# what to do with my fighting hamsters



## babyalice (May 13, 2012)

Hi, 
I've had two Chinese hamsters for 3 months now, Fievel and GusGus, both are male and were bought together and are brothers. For the first month or so they were fine, they slept and played together. Then they started to occasionally chase each other and squeak loudly, mostly at night, but it seemed to be playfighting as there were no signs of injury and still seemed fairly amiable the rest of the time. It did tend to be the bigger of the two (GusGus)that would chase the other (Fievel)
Tonight, (about an hour ago) the squeaking was very loud, and I could hear them chasing. When I went to check on them, I saw that Fievel had a pretty large patch of fur missing from the top of his back, and a wound that looked like GusGus had taken a chunk out of him. It wasnt bleeding, but looked sore. GusGus didnt have any signs of injury.
I took Fievel out of the cage immediately, and put him in the little travel case I have for them, with some bedding and a little bit of food. He seems to have calmed down and has curled up to sleep. 
I dont have another hamster cage, but Im thinking I'll probably have to get him one tomorrow. Have I done the right thing? Should I bathe the wound at all? Will Fievel be ok in the carry case until tomorrow? Will they have to be permenantly separated now?
Please help, I'm worried about my little creatures


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## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

I don't know anything about hamsters but I would keep them separated. He will be OK in there for now, better than being injured.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Chinese hamsters arent great at living together, nowadays it isnt reccomended that they live together at all usually. I think you need to keep them apart. He will be safer in the carrier than back in with his brother for tonight. Once they fall out it can get really nasty and you could find yourself with a dead hamster if you left them together sp well done for seperating. As for any bite wound you need to bathe with saline solution if possible.


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## bewitched (Jun 9, 2010)

Yes please keep them apart. I had a rescue Chinese called Arnie who hadn't been separated permanently after a serious fight, when we got him he had fur missing that never grew back, partial use of a back leg and was blind in one eye.
He will be fine in the carry case tonight. Well done for separating them x


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## Guest (May 14, 2012)

It's actually advised to keep Chinese hamsters separate, it is quite rare that they stay together without fighting, and the fights can get very nasty so I would split them.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

B3rnie said:


> It's actually advised to keep Chinese hamsters separate, it is quite rare that they stay together without fighting, and the fights can get very nasty so I would split them.


When I first kept chinese hams, about 12 years ago it was the done thing to keep them together, much like dwarf hamsters are kept now, I kept two boys who were so close and never faught, in fact when one died the other one went shortly afterwards and I was convinced it was lonliness, but I know now that they are extremely unusual, unfortunately the pet shops, and some websites are still suggesting that they are group living animals .


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

thedogsmother said:


> *When I first kept chinese hams, about 12 years ago it was the done thing to keep them togethe*r, much like dwarf hamsters are kept now, I kept two boys who were so close and never faught, in fact when one died the other one went shortly afterwards and I was convinced it was lonliness, but I know now that they are extremely unusual, unfortunately the pet shops, and some websites are still suggesting that they are group living animals .


I have never had dwarfs before but I knew people who did back then & they always seemed to be killing each other but people were adamant that they needed to be kept together so I kept my opinions to myself


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

simplysardonic said:


> I have never had dwarfs before but I knew people who did back then & they always seemed to be killing each other but people were adamant that they needed to be kept together so I kept my opinions to myself


We didnt even have a pooter back then so I didnt know they ever killed each other, I just listened to the nice staff at [email protected] and bought two


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## Ratty man (Apr 15, 2012)

I've never had chinese hamsters but I know I had to split up my two russian/dwarf hamsters as one was a real bully to the other one.

Quite surprising as well as years ago I kept Russian hamsters and they got on fine with each other.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Ratty man said:


> I've never had chinese hamsters but I know I had to split up my two russian/dwarf hamsters as one was a real bully to the other one.
> 
> Quite surprising as well as years ago I kept Russian hamsters and they got on fine with each other.


That happens a lot with dwarfs, a lot of that is down to the cage in many cases, Ive never had a problem with them fighting but I always kept them in a single level cage with duplicates of anything that they are likely to fight over (houses, wheels etc) and I always scatter fed, even then it isnt certain that they will stay together unfortunately


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## babyalice (May 13, 2012)

Thank you for your comments and advice everyone! A new hamster home has been purchased, and Fievel has still not gotten bored with exploring it yet!

I was told when I got them that as they were brothers, they would get along fine, but I guess they're all different, and I have two happy hamsters now, which is the important thing 

Was thinking I would maybe put them together for a little while (supervised) every couple of days, which I saw suggested on a different website, so they don't get too lonely. What are your thoughts on this? 
x


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

I really wouldnt put them together at all if it was me, if you feel happier you can pop their cages next to each other so they can see their brother through the bars.


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## Horseshoesx (Oct 7, 2012)

I have been breeding hamsters for 4 years, and I have found that lots of my dwarf hamsters fight, THEY WILL FIGHT TO THE DEATH, if there is a sign of blood, fur missing, loud squeaking or wounds, you will need to separate them ASAP. My current 2 were great up until last month, one of them lived in a carry cage for 2 weeks, so It shouldn't be a problem if you have no cages at the moment. Cages you can buy very cheap. I bought a standard one for £11 on ebay so get looking!


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