# Baby rats and hamster



## Kuraudia (Jan 15, 2014)

Hello everyone 
I have a lovely russian hamster named Arya (well, maybe not so lovely...) and today I introduced her to my baby rats.
We had Matilda and Bianca in the cage, as I was scared they would harm my hamster. The babies were in a box, trying to get out with cute little jumps. I put Arya on my lap and grabbed a female one and let them meet each other. I was scared that they would start fighting so my sister was going to remove the baby and I would take away Arya if something were to happen.
I was very surprised when they met, they just smelled each other, being very patient. Their noses touched and they smelled their fur and behinds. Nothing happened. We did this with a few more females with the same result: no fighting and just fur smelling. We moved on to a male and he was more keep on smelling the hamster's behind... xD
Then I put Arya in the box and most of the babies went to her to smell her, but apart from a bit of squeaking from my hamster, nothing else happened.
I don't think if it's a good idea to introduce her to my big rats (yet) but it was wonderful to let her be with the babies. (I must say they are the same size as the hamster)
Thanks for reading ;D


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## zmashd (Dec 25, 2013)

Rats are omnivores. In the wild they will kill smaller rodents for food. 
I don't believe it's a good idea to introduce your rats to your hamster, especially not the big ones - they can easily kill it. The babies wouldn't have that drive as much, I guess, but still there's no point... They are different species, even if they are both rodents, and probably won't understand each other/get along.


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## Pandandelion (Oct 20, 2013)

I seriously do not recommend you do introductions between your rats and hamsters. Personally, I have a Syrian and a Winter White dwarf so I understand the temptation to have all your rodents get along but like zmashd said, rats are omnivores. They do frequently kill and eat smaller rodents and there are stories about this happening on this forum. 
You also really have to think about your hamster in this situation. The fact that she squeaked is already not a very good sign and shows that she is distressed in some way about your introduction. Imagine what it must be like for her. In her eyes, she is prey and the rats are predators because they CAN kill her, even if they initially seemed receptive of her. They very well could just be sniffing her to identify her and if you leave her in there for too long or look away, they could attack, in which case you will have to reach into a frenzy of rat and hamster, try not to get bitten and try to save your hamster. 
Hamsters are also solitary creatures. They don't need the companionship of other rodents, even of their own species. They do much better living alone and to introduce her to rats is just unfair to her.


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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

I agree with what was said above. I would not introduce your hamster to the rats. My borther once wanted to intoduce his sugar glider to one of my rats and I ended up talking him out of the idea. 

A friend of mine has physically seen a rat escape out of a lose part of her cage into a hamster's and killing the hamster. This happened at the pet store.


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

I wouldn't introduce them, se breeds have hamsters live a lone and will fight till the death to live alone. I'm not sure if they would do that with rats, but when your rats get bigger they will realize she is not the same and may try to kill her for food. My hamsters are in cages on my desk and my rats go up there two of them reach in the cages trying to grab the hamster but my other two learned quickly that that's a no no. 
When I have my hamsters out my rats are at the side of their cage watching the hamsters run around (one by one) they are Syrian hamsters so they can't be together.


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## Kuraudia (Jan 15, 2014)

Oh, ok, thanks. I just wanted to see what would happen, I wasn't planning on doing it any more because I know the risks.
Thanks anyway


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## Awaiting_Abyss (Jul 24, 2012)

Only Syrian hamsters fight to the death and must live alone. Many breeds of dwarf hamsters do live with other hamsters. I believe Russian Dwarfs are one of those hamsters that can live with friends. Of course, they are also fine living alone.


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## Pandandelion (Oct 20, 2013)

Awaiting_Abyss said:


> Only Syrian hamsters fight to the death and must live alone. Many breeds of dwarf hamsters do live with other hamsters. I believe Russian Dwarfs are one of those hamsters that can live with friends. Of course, they are also fine living alone.


In theory, any hamster breed can live together if they have the right temperament and are from the same litter, with a large enough cage. Even then, you have to be VERY careful about territory disputes, which can be common. The only types of hamster that are less likely to fight are female roborovski dwarf hamsters; they can be kept in small groups in larger cages. You should not mix breeds, however, and all breeds of dwarf hamster will fight with a newcomer in their cage.


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## Awaiting_Abyss (Jul 24, 2012)

Pandandelion said:


> In theory, any hamster breed can live together if they have the right temperament and are from the same litter, with a large enough cage. Even then, you have to be VERY careful about territory disputes, which can be common. The only types of hamster that are less likely to fight are female roborovski dwarf hamsters; they can be kept in small groups in larger cages. You should not mix breeds, however, and all breeds of dwarf hamster will fight with a newcomer in their cage.


Winter whites live together peacefully and can be introduced to new hamsters at any point. However, females and males are a little more difficult to introduce and it must be done on the male's territory or the female will dominate him and attack.

Russian dwarfs, cambells dwarfs and winter whites can breed with each other, so I assume they could also be kept together all their life. I've seen them kept together, but haven't actually done it myself.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

We adopted Fuzzy Rat as a pup and we had a litter of young white mice, we put them together in a play tub and they sniffed and ignored each other. A few times when both Fuzzy Rat and the mice were older Fuzzy Rat would jump into the play tub to steal the mice' treats, she never actually played with the mice and the mice never bothered her.

My part wild rat however would attack, kill and most likely eat white or any other mice on sight... she also hunted bugs... Fuzzy Rat never ate anything that moved. I actually recall someone that had a rat and a mouse living in the same cage once. And there's someone who has a black rat (ratus ratus) living with a brown rat (ratus norvegicus) on this very sight and in the same cage! In the wild, brown rats exterminate black rats. Some folks have rats and cats and rats and dogs and rats and bunnies playing together... some folks have had really bad experiences with exactly the same situations.

Rats are individuals. No one really knows what yours will do... But I've seen rats attack and they move very quickly. It's your call.

Best luck.


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## anawelch (Sep 25, 2013)

Teddy bear hamsters live well together. Atleast judging from my experience working at a petstore. Our other hamsters would often get in fights or disputes (nothing serious though) but teddy bears would just get in a big pile and sleep all day. They were super lazy and didn't care if you held them or pet them.


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

anawelch said:


> Teddy bear hamsters live well together. Atleast judging from my experience working at a petstore. Our other hamsters would often get in fights or disputes (nothing serious though) but teddy bears would just get in a big pile and sleep all day. They were super lazy and didn't care if you held them or pet them.


Teddy bear hamsters are a breed of Syrian hamsters, in pet stores they seem to get along fine but really the fight till the death. One of my hamsters are a teddy bear and my other girl is a short hairs hamster and I had them out once together an they started fighting and tying to bite each other.


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## Awaiting_Abyss (Jul 24, 2012)

"Teddy Bear" hamsters are actually Syrians but are called "Teddy Bear" hamsters in pet stores to sell them more easily because it sounds "cute." "Panda bear" hamsters are just black and white Syrians. "Golden bear" hamsters are just golden/agouti Syrians. "Black Bear" hamsters are just black Syrians. They can live together as babies, but will eventually fight each other.


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