I bought two baby hamsters last week, but it turned out that one was a boy, and since I don't want to have more baby hamsters, I opted to give the boy back and get another girl hamster instead. The new hamster is a little older, maybe by a month or two, I'm not sure. They are the same breed of dwarf hamster, I think Campbell. When I brought the new one home today, I put her in the cage, and kept the old one in the exercise ball for the time being, because I had to go to work and I didn't want them fighting when I wasn't there to break it up. I came back and put them together, and the new hamster attacked the old one :-( Right now I'm washing the whole cage out to get rid of smells. I read that if I put the new one in and let her run around a bit, then put the old one in, they should get on better. Does anyone know?
2007-03-13 01:22:29 · 12 answers · asked by the_tacky_one 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
i have hammy's if they are not the same kind they will fight, and if they are two males they will fight, but just let them do it cause then after the fight they arefine.they dont like to share the same space.i just had my female have 20 babies so have fun.
2007-03-13 01:36:17 · answer #1 · answered by eric s 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
As cute and cuddly as they may seem to you.... they are not to each other. Hamsters are solitary animals. They do not like to live with other hamsters. It's just bad to mix them. In some odd cases they end up getting along... at first... but the smallest little problem can lead to a fight to the death. Mixing male and female will just give you lots babies. Buy a separate cage and let them be happy alone. Or take the other one back. if you want a social animal buy gerbils.
And in response to Angie... at pet stores those hamsters are only kept together for a short time... plus... they are all part of the same litter or grew up together at the breeding place that they came from. They are also quite young and have yet to care about each other's presence as they've always been together. Pet stores never mix litters.
2007-03-13 02:34:17 · answer #2 · answered by ms.pontes 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The baby hamster, when you got it, thought it was now the dominant one in the bunch, even though it was a baby. When the new hamster was introduced into its home, it thought it was try to take over it position. So they fought. My sister and I both have rats and we first got our new rats, my sister still had a 2 year old female rat there before. We had to wait a long time before we could put the three together. I would keep the new one in another room, isolated from the baby and wait about two weeks while handling both at separate times. Then introduce them somewhere where you can easily break up the fighting if they fight, like the bathtub with a towel over the flooring. Keep introducing them to each other until the finally decide that the other one won't harm it.
2007-03-13 11:55:22 · answer #3 · answered by HorseGal 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I understand where you are coming from. Heck at pet stores they have multiple hamsters in one cage and they seem fine however if they fight I would definitely separate them. Either get a second cage, or take one of the hamsters back to the store or ask the pet store if they know of anyways to get the hamsters to get along. I know that might sound crazy but if they fight I would not keep them in the same cage. My mom bought me & my cousin hampsters for christmas when I was a kid. The hampsters got in a fight and my hampster died. They was only in the cage 1 night together just untill my mom could give my cousin her hampster. Maybe it would of been best if you got 2 hampsters that where siblings? Good Luck!
2007-03-13 01:38:56 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
hamsters are dominant creatures/animals and after a week a single hamster stays inside a cage, it will smell ... thats pretty usual as dogs do mark their territory as well (eg pissing on a tree ....)
what i would recommend is empty the cage a leave the 2 hamsters together in a different environment, maybe inside a pail with high open top ... and clean the cage and make sure the cage does not smell ....
rub some baby powder on the fur of both hamster so they do not smell and cant distinguished themself before putting them back in a cage ....
if both of them still fights, then some drastic action such as punishment on site must be taken .... use any sticks to sperate them when they fight ( DO NOT USE YOURS FINGERS !!!) and try to hit the cheeky/dominant one lightly on its mouth
2007-03-14 19:50:54 · answer #5 · answered by prrKA2 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hamsters SHOULD not be caged together once they reach a certain age, which is about 3 weeks old. They like to live alone and when put with another hamster they will attack, and if it gets far enough they will fight to the death. My advise and any other hamster owners would be to keep them seperate. Sorry... but please do not put them back together unless you want one live badly injured hamster and one dead one.
2007-03-13 04:20:51 · answer #6 · answered by Sarah C- Equine Help 101 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
hi..well you can't just introduce a hamster to another... they usually have to be purchased together and be from the same litter and cage... however, if they persist on fighting there's nothing you can do but separate them. i have 2 dwarf hamsters and even though they were from the same litter and cage they kept on fighting...so, there's not much you can do... if you need to have both hamsters separate them
2007-03-13 07:48:02 · answer #7 · answered by bad_boy_athens 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
get another cage. your older hamster was there first and should not have to be bullied by a new the new one. they should definitely be kept separate because when hamsters fight they are very vicious and the females are very jealous and protective of themselves. trust me i once had 15 hamsters
2007-03-13 01:34:22 · answer #8 · answered by mum of 2 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In fact, it is better to seprate them if they fight...
However you can try to put them in another cage and see how is it going.. The old hamster is dominating the new hamster as the present cage he is living...
2007-03-13 01:26:39 · answer #9 · answered by yuki 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unless they are from the same litter and have always been together, it is very unlikely that they will get along. Ususally in cases like this, one will be dominant ind continually attack the other... possibly to death.
Hamsters are solitary by nature so unfortunately, I think you're going to have to seperate them before they cause more damage to each other (not to mention, stress).
2007-03-13 03:02:38 · answer #10 · answered by chloe 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You generally do not just throw a new hampster into the mix. Even a mother hampster will eat it's own young if it doesn't like them taking up her space. Get a second cage.
2007-03-13 01:30:36 · answer #11 · answered by puggylover 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋