Bloody Syrian Hamster Fight

Question
We have two 3 month old hamsters (females) from the same litter.  They were hand raised together and have been together since they were babies.  We have to large CritterTrails for them with lots of activities, food and fun.  Sometimes they get into little brawls, but for the most part, they sleep together and hang out together.  Today when I came home from work, one of them had a bloody nose, and it is obvious that the other one must have bitten her.  I don't know what to do about it, or if there is anything that I can do to help her.  She is fine, other than her torn up, bloody nose.  I hate to separate them because they have always been together. This is not the first time that they have done this, as the injured one is named "Scarface" for a reason. The first day that we had them here they got into a fight that tore up a little of her face.  What do I do?  We really love them and want them to have companionship, BUT...maybe they need to be separated.  

Thanks!

Answer
Hi Stephanie,

    I have been through this too. Although for most part they get along fairly well I would suggest that they be separated. The older they get the more territorial they will become and one will end up being  more dominate over the other which could result in a more serious injury or even death. If you do decide to separate them, set their cages side by side, that way they can still see each other and since their presence. They may seam a little gloomy and depressed for the first few days but then it should pass. If the nose has bad scratches on it, you may apply some antibiotic ointment (like neosporin) to help fight infection. I would suggest applying it with a Q-tip. Be careful not to get it in the eyes.
    A word of advice on the critter trails cage or any cage with tubes, although hamsters love them, be careful of the tubes, hamsters love to stuff the tubes with bedding. If they do this, it should be cleaned out of the tube right away. Hamsters have died from suffocation from blocked tubes.
    If you have anymore questions, please write again.

Thank you for writing and best of luck!