Is my syrain hamster pregnant?

Question
QUESTION: "Hi! I was wondering because i got 2 hamsters 3 weeks ago.  and female and a male, and they have mated a lot.  It says that the female starts fighting with the male when mating happens and that has not occurred.  should they be fighting?  is there something wrong with her?  the first time they mated she was running away, but the second time she was staying still and pointing her hind legs back and her tail up.  they live in the same cage and they act fine together.  i got them like that in the pet store.  
on her belly there is little dots that look like nipples and she has grown bigger from the first time i held her.
she carry's food and bedding to, to sides of the cage.  she stores food and she digs the bedding around in a circle.    she is nervous and jumpy and very active.  is she pregnant?
"

yesterday they had a fight.  i separated them for a night. and when i put them together, they were fine


ANSWER: Hi Brianna

I'm really surprised that the shop sold you two Syrians together.  Syrians are solitary creatures and must live separately or they will fight.  Sometimes they do get on in the initial stages and I am therefore assuming that they are brother and sister.  At 4 weeks the boys should be removed from the litter and at 6 weeks they should all have their own cage.  Unfortunately I have seen many hamsters with very serious injuries because people kept them together, and in all honesty it isn't worth the risk otherwise you could end up with high vet bills etc.  

It is also not advisable to mate brother and sister.  Father and daughter is OK, as is mother and son, but sometimes the offspring from a brother and sister mating can have things wrong with them.

It is difficult to know if she is pregnant.  Hamsters come into season every 4 days.  On one of these days the female is very aggressive, on 2 of them she is a bit more friendly and on one day she is ready for mating.  In order to mate Syrians, as they live alone (or should be), you place the female on the top of the male's cage and let them sniff each other through the bars.  After a few minutes you scratch the female's back and if she is in season she will go rigid and arch her back.  If she is aggressive or disinterested, then you need to try again the following day.  If she does go rigid the best thing is to place them in neutral territory and let them mate, watching them all the time to make sure they do not fight.  The minute the mating is over they should be separated.  

I would strongly advise that you separate your hamsters permanently.  Whilst it is a nice idea to have 'dad' in with the litter to help raise them, you cannot do this with Syrians and it is inadvisable to do this as there will be fighting and you could end up with dead babies.   

If she is pregnant, the usual gestation period for a Syrian is 16-18 days.  As mentioned above, at 4 weeks the males in the litter will need separating and at 6 weeks they all need their own cages.  Syrian litters can be as many as 14 therefore it is important to decide how you will re-home these or get cages ready so you can separate them when the time comes.

I hope this helps.

Regards

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

QUESTION: If they are brother and sister. how could you tell?
How do you know she is pregnant?  how do you tell if they are a Syrian hamster?  
she has been drinking a LOT of water.


Answer
Hi

Syrian hamsters are the largest hamsters.  If you go onto my site: www.thehamstersite.com there are pictures of the different types which might help you identify them.

If they are dwarf hamsters, then they can stay together, but be warned that they will mate again the day she gives birth so it is easy to get over-run so you might want to get him out a day or two before the litter is due.  Also, all the hamsters can be sexually active at 4 weeks so you would need to sex and separate out the boys at that time. If the dad has been removed from the cage you can't put the boys in with him as they will fight.  If he is left in the cage until the boys are 4 weeks old, then he can live with them, although there is never any guarantee with dwarf hamsters that they won't fight.  It is impossible to know if they are brother and sister.

It is difficult to know if she is pregnant.  Often you don't know until a few days before they give birth when a bulge can often be seen.  They do also tend to drink more water beforehand.  If she is a dwarf hamster, then the gestation period is 18-21 days.

Regards