My hamster "Skittles" died today. I went in my room to refill my hamsters'( M&M and Skittles). But when I poened the cage M&M was running in their wheel, but Skittles was laying right next to the food bowl dead. He had a bite mark on his front lower area and his neck was bitten two. I know M&M did it. But why would he do that to his own twin brother?

Try this site:Hamsters World! (http://www.angelfire.com/id/jacheong/hamster.html)

It may give you some answers. I know the music will make your child laugh. It did mine.

I'm assuming they were some kind of dwarf hamster? Some people believe dwarfs prefer company, that they can be kept in pairs or colonies, but that really isn't the case. In the "wild" hamsters only come together to breed, and males rarely interact with each other at all. In a large enough cage, they *can* coexist just fine, however with age they become more aggressive.

My guess is that you got them when they were still relatively young and they have just outgrown their cage. M&M might have been a more dominant hamster or maybe he was bigger. Check him for any bite wounds, but chances are he attacked Skittles and either the bite wounds or just the stress killed him.

M&M will be better off on his own, and make sure *not* to try and introduce a new hamster. Give him lots of love. He's not a bad hamster; that's just the way it is.

I take it no one mentioned to you that once hamsters reach adult hood they do have a possibility of killing their roommate. When I worked at Petco, we had hamsters that would actually kill, eat and dismember the other hamsters in the cage. When we would house hamsters for a couple months with no sales, then got new, smaller hamsters. The bigger, more aggressive hamsters would always have to be alone. I never thought hamsters were real good pets. They always bite and are solitary animals.


IF you do get another Hamster, get another cage completely separate from the other one. Also, try and feed fresh veggies, fruits and a little bit of yogurt. It helps keep their little tummies running right.

Just to reiterate the above answers, hamsters are solitary animals.
Yes you see them all together in pet stores but that is because they are all babies, once they reach maturity they will fight to the death.

I'm sorry you had to find this out the hard way.

I'm sorry for your hamster.:(
Here are some sites that should help you understand a bit more.

Hamsters (http://www.hamsters.co.uk/)
Care of Pet Hamsters (http://www.hilltopanimalhospital.com/hamsters.htm)
Hamsterific Hamster Illness Guide for Hamsters (http://www.hamsterific.com/IllnessGuide.cfm)
Hamster Care (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/hamster-care.html)


Joy

Mine died 2 and she was the cutest one in the history of hamsters! Well she died on Valentines Day so you 2 make everything feel better go and call a friend and tell them what happened then change the subject 2 something like your dog [if you have 1] so that's what I do. II'M SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY THAT THAT HAPPENED! WA!

Mine died 2 and she was the cutest one in the history of hamsters! well she died on Valentines Day so ya 2 make everything feel better go and call a friend and tell them what happened then change the subject 2 something like your dog [if u have 1] so thats what i do. II'M SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY THAT THAT HAPPENED! WA!

Please take note of the dates on posts. This death occurred over a year ago. Thanks for the input, but also please watch the "textspeak".

Thread closed.

Please check dates before posting.