Swollen Bottoms

Question
Hi, Whenever I put my female hamster (Hammie) with my male (Norbit)((Sorry it gets really confusing)) she (Hammie) sqeals and hits and runs away from my male (Norbit) and he'll just follow her (Hammie) around the cage the whole time just taking it from her... and his fur on his... well... near his bottom gets real big i don't know if its him or jsut his fur but i have no clue what is going on... and it will only do it to her (Hammie)... I have 3 females (Rasputia, Hammie and Kate) and none of them get along with each other and the one that really doesn't like any of them (Rasputia) just gave birth to 11 babies from my male (Norbit)... I got him (Norbit) out of the cage and put him in the other one with Hammie and Kate... when the two girls liked each other still... and they (Hammie, Kate, and Norbit) got along O.K. and then that female (Hammie) and the other one (Kate) got into a fight and made her (Kate) bleed really bad so we put her (Hammie) into a little cage that i had and now when i put her (Hammie) in the cage with the male (Norbit) and take the other one out (Kate) he does that... but he wont do it when the other female (Kate) is in there... Whats going on when he swells?

Answer
Hi Rachel,

a male hamster will get swollen in that area when he comes into contact with a female who is on heat - this means he wants to mate with her!

Please tell me what kind of hamsters you have.

If you have Syrian hamsters then they must all live separatly in a cage of their own!!

Syrian hamsters are very solitary creatures and live alone in the wild so it is in their nature to live alone.

If more than one is kept in one cage they will fight to the death and you will lose either one or all of your hamsters.

There are only a few short hours when a female is Receptive to a male and this is the only time they should be put together - if they show any signs of fighting then it means she is not ready to mate and they must be separated staright way.

They must never be left alone without supervision!!

Kind Regards,

Tammy