New arrivals, a herd of Roborovski Hammys

[Mcstealth]

Just got these little beauties, 4 girls, and two boys.

One of the boys


a couple of pics of the girls




and as my daughter found out this morning, they can be very quick.

[elliottreed]

Awww they are adorable!
And yes!! They are especially nifty... little buggers hehe
Can I just ask, are you housing them all together? xxx

[Mcstealth]

No not together, at the moment girls are all together, and two boys are on their own.

the plan was to have them in three groups, two lots of two girls, and one lot of two boys.

Is this a good idea, the OH has plenty of experience with syrian hamsters and mice, but these roborovskis are a new one to us, I will gladly bow down to anyone with more experience.

I am never to old or to proud to listen to others, especially where the welfare of my animals is concerened

[elliottreed]

That's a really nice thing to say, and rare these days. Nice to know some people can take advice without seeing it as a snide remark or shouting!

Basically, from experience at the rescues, I have found at sexual maturity, most hamsters fall out with cage mates...

The exception I have found in rare cases is when the hamsters have been together from birth/are related, from the same litter.

My personal opinion is that hamsters should be kept solitary as they are not social animals like rats. However, I have heard of some success stories with keeping hammies together, but more often than not, around that sexual peak, they start getting scrappy and in most cases are killed or are badly injured.

This might be particularly biased as the animals I see are rescues/rehomes where the animals have in most cases been handed in as they don't get much attention.

I would say females would get on slightly better than 2 males (as there would be a real dominance issue there), but I too look forward to hearing from some other parties and perhaps better my knowledge on the breed at the same time

[ami_j]

robos are pretty social if given plenty of space and like any animal there can be fallings out its just a case of monitoring them
also with hamsters i tend to find its the females that fight worse...when ive split my syrians into same sex groups as babies the males have tolerated each other far longer than the females...its the same with my winter white/campbells hybrid accidental litter ...the only two that have stayed together are males

[elliottreed]

Ah! That's really interesting, we've mainly had males in and they've been the ones that have fallen out but usually just the ones that have already scrapped, the aftermath is pretty brutal in most cases. They certainly don't hold back!

It's my personal opinion to house hammies solitarily, hate risking the thought of them scrapping and one/both of them ending up dead.

But it is nice to see them interact in groups when monitored closely xxxx

[ami_j]

Originally Posted by elliottreed

Ah! That's really interesting, we've mainly had males in and they've been the ones that have fallen out but usually just the ones that have already scrapped, the aftermath is pretty brutal in most cases. They certainly don't hold back!

It's my personal opinion to house hammies solitarily, hate risking the thought of them scrapping and one/both of them ending up dead.

But it is nice to see them interact in groups when monitored closely xxxx

it sure is and monitoring closely is the way to do it...i give them the chance to live together and watch them and any scrapping i take them out same with any animal (unless its syrians they need to be apart after 5-6 weeks anyway lol though ive had males who COULD of been left longer)
end of the day its personal preference and yes having a load that scrap does put you off

[RockynTwix]

Hi. I have to say with the little i know of them, the two boys i bought about 4weeks ago fight quite a bit but ive given them different food bowls (food seems to be number 1 arguement) and this has reduced fighting. they also have two wheels as this seems to be the second thing they argue over lol. Joking aside tho they are very agresive when they fight so its worth keeping an eye on this area of robovovski ownership.

[ami_j]

Originally Posted by RockynTwix

Hi. I have to say with the little i know of them, the two boys i bought about 4weeks ago fight quite a bit but ive given them different food bowls (food seems to be number 1 arguement) and this has reduced fighting. they also have two wheels as this seems to be the second thing they argue over lol. Joking aside tho they are very agresive when they fight so its worth keeping an eye on this area of robovovski ownership.

youve made a good point! yes its important that theres enough wheels and scattering the food instead of having it in a dish helps keep harmony

[elliottreed]

Even better than two bowls as Ami said is scattering the food, it also helps with boredom if they have to gather it There are a wide range of toys on the market such as mini-kongs used to hide dog food but smaller ones for hammies etc, that are a lot of fun for them.

It's lovely to see some responsible pet ownership, RockynTwix has noted the problems and tried to offer a solution, and that's lovely to see. xxxxxxx