tom dyer

The 2005 Calendar is coming.
I am still working on it but it is nearly finished now.
Time to get that glossy paper and fresh ink cartridges ready!!!

Tom Dyer

http://www.frodo248.servebeer.com/ham

jakewc2

Hi I was just looking at your site Alt.Pets.Hamsters Advice Archive and
noticed in the Introduction that you mention that

they are the same *** and from the same litter

I am not sure what you are trying to convey there, but that isn't exactly
true. Mixed pairs can be kept together quite easily. I have Winter Whites,
Robo's and Chinese, and have single ***, pairs and colonies going of both
single *** and mixed *** that are surviving really well.

If you look here http://tinyurl.com/3qb5f, I have some pictures of some of
my smaller colonies, and if you look around my site a bit more you will see
a lot more pictures of more colonies I have going.

John.

b. roberts

I'd have to disagree with both, and say there is no hard and fast rule about
what can be kept with what when it comes to dwarves.

I've seen littermates kill littermates and I've seen total strangers that
were fine for months do the same out of the blue.

I've also seen a mother/daughter live their entire lives together most
happily, and 3 brothers as well.

Its always a risk to the animals, and the reason I no longer have any tanks
with more than 1 dwarf per, and never will again. Granted it was wonderful
when we had 31 dwarves all together living happily in an enormous habitat,
but it only takes a few tragedies to turn that wonderful thing into a
nightmare.

--
Brian & Judy & The Hamster Horde
http://community.webshots.com/user/limahl (The current Horde)

tom dyer

I've reworded the relevant part. Basically saying that there are exceptions.

jakewc2

I do agree with you that there is no hard and fast rule, but the statement
that Tom made, made it sound as if dwarfs can't live together full stop,
which isn't really a correct statement. For some reason lately, Dwarfs seem
to be getting a bad press for not being able to be kept together, and I have
to admit, I don't seem to get that problem, and I don't understand why it is
people are having so many problems. I very rarely have any major problems
with any of my pairings, or groups. I find it really sad that so many people
are having to separate their dwarfs because of aggression problems. It isn't
the norm with mixed pair groups.

IMHO, I still think that this statement is not entirely accurate.

are the same *** and from the same litter

The rest of the paragraph I agree with.

John.

jakewc2

Surely it would be better to explain to people that dwarfs are communal
animals and they do better in pairs, but to make people aware that problems
can occur. Rather than make a blanket statement saying that they should not
be kept together 'just in case'. Yes its not good when you have something go
wrong, but IMHO, keeping them separate regardless, could also be said to be
wrong too. They aren't Syrians, they don't live like Syrians. I rescued cats
for almost 8 years, had around 200 go through my flat, there were periods
when I had over 23 in my flat, and it could be said the same for them, that
there was a possibility that they could have fought and caused injuries to
each other. If that was the case, I would never have been able to have
rescued and helped so many.
John.

b. roberts

In a perfect world where people would actually listen to my advice and do
whats best for the animals, that would work well, and when I come across
someone with a brain who's willing to listen, I explain it to them.

Most customers in our store are ignorant, and stupid, refusing to listen to
our advice on how to best house these wonderful little creatures. They
insist that "its only a hamster" and buy the smallest possible cage, a wire
wheel, always reach for cedar bedding. People like that dont care about the
intricate nature of hamster relationships, so I make a blanket statement to
almost every single person who comes through that there should always be
only one hamster ever per habitat, no matter the species. In the long run,
its much better for the animals, since it removes the threat all together,
rather than risk it, which to me isnt at all fair to the animal, its bad
enough any moron with money can buy a pet without having any knowledge at
all of how to take care of it, and sad to say, most people that come through
my store are just like that.

I wish people werent dumb as a houseplants, and actually cared as much for
the animals as most of us do, but in a retail pet store chain, its treated
much like a fast food joint, take their money and give em what they want,
and keep quiet. Our managers avoid getting involved at all costs, so I
defend the little buggers in the only way I can, by keeping them single,
rather than risk yet one more death because the owner was too ignorant to
split them when trouble occured. In the past 6 months, we've had at least
10 or 11 people come back with a dead dwarf because they got more than one
and ended up putting them together. It never used to be as bad, and I'm not
sure what it is about dwarves that seems to be changing, other than perhaps
all the inbreeding our suppliers do to keep up with demand.

I wish my customers were all like you John, I really do, because you know
what to watch for and how to treat these wonderful little creatures. It
hurts me every time I see one sold to someone who isnt going to do whats
best for them, but I have no real say in the matter and am told to just do
my job and shut up. One of these days I'm going to snap and tell the
manager where to go and quit, but until I can get a better job, I'm stuck
there doing what little I can to make little hammy lives better while I can.

I agree with you though, it IS possible to house them together (I've done it
many times), but its by no means a guarantee, hence why I cant recommend
anyone do it who isnt going to take the time to really pay attention for
problems. Once in a while I get a customer who's a true animal lover, and
for them, they get an opinion more like yours, but most get the "one ham
per" statement, because its the safe way out. I guess for me its the lesser
of 2 evils, the ham may be living alone, but at least its safe from getting
assaulted.

I appreciate your opinions and I'm very glad you shared them, I wish more
people were like you. =)

--
Brian & Judy & The Hamster Horde
http://community.webshots.com/user/limahl (The current Horde)

jakewc2

Ah, now that you've explained, I understand your point of view.

John.

to

b. roberts

I know its sad, it depresses me a lot. Under proper supervision, a colony
of dwarves together is a wonderful thing to see.

We had a group of 31 all together once, and it was wonderful for over a
year, then things got ugly fast and we ended up having to split a lot of
them up. It was one of the saddest things I've ever done.

I wish more people cared as much about animals in general as they do about
themselves. =(

--
Brian & Judy & The Hamster Horde
http://community.webshots.com/user/limahl (The current Horde)