People are social. How does a person feel when deprived of communication with other people? There are many, many epithets. But a small child will answer this question briefly and clearly: “He is bored.”
However, we know quite a bit about people and their communication for obvious reasons. But what do we know about the communication of hamsters with other hamsters? Most people know absolutely nothing, even if they have had more than one hamster at home for years. Most of us can only make assumptions, which are most often based on our own ideas about “what is good and what is bad.” This is why hamsters are often kept in pairs, threes, and even colonies. When asked why some people have not one hamster, but several, the owners most often sincerely answer: “But he gets bored alone!”
It's scary to think how many hamsters have fallen victim to this human tendency to “try everything on themselves.” Hamsters cannot and should not live in groups for one simple reason: they are solitary territorial animals . A hamster will fight with other hamsters that invade its territory until one of them dies or retreats.
This fact became known relatively recently. Perhaps only because Syrian hamsters were considered an extinct species for a very long time. When it became clear that this species was in no hurry to die out and scientists began to study these animals, it turned out that in nature they never live in groups. Of the many Syrian hamster burrows discovered by scientists, the two that were closest to each other were separated by 118 meters.
It turned out that in nature, Syrian hamsters can peacefully meet only for one purpose – to mate. All other random meetings end in skirmishes: the owner of the territory is not at all happy about uninvited guests, even if they are his closest relatives. In fact, this fact does not bother the hamsters at all, for them, a mother or brother is a completely alien creature. Small hamsters live with their mother in peace and harmony as long as the nursing female has milk; along with the milk, she loses her maternal instinct, and her own children turn into enemies.
This is why domestic Syrian hamsters that live in pairs occasionally fight. Very often, such fights end with the death of one or even both animals. You must admit, this is not the most pleasant surprise: waking up in the morning and finding a torn corpse in the cage instead of a furry pet…
And, at the same time, dwarf hamsters in the wild often live in groups. “How great! So they can be kept in pairs/families/colonies?!” – you say. No, they cannot be kept in groups at home either. Let's say that in the wild, five or six dwarf hamsters, brothers from the same litter, live in a hole. There is not a single other hamster hole within three hundred meters or even more. At some point, the hamster brothers quarrel over a pantry or common area around the hole… What happens next? The loser will leave the hole and build his own house, while the others will peacefully coexist for some time. Now let's imagine that such a quarrel takes place in a cramped cage. A fight will break out, because the weaker (or less aggressive) animal simply will not be able to escape. The instigator will be able to catch up with him anywhere… And this means that the danger of the worst outcome increases by several orders of magnitude!
Unfortunately, this is what happens most often. Three out of five hamster fights (both Syrian and dwarf) end, if not with the death of at least one of the animals, then with serious injuries. And all because the owners sincerely believed that one pet in a cage would be bored…
There are many ways to entertain a hamster. And for this, the owner does not necessarily have to be at home all the time and communicate with the pet. Running wheels, tunnels, bridges, ladders… even a crumpled white paper napkin – all this can become a favorite entertainment for a small animal. Unlike a neighbor, “communication” with whom is mortally dangerous for both hamsters…
So, a hamster is a solitary territorial animal, it must live alone. Even if two hamsters live in different cages, standing close to each other, one day the animals can reach each other with their teeth… And the result – bitten noses and bitten off paws – is unlikely to please a loving owner. And even if your hamsters have been living in peace and harmony for some time, this does not mean that this very night the idyll will not be interrupted by a bloody fight, and in the morning a “pleasant surprise” will not await you in the cage…
Take care of your pets and remember: hamsters are not people, they have no need to communicate with their own kind. Moreover, such communication is fraught with colossal danger for the animals!
