black bear hamster

Question
hi. i got my very first hamster 9 days ago.  the pet store, "Ruffins", had many different hamsters to choose from.  i chose one of the babies because the staff didn't know the age of the adult hamsters, but all the babies were born in the store.  i was told the babies were exactly 9 weeks old.  all the babies were in one cage, but they said the hamsters were too young to be able to tell the gender.  i named my hamster Ebony because she, or he, is mostly black, and i have a fish named Ivory.  i can't see testicles on Ebony, nor can i see nipples, but i think she has a tiny penis which is almost half the length of her tail.  she is very cuddly and not at all territorial.  my sister told me that you can tell the gender when they are just 4 weeks old, also i read some blogs on the internet saying that girls are more cuddly than boys, boys are often more territorial than girls.  i hope i gave you enough information.  if you need me to send a picture of Ebony's belly, let me know in my e-mail box.  
thanks,
Ebony's mom

Answer
Hi Jinene

Thanks for your question.

It is relatively easy to sex a Syrian hamster at 4 weeks, sometimes you can do it before then.  At 4 weeks hamsters should be sexed and males separated out as they become sexually active at this time, therefore I'm a bit concerned that yours was 9 weeks old when you got him/her and the pet shop didn't know how to sex them.  

Females tend to have a rounded rear end, whereas the males are more pointed.  If you look at Ebony from above you might be able to see this.  Females can give off a scent - it is quite sickly sweet smell when they are in season.  If you look at Ebony's belly have a look to see how far the genital openings are. The distance in females is much shorter than males. In females they can almost appear next to each other, whereas in males there is a definite gap. The best thing would be to go on-line and have a look at a website that shows you how to check this.  A few sites you might want to go to are:

http://www.hamsters-uk.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68
http://www.wikihow.com/Determine-Your-Hamster%27s-Gender
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r786b4aNQQE

I hope this helps you.  If Ebony is a girl and you discover she is pregnant(!!!) please get back in touch as I can advise you on this.  Hopefully this won't happen!

Regards
Sheila