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Post by Dezzi on Jan 12, 2010 16:34:28 GMT -4
My Roborovski dwarf dessert dynasty is no more. Some of you may remember when I got those three Robo dwarf hamsters. Then they turned on the littlest one and there were two. Well, I have been checking them constantly for signs of fighting or bullying and watching them very closely. Nothing seemed a problem or out of the ordinary. I breathed a sigh of relief and continued to monitor them.
Then last night I was picking up Pecan Pie (aka Pie) and Pistachio Ice Cream (aka Ice) attacked her. It was only seconds... both hamsters had managed to administer fatal wounds. I put both of them down on opposite sides of the cage and they crawled and hid in their corners to cross the bridge.
Lesson learned: expect the unexpected. For the safety and well being of dwarf hamsters keep them in groups of four or more, or keep them solitary!
RIP my sweets.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jan 12, 2010 19:59:48 GMT -4
That is sad, and interesting. I have never had two suddenly, after a long time, try to kill each other. Noisy bloodless squabbles, yes. My pair is fine. You know I don't like trios. Esp. for gerbils. I need to look into this more and ask some dwarf people. Wonder what Robin will say. . . Condolences.   |
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Post by Dezzi on Jan 12, 2010 20:37:41 GMT -4
It was very bizarre. They've had their noisy dominance squabbles but they passed sexual maturity and had been fine. I did check to be sure they were not bullying each other... so weird.
I have heard that dwarfs are better kept in larger groups for hierarchy reasons but since my two had been fine and were past the overly hormonal stage, I saw they were okay. Maybe one just had a bad case of being in heat and turned? Sigh. Poor robos.
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Post by pinky on Jan 12, 2010 22:36:54 GMT -4
Wow--so sad, Dez. Hard to believe that they both had aim good enough to kill. Rest peacefully, little ones.
I never have more than one ham at a time, but I would say that Jayde is territorial enough that no other hamster would have had a chance against her if she turned on him/her. She was removed from being with her son because she was getting aggressive (and because he was reaching sexual maturity).
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jan 12, 2010 23:25:47 GMT -4
kanez.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Mem&action=display&thread=1461If you read that thread above you will see the sad story with photos of my first four male gerbils, Cliffy, Dill, Tommy, and Phil. Basically. Tommy, a great fave, seemed to be the dominant gerb. He died a natural death. They all had lived together for a long time, but after Tommy died Dill and Phil had an awful fight. One took a mortal bite in the stomach that killed him in several days, and the other looked much worse, mangled, but lived happily with Cliffy for life. So look out for trios. ONE time only I had two established gerbs fight with one death. Oddly, it was when they were put in a holding tank while i was cleaning their tank. Maybe a new smell freaked one out. Sad, and very unusual.
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Post by Hamsters82 on Jan 14, 2010 18:57:25 GMT -4
Aw, Dez, I'm so sorry. Sometimes that just happens with dwarfs. I hope you're doing well and again I'm sorry. May both of them rest in peace. *hugs* |
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Post by tonyshuman on Jan 22, 2010 15:42:38 GMT -4
I'm so sorry. I am not an expert by any means, but I have always heard that a pair of dwarves is fine. I have only kept mine as singles, since one half of my pair died at a young age of genetic issues, and the other refused to re-bond. That must have been terrible to see.
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