Posted by veralara on March 24, 2003 at 18:46:33:
My roommate and I, when we were roomies, invested in a sweet pair of dwarf hamsters. They were a little cranky at first, but settled in, and seemed to get along well enough. We always ensured to have plenty of toys and kept them rotating (I had done massive research on hamster care before we purchased our pair).
My roommate moved to a different dorm room, but still cares for them. we have rotated who takes them when. For example, I took them home over winter break, but she cared for them over our recent spring break and our thanksgiving vacation.
She recently brought them back (sunday) from her home and set them up in the cage. I hadn't been around to pay much attention until this afternoon when I returned from classes. My hamster was attempting to destroy the other one, especially any time the other one tried to crawl on the wheel, go near th food, etc. I put as many toys in as possible and made sure to have two nesting areas on opposite sides of the tank, and I also put out two dishes of food. Unfortunately, we only have one wheel. The more aggressive one, who is my sweetheart, generally lets me pick him up and cuddle him. however, he's drawn blood 2x today already!
Herein lies the question. Which is more likely -- they're being aggressive because they're older (we got them as younglings in september) or they're being stressy and evil because of the environment changes? I'm watching them now, and mine is wheel-running while the other slunks around the cage, and they don't seem to be fighting, but i really don' want bloodshed. if necessary, they CAN be separated... but it's no something I intended to have to do until the end of the semester.
Please either post here or drop me a line at cranberryspork AT hotmail DOT com.
Thanks a bunch-
Laura, Kitty, Frodo and Kousei
