1 house PER HAMSTER: House Yes, Wheel No
Did they need separating: NO
If YES, at what age: N/A
If YES, what did they mainly fight over: N/A
If NO, did they seem to enjoy each others company? YES
Would you keep this species of hamster in pairs again? YES

3.
Breed: ROBOROVSKIS
Sex: FEMALE
Size of cage: Bin 80x40cm
Did the cage have different levels/was it a modular cage: YES
Did it have at least 1 wheel and 1 house PER HAMSTER: House Yes, Wheel No
Did they need separating: NO
If YES, at what age: N/A
If YES, what did they mainly fight over: N/A
If NO, did they seem to enjoy each others company? YES
Would you keep this species of hamster in pairs again? YES

A strange occurance with all of my robo pairs, for some reason adding a second wheel caused them to fight whereas with a single wheel they were the closest I have ever seen two animals. Just my luck aye