Dwarf Hamsters Fighting For Power

Dwarf hamsters are known as being very social creatures, but that doesn’t mean you won’t ever see dwarf hamsters fighting. They definitely don’t fight as much as Syrian hamsters, but it can still pose a problem for the owners of these hamsters. So why do they fight? Well it all boils down to natural instincts and tendencies. Like most animals, hamsters have a hierarchy of dominance. One of the reasons dwarf hamsters fight is to establish a hierarchy. Another reason that is also a result of natural instincts is fighting to defend territory.

One reason you’ll see dwarf hamsters fighting is to establish a hierarchy. Hierarchies exist with many different animals, even with humans! Although humans have developed into civilized societies, you can still see signs of hierarchies within them. One example can bee seen in the work environment. While at work, your boss is clearly higher up in the hierarchy than you. In the same way, hierarchies are established with hamsters, but one of the big differences is that hamsters establish this hierarchy by fighting. Like most wild animals, hamsters build their hierarchy based on strength. It is usually the strongest one of the group that becomes the leader and the best way to find out who that is, is through fighting. Fortunately you won’t have do deal with dwarf hamsters fighting over hierarchy issues unless you’re raising a colony of them (which I wouldn’t recommend). The problem with colonies is that not only do they not work out due to constant fighting but even if things settle down and all of the hamsters are getting along, if one of them dies, there could be an eruption of fighting to establish a new hierarchy.

Another reason you might see dwarf hamsters fighting is for territorial issues. This is fairly common, even with hamsters in captivity. If you put a new dwarf hamster into the cage of another one, I wouldn’t be surprised if a territorial fight broke out. Whenever you introduce two hamsters you need to be aware of this. This is actually one of the main causes of pet dwarf hamster fights and the best way to avoid it is to introduce two hamsters on neutral territory. That means introduce them in a cage where neither of them has been in before. Scent plays a big role in marking territory so a technique you can use to make a fight less likely to happen is to use vanilla extract to mask the scents of the hamsters when you introduce them.