Hamster Breeding, gender, age for breeding

Question
Hi, my friends hamsters just had 4 babies and she is going to give me a male and female, but i was wondering what age do they have to be to mate? how can u tell if the hamster is a boy or girl? and how often should i let them breed?

Answer
Hamsters can mate at 4-6 weeks of age. Here is a link to sexing hamsters http://www.hamsterific.com/HamsterUniversity/SexingHamsters.html

As far as letting them mate, some people will breed hamsters two times in a row and then let them rest and then breed them again. It's up to you on how many you want to have.