hamster confusing

Question
QUESTION: I have bought 2hamsters coming to 3weeks.initially they are quite well as i bought from the same cage at the shop.The shopkeeper said it is a couple syrian hamster and it is just 6weeks old. now sometimes i can see them fight and bite each other but for just a second only. Some people said that they are playing or try to matting. They grow so fast and the body getting bigger. One of it,the backside was so huge that you can see it is quite heavy. Then, another one also had it same but because she is fat,therefore not so obvious on the weight. It is really confuse me as which is  male or female and what type of hamster i have and why the backside become like that as when i bought i does not happen. Thanks

ANSWER: Hi Sandy

If these are Syrian hamsters then they definitely should NOT live together.  Syrian hamsters are solitary creatures and must live in a cage on their own.  They are OK together when babies but any time after 6 weeks and they start to fight and the fighting can be very serious.  If they are opposite sexes then you could find she is already pregnant as they become sexually active at only 4 weeks.  If this is the case and she does produce a litter or you think she is then please let me know and I can talk you through what to do.

If they are dwarf hamsters then it is important to sex them so that you can decide if you want them to mate.  Again, if they are fighting then they need to be separated.  

The best thing is to have a look at some photos on different websites - on my site: www.thehamstersite.com I have photos of the different varieties.  It might be worth looking at this.  Regarding sexing them, here are a couple of sites that might be helpful: http://www.hamsters.co.uk/sexing_hamsters.htm
http://www.hamsterific.com/HamsterUniversity/SexingHamsters.html

I hope you get on OK.

Regards

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi,

Have you heard of Winter White hamster? Will they be tame as Syrian? Are they smelly? Will they get along with Syrian?

Thanks

Regards
Sandy

Answer
Hi Sandy

Winter Whites are one of the dwarf varieties of hamsters.  They can live in single sexed pairs or groups providing they don't fight in which case they would need separating.  They can be tamed but they are very different to Syrians.  I have kept both and my personal favourites are Syrians.  

You should not under any circumstance put one of these with a Syrian hamster.  Syrians are solitary and must live alone.  Also it is dangerous mixing different hamster species.  There is another dwarf variety called Campbells and these look very similar to Winter Whites - they often get confused and even though they are similar they should not be kept together either (mainly because if they mate the female can have serious problems with giving birth to the litter).   I have seen so many Syrian hamsters with horrendous injuries (sometimes fatal) because people keep them together so it isn't worth it.  If dwarf hamsters are kept together that is fine but you must make sure they are the same variety, the same sex otherwise you can end up becoming over-run with them as they mate ever 4th day, and if they do fight you need to be prepared to split them off into their own cages so you could end up with loads of unexpected cages.

Regards