Russian dwarf hamsters to be kept together or alone?

we had 7 boys together, a father and his babies. they loved each other, they would sleep in a huge pile in the corner. they are great together, a right little colony, there great to watch, as long as u don't irritate them to much, i used to know someone who had them and their little brother wouldn't leave them alone, they fought then. but otherwise they are fine, 2 or more brothers works well. i find they are more rewarding in groups as they are happier. Be warned though, there r 2 subspecies of dwarf, the camplbes and the winter white. they do look different when u know wot ur looking for but if u want to breed make sure u get 2 of the same sub species. you will probably find the cambles ones as they are more popular, although the winter whites i find are nicer and i think there better looking.

Awww how cute!! i love the little things, iv kept both Russian and Syrian hamsters, I was always told that the Syrian hamsters should live alone (which is how I always kept them) and that the Russian dwarves enjoy the company, I always had them in 2's or 3's but make sure there the same sex as they will multiply like mad and also the girls can get very b*itchy when around males (which is understandable lol!) Russian hamsters dont seem to be as friendly as the bigger ones and are known to be fiesty little things so its always good that they have company incase they dont want to be handled they'll always have company,

Good luck with whatever option you choose, and ENJOY!!

Getting one, a pair or a group depends on many things. If you get a female pair or group, they are more likely to get on but only if they are from the same litter. If you add a stranger from another litter at the time of sale or later on, it can end up with the whole litter scrapping to the death. Ironically i have experience of taking 2 hamsters home from the same litter and one of them becoming very territorial when sorting out their new territory.The source i got them from was my work place and i knew they were from the same litter as a supervisor,becuase it was my job to check and house the stock, which were never mixed ages. It generally depends on individual personalities too. Males are best kept alone because as they reach maturity the testosterone takes over and they fight for their own patch.

both of what you read are correct. they are very sociable and often dont like to be alone.

only put 2 together if they have lived together before. and definitely get same sex. russian dwarf hamsters are also known to be aggressive, so you do run the risk of problems. perhaps you should talk to the pet shop owner when you get there, find out a little bit about the hamsters they have.

after previous experience if it was me, i'd get the one. had 2 opposite sex ones, had babies, all ended up fighting. mother ate most of her babies in the end. it was sad really.

Hi, I don't have any experience but I have done alot of research into these little guys as I wanted to get a dwarf hamster myself.

All the books I have read say to get them in pairs, but you must be prepared for a possible separation, if you get two there are a few things you need to do:

1. Make sure you get two litter mates, weather it be two girls or two boys they MUST be litter mates otherwise they won't get along.

2. The cage must be big, have two wheels. and I believe you need two 'houses' but I can't be certain on that one

3. You must have a spare cage ready, that way if one becomes ill or injured or they fight you have a way of separating them immediately.

4. Make sure the shop or breeder can tell you weather you are defiantly getting two males or females, if they seem unsure go somewhere else, otherwise you could end up with alot more hamsters then you wanted.

If you decide to get 1 then for as long as you give it plenty of attention then it will be perfectly happy.

I hope you enjoy your pet(s) when you get her/him/them.

Winter Whites, in common with the Campbell's Dwarf Hamster are not sociable and won't live together peacefully unless they are siblings, but even then, the hamsters might fight fatally. It is adviced to keep them single, as in wildlife each of them has a territory of 12km²

I think it does depend on the individual. I've kept them before, and I had a litter 3 girls. Two were happy together, but the other was an angry little thing, and had to be kept seperately. I'd suggest getting two, as the majority are happy to be together and prefer company (and even if you get them out for several hours a day, they'll still be miserable alone), but be prepared to buy another cage if they don't get on after a while.

Girls are meant to be less likely to be "difficult".

You can keep 2 Russian dwarf hamsters together but give them separate beds so they don't fight and make sure that they are both the same sex because when I had mine we all thought they were both boys but they had babies.

i've got one russian hamster. only buy two if they were already living together at the pet shop, in the same cage. i've only got one because mine was a rescue hamster and he was used to being on his own, the pet shop owner advised against getting him a friend as he said they'd fight.

I has two male Russian hamsters as a kid and within two weeks, one had died and it's brother was eating it. I think they fought pretty bad and one got more food than the other