# Housing brothers together and sisters together long term



## lmj1119 (Nov 15, 2011)

I had a surprise litter 8 weeks ago and two weeks ago I separated our two boy hoglets from mama and two little girl hoglets. I now have both boys going to one home and we are keeping the girls. My question is can the boys be kept together (in a large enough cage) long term. I know people say that boys tend to fight but I wondered if since they have been together since birth if they would be ok together? I also have both girls with mama right now in a large bin and they are all happy. Could I move mom back to her own original cage next week and keep my baby girls together in the bin. I was planning on having two food dishes, water dishes, wheels etc. Any advice would be much appreciated. We are very new at this!  Thanks!


----------



## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Two girls together tend to be more successful, particularly if they're littermates or mother/daughter. For boy littermates it's not completely unheard of, and likely wouldn't be a problem while they're still young - but once they're full grown, there's a very good chance that they'd end up not getting along. Testosterone and all. Hedgehogs aren't social by nature, and males even less so. The boys should be separated, though at 8 weeks, they're still young enough to be housed together for the immediate future. The girls could very well live together happily their whole lives, though I've also heard of mother/daughter or sister/sister pairs working for a long time and then suddenly not getting along anymore. If you decide to keep them together, you should move them to a larger cage/enclosure; two hedgehogs will need more room as well.


----------



## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

I'm more of a better safe than sorry with hedgehogs and wouldn't house any of them together just in case of a fight that could turn into expensive vet visits...


----------



## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

Honestly? I have never heard of two boys being successfully housed together on this forum. I would rather be safe than sorry like Christemo says, and just get separate cages for each. You also have to keep in mind that you have to be ready to separate them at all times, which means you will have to have an extra cage, etc ready, in case a fight breaks out.

I would suggest you wait for the answers of some more experienced owners like Nancy and the other mods, though.


----------



## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

There have been people few and far between that have managed to keep boys together, but honestly, it's not a great idea. There's a good chance they'll fight, it's harder to keep an eye on them individually if one starts having problems, if they do bond with one another and one dies the other will be depressed, etc. It's so much easier in the long run to not try to force them into something unnatural.


----------



## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

Stock up on C&C supplies.


----------



## lmj1119 (Nov 15, 2011)

Thanks you guys for the great info. I have a feeling the mother could be starting to get a little iffy with the girls now so separating them is probably a good idea. I will let the girl know who has adopted the brothers that they will need to be separated as well. Thanks again!


----------



## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Mom and daughters should be fine together but mom will go through a bit of a grumpy period with them. They are probably still trying to nurse and she is done with that. In a large enough cage with multiple sleeping areas so she can get away from them, should be okay but sometimes separating mom for a few days helps the girls get over it quicker.


----------

