Weird behaviour help

[Sharon]

Hi All,

I have just joined this community to try and figure what's going on with my hamsters! I had hamsters when I was a kid into teens and managed them quite successfully. My friend had two hamsters she did not want so I brought them home. At that point they were living in the same cage although not always sleeping together. They are small hamsters defo not Syrian as that's what I always had. One is grey with a darker stripe down his back and the other is cream and tan with pink eyes. I think they are both boys... Although I have just got them so haven't progressed to handling them fully yet to check. They seemed quite happy but then started to squeak at one another I introduced two food sources and put it another bed area and more toys to try and give them more to do and less to have to share in the hope this would help. Last night they had a total squeak match with stances and a bit of a go at each other. They then carried on as normal and when I checked this morning they are both sleeping together. I am totally confused as to whether to try and keep them together or whether to split them up? They seem really happy to be together sometimes and others it's squeaking and looks like a fight. There have been no injuries and when I have them out it only seems to happen when they get really excited.
Please can anyone offer any advice. My son is totally in love with both already and me too! We don't want to split them but I want to ensure their health and happiness also. Have asked at local pet store. They told me to split them and then tried to sell me a cage 😔 Any help greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[CMB]

They are Russian/dwarf hamsters. They can be kept together but often fall out and need separating. It would be a good idea to have a spare cage or even a storage box ready in case they need separating.

[AmityvilleHams]

If you split them up it is completely fine!In fact,in can avoid a lot of risks like injury and even death if fighting ever gets that bad when you're not home.It also means you can have even better enrichment for both hamsters in their own separate cages,since levels and such are unsuitable for pairs and so are a lot of other things that can be very good.

If you don't want to spend much buying another cage,you should be able to get 4 Ikea Lack side tables and make 2 cages that are around the 100 cm x 50 cm size and each would be fine for a dwarf hamster.They can be cheaply modified with a DIY mesh and wood lid,as well as side meshing and even cheap DIY cardboard substrate borders so there isn't anything overly expensive or complicated about it at all.

A side note on Lack tables is that you should be able to stack them if you just don't have space for more than one 100 cm x 50 cm cage but the bottom unit will not have a lid.Another tip is that you can make very cheap mesh and wood lids or even use something like melamine shelving for that and attach it to a basic hinge if you wanted to for better cage access and also to make taming much easier.

[Pebbles82]

Although they have been living happily together, any kind of change can cause a bit of stress and disrupt their behaviour pattern, so a change of location (ie moving to live with you) could be causing them to behave differently. When pairs do fall out it can end in one being killed, or badly maimed, so keep a very close eye on them. Squabbling is a sign they are falling out, but can lead to physical fights. I'll let a dwarf hamster owner with more experience suggest whether to try keeping them together or separating them. But I think I would be tempted to separate them before either gets injured. As you said they were at stances and had a bit of a go at each other so it already turning into fighting. They do very well living separately and may even prefer it! I don't know what cage you have, but the Duna Multy is a good size minimum cage for a dwarf hamster and one of the least expensive. The only place I know that sells it these days is Porton Aquapet (link below). Depending how big they are, some people use syrian cages with 1cm bar spacing without problems. For a smaller dwarf hamster 7mm bar spacing would be better, or a tank style cage like the duna multy. There aren't that many 7mm bar cages around (Zooplus sells the Barney and Alexander cages which are 100cm cages and great cages but quite tall for a dwarf hamster so would need setting up carefully). Or if you don't mind a bit of diy bin cages are popular as well - a large plastic storage bin with panels cut out and meshed. In view of the fact you might need a cage quickly I'd be tempted to get a duna multy. Porton deliver next day and postage is £2.95. It's a very nice tank style cage, the bars on top are 7mm and it's a reasonable size 71cm x 44cm.

Cage Duna Multy

Zooplus sell good hamster cages but can take a week to deliver from Germany sometimes. Another alternative (if they aren't too tiny) is this one from Amazon with next day delivery. If your hammies aren't too tiny - it has 1cm bar spacing

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Frie...at+and+hamster

[velma]

Hi. Welcome to HC. While it is possible to keep a pair together if they start squabbling it is very tricky and requires a lot of time and being vigilant so if you they start fighting or you are worried that they might, then splittingthem up into separate cages can often be the best solution. While dwarf hamsters can live in pairs, they don't need to so if you choose to seperate them they will be absolutely fine. If you get one dominant hamster, the other often does a lot better when split up. Keeping dwarf hamsters together is all about giving them plenty of space with a good sized cage and avoiding territorial behaviour, so two of everything (wheel, bottle, bowl etc) and houses with more than entrance. Also, levels or tubes that form part of the cage should be avoided as they seem to cause territorial problems.
Depending on your location, there are plenty of good cage options from barred cages to tank styles such as the duna multy, that serendipity mentioned. For an inexpensive DIY option, quite a few people choose to use bin cages which are large plastic storage tubs with a hole cut out and a mesh section added to either the lid, side or both. You can see some great cages for ideas in the housing section of the forum and how to's for bin cages in the DIY section.
The only other thing I'd like to mention is that they sound like Hybrid dwarf hamsters, more commonly seen in pet shops as Russian hamsters. They are a hybrid of two very similar but distinct species and this cross breeding means they can be prone to diabetes so diet is very important. Avoid sugary treats like yogurt drops and have a read of the feeding section of the forum for a good dwarf ham diet.
Looking forward to learning more about your hams