Ummmm, not sure who's right??!

[Colby and the Dwarfs]

So, I currently have four female dwarf(adults), and after many, many "no"s, I was convinced by general people on the forum that hams can't live together unless they're A)siblings or B) mother/daughter or father/son. However, I went to a good pet store near me, and they have hybrids and Campbell's in the same cage?!? This means that they're not related, and they were sleeping, eating, and playing together with absolutely no signs of aggression.They were introduced after weaning, and they get along fine. I'm confused? I would LOVE to have all my girls in one cage. Can I do this? Two are already living together(mother/daughter). I think they would work. I wanted to give you an idea of their personalities so here we go:

Zelda- she's dominate, she lives with Daisy and she controls her, but isn't forceful or anything, in fact they share food and space often. They sleep in a hammy pile! Daisy is Zelda's daughter, and Daisy has never lived w/ out Zelda.

Daisy- Daisy is the smallest dwarf I've ever owned(adult, obviously). This means she's forced to be pretty submissive, she doesn't like fights, but will fight back if absolutely necessary, I learned this before she was weaned, when her sister pushed her off a wheel and she lashed out.

Rebel- She's skittish, and aggressive. She has gotten along with another ham for 2 months before with no problems. She is very smart and has escaped three times. She also refuses to sleep in the same nest as any other hams, and even with her litters she sleeps in her own corner. She did this before she was weaned at five days old!

Phoenix- She's small, submissive. She is very social and loves other hams! I think she's the perfect"group ham" if those exist


Do you think this would work? Thanks!

[Stockannette]

Hi - what makes you call it a "good pet store?" I ask because frequently pet store employees don't really know much about rodents, even though they care about animals, and they are clean, etc.

I guess it might be because they are all very young that they are currently okay, but I have ALWAYS read DO NOT MIX. When they reach maturity, it's most likely not going to end well... but I'll let someone with more experience weigh in.

[Ilovehamsters]

Well. This is always hard, it's about all the individual hamsters
Of course, a quadruplet would need a lot of space, not just because there's 4 of them running around, also they will need their own wheels, and food bowls and water bottles! This will take up a lot of space!

When they mature things may change...have many spare cages on hold...you may need them!

[Colby and the Dwarfs]

I call it a good pet store because they are knowledgeable, they tell you where they got each animal if you ask, they separate animals by gender, they keep everything in good sized cages, the animals have good food, lots of water, and toys, and there is a wheel for every hamster and every two mice. They don't and won't sell anyone a pregnant or nursing animal, once a man was buying feeder mice, he wanted two, they only had two, and when he asked for both she said"You can't have that one. She accidentally came in with a group of boys and she might be pregnant. Come get her after I wean the babies." , and they don't sell breeder animals, they take in rescues and unwanted babies. The only bad thing is bettas, but oh well. Also, getting a pet there is HARD. I mean like you need to tell her what you'll be feeding it, what it'll be living in... Everything! And there are 3 employees, a husband, a wife, and their daughter helps sometimes.
Back to my question, are you saying I could try? I don't want to hurt them, and I'm willing to get a big cage & everything, so yes or no?

[squishyhammy]

Any Campbell or winter white you get from a pet store is a hybrid. Some look like more of one spicies than bother so that's why they may looked different. Myou can only really find pure Campbell's and winter whites at specific registered breeders

[Nancy's Hamsters]

I personally would not attempt to put all your four together. You currently have two dominant and two submissive Hamsters. Their how old? and how long have they lived as they are now?

Are you ready to have a HUGE bin cage? Even with a huge cage though your gonna have the two dominant Hamsters fighting it out to see who is the true Queen of the Cage. The two submissive ones will be run ragged by both Dominant Hamsters trying to run their lives for them. Possibly hurting them and once wounded the other dominant one will go for the kill not allowing the hurt one to rest at all.

If this were my Hamsters I would not do it cause there are just too many risk involved.

[racinghamster]

I agree with what has already been suggested. NEVER put adult dwarf hamsters, male or female together who are already paired or on their own. It just isn`t worth risking and I can tell you now, if you try it just for the sake of it, you risk harm and stress to your existing pets. Small animals are not human and they don`t think or react like we do. Pet shops on the whole make money from the hamsters they sell. The shop you use sells feeder mice, so that to me rings bells. A good pet shop has good ethics, not just showing that they have happy hamsters with food and water.

The hamsters you have are settled. I would never upset that balance by changing your mind set because of a pet shops actions. Dwarf hamsters usually fall out at some point during their lives, a small percentage will stay harmonious. But most don`t.

Campbells and hybrids living together is the shops way of breeding hybrid hamsters and fuelling an already unhealthy population of hybrids with health problems. Just by doing this shows their ignorance.

And I`ll bet their Betta fish are in cups.

[SyrianMomma7]

Well, despite what has been said here, my mentor has had a lot of success pairing dominant hams with other dominants.
If you really want to try homing them together, I would introduce them to each other slowly, and monitor their behavior. Make sure to put them in neutral territory, an letting them get to smell one another. Of course, if fighting occurs seperate them. Try introducing them slowly, first through cage bars, then the neutral territory.
But I could be very wrong, as my name says, I personally only work with Syrians! But only do as you feel right, if they seem upset by each other, it may be best just to keep your current pairs.
Hope this helps!
x SM7

[Colby and the Dwarfs]

Thank you both, I guess what I meant was that one set was clearly a mix, with no doubt, I could see the WW and the Campbell. In the others, they were different, and didn't have enough WW to be seen clearly, if a breeder told me they were all Campbell's I'd believe them eventually. I probably won't do it, and I believe I left something out.... Zelda is Rebel and Daisy's mother and Phoenix's grandmother, Rebel is Phoenix's mother, Daisy's sister and Zelda's daughter. Daisy is Phoenix's aunt, Rebels sister, Zelda's daughter. This might give you an idea of ages? I know them but I'll need to go check my records. I was just confused because all of the hams were so peaceful and I heard(or at least that's how I took it) that they'll maul each other.

[hamsterhelper]

Originally Posted by SyrianMomma7

Well, despite what has been said here, my mentor has had a lot of success pairing dominant hams with other dominants.
If you really want to try homing them together, I would introduce them to each other slowly, and monitor their behavior. Make sure to put them in neutral territory, an letting them get to smell one another. Of course, if fighting occurs seperate them. Try introducing them slowly, first through cage bars, then the neutral territory.
But I could be very wrong, as my name says, I personally only work with Syrians! But only do as you feel right, if they seem upset by each other, it may be best just to keep your current pairs.
Hope this helps!
x SM7

I have had experience pairing and I have found that *sometimes* it works with two and sometimes it doesn't, pairing three would be hard enough, never mind four. You could *try* pairing them in twos, but I think if they are happy now, then maybe you should leave them the way they are. x