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[Christmas_hamste...]

Lots of people are wanting to keep multiple hamsters. So here is a guide to help you.

First off Syrians must not be kept together as they are very solitary and will fight to injure or even kill each other. This could lead to very expensive vet bills if not then the death of your hamster(s).

Dwarf hamsters on the other hand may live together. There are four breeds of dwarf hamsters that are commonly kept as pets. There are Russian Campbell Dwarfs, Winter White Dwarfs, Roborovskii Dwarfs and Chinese Dwarf hamsters. Each breed of hamster needs to be kept in a group of its own kind, Campbell with Campbell for example.

Some species do better in groups than others. Chinese hamsters (females in particular) tend to fight more often and may be the least compatable for group housing. Winter Whites seem to do well in same-sex pairs. RCDs and Robo's tend to be most social.

Some tips for keeping multiple hamsters are:

Make sure you have a large setup for your new hamsters. If you don't have a large enough setup then your dwarfs could fight for space.

A large food dish. Most dwarfs love to be able to sit in their food dish. But if you have a food dish that can't hold a bunch of dwarfs then you could be asking for a fight. Food dish's that would allow all of the hamsters to sit in at the same time are best.

Sometimes one or more of the dwarfs will be greedy. So the other(s) might not get enough food and then get angry. So if you find your dwarfs are not getting the right amount of food the answer is not another food dish. Why? Because now Piggy gets twice as much food. I would suggest seperate feeding times. Feed one and then take the other out. Then switch turns. But usually having a large food dish can help this.

Wheels. Never get the wheels that are actually made for dwarfs. Some are to small in the first place and well all the dwarfs can't fit on it at once. A syrian sized wheel or bigger is your best bet. Having a wheel for each hamster is a good idea as many hams like to run on their own.

Water Bottles. Sometimes dwarfs will fight over getting a drink. So then you need to get another water bottle.

Multiple beds. Dwarfs may not want to sleep together all the time. So it is important that you have more then one bed for them in their cage incase one is chased out of its bed.

Gender. It is important that you have dwarfs of the same sex. Breeding is alot of hard work and takes a long time to learn. So make sure you either have all girls or all boys.

Cleaning Cages. Make sure you leave some bedding left over from the previous week which has their scent on it. This is because if you use all new bedding their scents will no longer be in the cage which may encourage fighting and upset the 'pecking order' your hamsters have established.

If fighting occurs and there is blood/injuries you must seperate them immediately. This means you must have extra cages ready incase of a fight. Basically the rule is no blood no foul.

Ideal Cage Setup, two dwarfs living in here:


This post has been edited by Christmas_hamster: Mar 10 2008, 11:47 PM

[Firecracker]

Wow- very good guide. I think new owners will find this very helpful.

[Christmas_hamste...]

Thankyou I sure hope it helps.

[furball27]

Yeah this guide will be very helpful to everyone who owns a Dwarf Hamster(s).

[LMDH]

Can I offer a suggestion?

I keep colonies of campbells, wws and chinese.  Most fights are over the wheel.  I know you have mentioned the wheel, but for me, more than one wheel in a group is a must have.

On the food side of it, I totally agree with you but I have solved the problem slightly differently - I do not use a food bowl.  I put small handfulls of food in the cage in different areas without a bowl.  This encourages the hamsters to naturally forage for the food.  Not having a bowl means less fighting, hamsters lower down in the pecking order get easier access to food, and foraging gives the hamster something to do as part if its routine.

Great post though, well done!

[Christmas_hamste...]

But then you can't moniter if they are eating or not.

My dwarfs haven't fought over there wheel. But with more then two dwarfs I would suggest either those huge or multiple wheels. Multiple wheels is best though. ;)

I have been thinking...with housing female betta fish together (and other fish) you need more then two girls to establish a proper pecking order. So maybe it is the same with dwarfs. And the more I read the more I believe.

[piglet]

we have a large home for our hammys and a big wheel and they get on really well

[Christmas_hamste...]

Glad to hear it. In the right conditions dwarfs will(should) live hapily together.

[hayleyshamsters]

Yes many people think that when their dwarves fight, it's because the hamsters are mean, but usually it's because of too small space. Great gudide!

[LMDH]

I have three big groups of campbells -

8 males (mixed of related and non-related hams)
6 females (related)
6 females (not related to each other)

They do have a pecking order, and it is clear to see when watching them.

As for monitioring the food, thats easy, you can see with ease if any food had been eaten or not.  I always check houses/tubes for storage of food too.  But since i am confident that my hamsters are happy and healthy, I dont monitor their eating habits to closely.

When a new hamster is added to a group, or if I have an older hamster in there, thats when I watch food to ensure the hamsters are feeding properly.  And like I said this is quite easy - if you cant see any food run your hand through the bedding to see if it has been buried - but theres rarely anything left from my lot!

With these groups more than one wheel is essential.  With pairs and trios I just have the one wheel, but these groups have several.

I should add that these live in guinea pig cages for extra space.

This post has been edited by LMDH: Apr 13 2006, 04:22 AM

[piglet]

I have three big groups of campbells -

8 males (mixed of related and non-related hams)
6 females (related)
6 females (not related to each other)

They do have a pecking order, and it is clear to see when watching them.

As for monitioring the food, thats easy, you can see with ease if any food had been eaten or not.  I always check houses/tubes for storage of food too.  But since i am confident that my hamsters are happy and healthy, I dont monitor their eating habits to closely.

When a new hamster is added to a group, or if I have an older hamster in there, thats when I watch food to ensure the hamsters are feeding properly.  And like I said this is quite easy - if you cant see any food run your hand through the bedding to see if it has been buried - but theres rarely anything left from my lot!

With these groups more than one wheel is essential.  With pairs and trios I just have the one wheel, but these groups have several.

I should add that these live in guinea pig cages for extra space.

thats cool have u got any pics and how do u introduce a new hamster to a group i have two robos pixy fufu is the leader and is curious and ham ham is cuddly and shy

[Christmas_hamste...]

Ummm I forget where i had seen that guide to this Try looking on google.

[ZaphodBeeblebro]

WOW, This Is So Useful C_H, Thanks for Starting This Topic ...

I Currently Have 8 Hamsters, With Plans to Maybe Get Another One Next Month ...

My Two Adult Syrians Matty and Lexi, of Course Live Alone, But I Have 6 Hamsters Currently Living In Pairs, for Different Reasons:

Eddie and Zeus Are My Pair of 10 Week Old Male Syrians, they Currently Spend as Little Time Together as Possible Even Trading The Wheel Back-and-Forth, Looks Like an Odd Self-Occurring Magic Trick Black Hamster Goes In Brown Hamster Comes Out, Will Probably Need to Be Separated On their 11 Week Birthday on Monday ...

Next Are Hera and Juno My Pair of 10 Week Old Syrian Females, I Fully Expected to Have to Have Separated them By Now, But they Still Sincerely Seem to Enjoy Each Other's Company In Small Doses, for Instance they Sleep Apart and Occasionaly Fiight But Perhaps Because they're Nearly The Same Size Continue to Get Along and Actually Run In The Wheel In Tandem, Will Have to Be Separated When they Out Grow That Probably By their 12 Week Birthday ...

Last and Definitely Not Least Are My Pair of Campbell's Dwarf Females Diana and Camilia, Who for All Intents and Purposes Seem to Love Each Other With Camilia Especially Constantly Grooming her Sister, they Have a Small Fiight Maybe Once a Week But The Best Part About their Set-Up Is they Have Two Cages So they Can Separate themselves As Needed, However While they Also Have Two Wheels they Always Want to Run Together, Even Though The Wheels Are Definitely Not Big Enough for That!

Also, My Girlfriend Just Got a Roborovskii That Has Been Alone In The Pet Shoppe for  About a Month, Is There Anything Special she Needs to Do to Keep it From Feeling Lonely, Aside From Giving it Extra Attention and a Lot of Toys to Play With?

This post has been edited by ZaphodBeeblebro: Apr 13 2006, 11:12 AM

[Christmas_hamste...]

Nope just extra attention and lots of toys to play with It seems alot of people are getting robos lately...

[Isa]

Thank you That will be useful when I get my future pair of Robos...
Only a question, I have never understood if it's easier for males or for females to get along, or it's the same... I've heard contrasting opinions... Can someone add something on this? Thanks