Make sure your hamsters have appropriate company

Facts

• Hamsters are generally solitary animals, and can be aggressive towards other hamsters.
• When aggression occurs between hamsters it can be very dramatic and lead to serious injury or even death.
• Under appropriate conditions and if care is taken, Dwarf hamsters can be group housed.
• Hamsters use odours including pheromones to communicate.
• Hamsters are timid animals, and although they can become accustomed to careful handlers, they become frightened and aggressive if they feel threatened.
• Hamsters enjoy interacting with people who handle them carefully, and are sympathetic to their needs.
• Hamsters can find the presence and scent of other animals in the home stressful.

Things you should do

• Not all species of hamster can be housed in groups. Syrian and Chinese hamsters in particular are not naturally sociable and are better kept on their own.
• If you are housing hamsters in groups, take great care to make sure the groups are compatible, see Housing Hamsters in Groups (PDF 231KB).
• Do not house unfamiliar hamsters, and different cages of hamsters, next to one another as they can find this stressful:
  - Females in oestrus produce potent pheromones and should not be housed near males.
  - Males secrete pheromones to mark territory and this can be stressful for other males nearby.
• Reduce stress associated with handling by making sure that you have positive interactions with your hamster(s) and gently habituate them to you, see
  Handling your hamster (PDF 193KB).
• Make sure that other animals in the home do not have access to your hamster(s) of their cage.
• Never leave your hamster(s) unsupervised with another animal who may harm or frighten them (either deliberately or accidentally), even if you think they are good friends. This particularly includes dogs and cats which are natural predators.