Changing food abruptly; male and female in same house (but not same cage)--Syrians

Question
I have 2 questions, I hope it's ok to ask them both at once.

I have a (long haired "Honey Bear") male Syrian right now, and am bringing home a female (a short haired "Panda") in 3-4 days. (I won't be breeding them, though.)

Right now, I know they're feeding the female Panda Forti-diet seed mix and lab blocks.  I feed my hamster Mazuri (PMI) lab blocks and Hazel Hamster mix with some human food treats.

My question is: Will changing her food abruptly cause wet tail?  Or will it be ok since the foods are pretty similar anyways?  I don't want to buy 2 bags of food (they sell the seed and blocks separately) that I won't use.  I don't know what my hamster was eating before I got him, and nothing bad happened to him when I fed him these brands.

My second question:  Will having a male and female in the same house affect them?  They won't ever meet but their cages will probably be one on top of the other, so they'll be able to smell each other.  Will it affect their personalities, say when the female is in heat?  (Or even when she's not?)  Will it affect them in any other ways?

Thanks!

Answer
Hi Mandi,

Most hamster mixes contain roughly the same ingredients and nutrients.  So, switching foods shouldn't harm your hamster at all.  (Espcially since you're also going to be feeding your hamster lab blocks and a seed mix.)  Also, wet tail is most often caused by stress, not a change in diet.  That's why new, young hamsters are more likely to develop wet tail, because they're stressed when they go to a new home.  Minimize this stress by not touching your new hamster for 48 hours.  This 2-day period will help her adjust to her new environment.

I would advise against placing the male and female so close to each other.  They would be going crazy, especially the male (and especially when the female is in heat).  It would be a stressful situation for the both of them, being so close but not being able to mate.  They would constantly be agitated.  Instead, I would advise you to place the cages across the room from each other.  They will still be able to smell each other, but not with the same intensity.  And they won't drive each other crazy ;)

Have a great weekend!

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask :)

Kelly