One minute they love each other and the next they dont

Question
I have two teddy bear (syrian) hamsters that live together in the same cage. They're male and female. I know that isn't supposed to happen, but we've done that in the past when I was younger because it's easier and they never fought. Now, however, the situation is different. The female, Cherie, usually follows around the male wherever he goes whether it's to get a drink of water or even run on the wheel. They usually sleep together on the lookout extension we have placed and sometimes they cuddle together with Cherie's head on Houdini. Sometimes, though, they have problems. One of them (it switches) attacks the other. I'm not so sure if it's attacking, though, because after they're done there is NO blood or any marks whatsoever that could have indicated there was a fight. It lasts for a couple of seconds and then they continue to sleep cuddled up to each other or whatever they were doing previously like nothing had ever happened. (It only happens when they're up in the lookout). What happens is that one pushes the other onto their back and they kind of just lay there and one nudges the other (I don't think they bite since there's no marks) and sometimes they make small squeaking noises. Could they be play fighting or serious fighting?

Answer
Hi Harley

Thanks for your question.

Firstly, you are correct in that Syrian hamsters shouldn't live together.  They are solitary creatures and very territorial and usually around the age of 6 weeks they will start fighting and therefore need a cage of their own.

You haven't said how old Cherie and Houdini are.  Also, I'm surprised that if these are both older than 4 weeks of age you haven't ended up with a litter or two as the female comes into season every 4th day.

When hamsters start fighting usually it is quite vocal with squeaking etc, often with chasing around the cage, or as you say one rolling onto their back in their defensive position.  Fighting can just be play fighting, but with adult Syrians it is is likely to be a lot more aggressive than that.  I have known adult Syrians to cause serious injuries to one another. If one starts sleeping away from the other then that is a sure sign there is a problem too.

Having said that, I kept two Syrian brothers together for over a year - they were eyeless and seemed to get along fine and find comfort in the other being there.  They did fight now and again, but often it was momentarily and they always slept together. When one died the other one mutilated him which was pretty awful - he removed the other hamster's cheek pouches as he could obviously smell there was food in them!

As these are different sexes I would definitely consider splitting them just to avoid having loads of babies.  It is difficult to know whether or not their fighting is serious without witnessing it first hand, but it certainly sounds as though it is heading in that direction.  

Whilst it is a nice idea to have them living together, the fact that in the wild they live alone means that they won't miss each other if you split them and give them a cage of their own.  They may still be able to sense/smell each other, but they shouldn't pine.  Also, if you do split them definitely don't think about putting them back together again or letting them meet each other outside the cage as they will definitely fight.

The final decision of course is up to you, but in view of the recent squabbling and the fact that they are opposite sexes I would definitely split them.  I hope this has given you some help.

Regards
Sheila