Success of Housing Multiple Chinese Hamsters

***As of late August, 2010. New results to follow later on.

So I have gone on several hamster forums to try and find out about the likliehood of Chinese Hamsters getting along. Most people believe that they are solitary, like Syrians, while other claim that they are social like dwarfs, and still other claim that only males are social while females live alone. So I asked these seven questions:

1. How many hamsters were in this group?

2. What was the gender of these hamsters?

3. What kind of cage were they in? (A brand/model name or dimensions)

4. How many wheels did they have?

5. Can you please describe their set up? (How many beds, what kind of toys, was it crowded, etc)

6. Did they need to be separated?

7. Were they siblings?
I got minimal responses, what with Chinese hams not being the most common or popular hamster species on the pet market. I'll update it as long as I keep getting responses--- Keep in mind that so far the number of participants is small and so it may make the results a little skewed. (August 26, 2010).

Only 31% never had to be separated.

Only 38% were given what I would consider adequate set ups. *

If you look at just the hamsters given adequate setups than 80% of hams never had to be separated.

If you look at just the hamsters given less than adequate setups than 100% had to be separated

If only looking at female pairs than 50% never had to be separated.

If only looking at male pairs than 22% never had to be separated.

If only looking at females in adequate setups than 0% had to be separated.

If only looking at males in adequate setups than 34% had to be separated.

If looking at females in less than adequate setups than 100% had to be separated.

If looking at males in less than adequate setups than 100% had to be separated.

Chinese hams that weren't siblings and were introduced (both same sex and opposite sex) had to be separated in all cases.

*Adequate setups would include a large enough cage, multiple wheels, multiple beds and things that would decrease chances of arguments and fighting. This is based on a general standard and what has worked for myself and others when housing multiple hamsters.

So what you can gather from that is that if given a large enough cage, multiple wheels, a large food dish, multiple beds, etc than these hamsters can get a long just fine. Gender seems to make little difference though many have mentioned that it is the males that don't get along and that females are the ones that do better in pair or group settings. It can also be noted that if introducing Chinese hamsters it should be done with the utmost caution, as it seems to never work out. 

**Raw results may be posted at a later date

Housing Multiple Hamsters

Having a pair or group of hamsters is lot's of fun, however there is always a chance of them fighting. My first pair of dwarfs, Mocha and Dusk, fought and had to be separated and through that I learned some basic guidelines for housing multiple hamsters. Since using these guidelines I have had three pairs of happy hamsters coexist together.


First off you need to know what species it is that you want to have. Syrians are solitary creatures by nature and will fight till the death. Even if they do not fight their lives will be quite stressful, leading to a lowered immune system. In the end expensive vet bills are down the road when keeping syrians together.


There are four species of hamsters that can be housed together including Russian Campbell Dwarfs, Winter White Dwarfs, Roborovski Dwarfs and Chinese hamsters. Each species of hamsters must be kept with it's own kind, you should not under any circumstances mix species together. You must also aim for siblings. It is difficult to successfully introduce hamsters together and often doesn't work out.


These following tips will help create an environment that will decrease chances of hamsters arguing over something. As with any siblings, hamsters may have their tiffs but sometimes prolonged problems and arguments can lead to fighting and separation. If you want to keep a pair or group of hamsters it is recommended that you attempt to create this ideal setup:


* Make sure you have a large setup for your new hamsters. If you don't have a large enough setup then your dwarfs could fight for space. If the cage is too small than your hamsters will fight for space. For two hamsters the minimum floor space should equal out to 360 square inches. It is not recommended that you use multiple cages to house a pair/group of hamsters as one hamster often becomes territorial over one cage and fights to defend it. Have a single large cage is best.


* You will need a large food dish. Most dwarfs love to be able to sit in their food dish. But if you have a food dish that doesn't allow all hamsters to sit in it to have equal access at the food then you could be asking for a fight. Food dish's that would allow all of the hamsters to sit in at the same time are best.


* Sometimes one or more of the dwarfs will be greedy. So the other(s) might not get enough food and then get angry. So if you find your dwarfs are not getting the right amount of food the answer is not another food dish. Why? Because now Piggy gets twice as much food. I would suggest separate feeding times. Feed one and while taking the other out. Then switch turns. But usually having a large food dish can help this.


* Next you need to look at the wheels. Never get the wheels that are actually made for dwarfs. Some are too small in the first place and all the hamsters can't fit on it at once. A syrian sized wheel or bigger is your best bet. As well remember the key to success with wheels is having one wheel per hamster.

* Now look at the water bottles. Sometimes dwarfs will fight over getting a drink. So then you need to get another water bottle. I haven't seen much of this but if you notice squabbles over a drink then adding another one will help.

* Multiple beds are very important as well. Dwarfs may not want to sleep together all the time, they like their space too. So it is important that you have more then one bed for them in their cage in case one is chased out of its bed.

* Next you must consider the gender of your hamsters. It is important that you have hamsters of the same sex. Breeding is a lot of hard work and takes a long time to learn how to do properly. So make sure you either have all girls or all boys. As for which gets along better, I have yet to see a difference. It has been said that female Chinese hamsters often do not get along, so if you have female Chinese hamsters keep a close eye.

* When it comes to cleaning the cage make sure that you keep a bit of the old substrate behind which has their scent on it. Not putting some of the old substrate behind may encourage your hamsters to try and re-establish the 'pecking' order, that is who is the Alpha hamster.

* If fighting occurs and there is blood/injuries you must separate them immediately. This means you must have extra cages ready in case they do fight and that when getting a pair or group you must be prepared to take care of all the hamsters in their own cages. Keep in mind that sometimes hamsters argue or play fight which may look or even sound awful but isn't serious. After all even human siblings argue from time to time.

* Many suggest that groups of three hamsters will more than often not work out due to two of the hamsters bonding and then trying to drive the third one out of the group. This may not apply to all trios but anyone who has or is considering a trio should take this into consideration.

An ideal setup for a pair of hamsters: a 20 gallon long, 30"L x 12"W (360 square inches)