invisible hamster fighting

Question
Greetings. I have a cage with two syrians and they've been getting along fine for about a week now. Recently, the smaller hamster has started to fight with himself. He'll be walking around, maybe eating, when suddenly he'll throw himself on the back and squeak. He'll get up again, walk around, then freak out and get on the back and squeak again. These random outbursts causes his partner to also get on his back (though they're far from eachother). I was worried that they're fighting, or would start a fight, so I separated them. The smaller hamster is still fighting with himself in the new cage, though. I can not find any problems by looking at him. It's almost like something is attacking him, biting him or something... These ghost fights can become pretty intense with lots of squeaking and running around. Any ideas what's bugging him so much?

Answer
Hi

first of all, you were right to separate them. Syrians are solitary hamsters and need to live alone, otherwise they will fight.  I have seen very serious injuries caused by a hamster.

Regarding this phantom fighting - this is certainly strange - from a physical point of view - you say you've had a look at him - the first thing that came to mind is that he is being bitten by something - i.e. mites, and this is making him go a bit crazy. This usually causes itching though.  Check there are no teeth marks or scratches from the other hamster. Also have a look at his skin, that it looks Ok - i.e. there are no sore areas.

From an psychological/emotional point of view - hamsters can behave in strange ways.  I have discovered that some hamsters who are traumatized at birth seem to behave erratically at times.  I have one at the moment who cries if I put any food in her cage - to the point that she is terrified of it. She was the sole survivor of a litter of 6 and was pretty much abandoned by her mum - no one thought she would live and she couldn't be re-homed because of her behavior - hence the reason why she's now living with me.  Others, run and hide at the slightest noise - these tend to be those who were abandoned or neglected by their owners, or runts in the litter - who had to fight for their food.  Do you know the history of your hamster?  Perhaps as a baby he was set upon by the rest of the litter - and the fact that you've kept him with the other hamster, as the other one is bigger than him, perhaps he has been bullying him.

The main thing is to try and gain his confidence.  You may never cure him of this if this is a psychological condition.  However, you may well be able to snap him out of this behavior for most of the time.  Talk to him a lot, handle him and make a real fuss of him.  If he starts running around as though he is being attacked, try to reassure him and if you can, pick him up - this may not be that easy as he'll be jumpy but hamsters do get into routines and he needs to know that he is safe.  If my hamster starts crying, I often pick her up even though she doesn't want me to and cries/screams even more for a second or two - but after a few seconds she calms down, and she is beginning to learn that she is safe.  Her erratic behavior comes out of the blue, sometimes with no apparent reason - I don't expect her to ever be 'normal' but she has definitely improved over the last few months with lots of handling.

Good luck with this - I hope it all works out for you.

Regards