#2 hamsters

[hamsters-in-cups]

from istockphoto

[mareya]

vodni bye my sister randomly decided to go to the shelter without my parents knowing one day and got the dog after meeting him for 10 minutes idk how my parents didnt kill her

[how-to-care-for-hamsters]

Why do you say that hamsters shouldn't be kept in pairs? While I agree that some pairs of hamsters don't work out, many pairs of hamsters live together wonderfully. Yes, Syrians are of course solitary but don't some of the dwarf species live in groups in the 'wild'?

Hi, thanks for messaging! 

While it actually might be possible that some pairs of hamsters actually don’t start fighting and might live together peacefully (for example siblings living from a very young age), a lot of hamster owners reported that even under perfect keeping conditions their hamsters started attacking and even killing each other out of the blue. Sometimes it only takes a week, but for some it took a year or more and their owner had no clue whatsoever, no warning sign, that they’ll find one or both hamsters terribly injured or dead in their cage the next morning.

So yes, some pairs of hamsters might live together wonderfully - but you won't know for how long. 

I have to add that a group (3 or more) is even worse - normally one of them gets killed by the others within hours.   

A lot of owners also have no second (suitable!) cage and supplies for their second hamster if the pairing doesn’t work out. 

Plus, most hamsters are far from from living in perfect keeping conditions such as a huge cage, lots of bedding etc and you cannot compare two hamsters in a cage to a rare pair of hamster in nature who are not forced to live together, choose to have company but can go whenever they want or might even fight too. 

In nature normally hamsters are loners and meet shortly for mating season. Sometimes dwarfs are seen together, yes, but in the wild they have so much space, a big territory, run long distances at night, build or live in huge cave systems and it’s simply not comparable to being forced to live together in a small cage. (And even the biggest cage is small compared to their territory in the wild.)

As we can’t predict this behavior as it tends to happen quite “randomly” and concerning the facts that hamsters are completely fine living alone (not like rabbits, birds, guinea pigs etc. who actually always need to be kept in pairs or groups…) I would never recommend keeping more than one hamster in a cage. It is a bit like playing the lottery and if you don’t win it someone might get injured or killed. And I bet nobody wants that to happen to their hamster. 

You won’t be always there, you simply cannot observe the cage 24/7 especially because hamsters are nocturnal and something like that often happens randomly, fast and can end deadly. It’s unpredictable.  

As you said, you already heard of hamsters pairs that didn’t work out, there are countless posts, threads and videos about it on the internet - it happens quite often, so there is a big risk that a pair will eventually fight, even after a year of peacefully living together. 

In my opinion we have the responsibility to offer our hamsters a beautiful life and should avoid any possible dangers. As well as the danger of a pair not working out resulting in stress, fear and fights and possible death. 

So if a hamster can be completly fine living on their own why taking a risk? 

I hope you have a nice day :-) 

[thepunkyear]

When I move I plan on getting a ton of pets.

[kissedbyatroll]

// Home from work and I should be here all night rp'ing :) If I'm distracted, I'm sorry, I currently have 5 animals in once room because I'm pet sitting for a friend for a week, so yeah.. They're all soooooo cute!

And the fat that the bunnies are starcrossed lovers, I always have to keep an eye on them...