female hamsters

Question
QUESTION: Hi my name is Brianna, and well, I just got this Female hamster and she is 2 weeks old, and I don't know what breed she is, but she is between a orange and a pumpkin color with a white stripe fro one side of her stomach to the other side.I was wondering if I'll have 2 worry about like anything like periods or anything because i already have a Teddy Bear hamster, but this one is a boy and he is two years but they have already gone after each other(mated) and i don't know if she is pregnant or if she has to have her period like some other animals do. please answer ASAP!!!
THANK YOU

ANSWER: Hi Brianna

firstly, you should not have been given a 2 week old hamster - hamsters need to be with their mum for 31/2 - 4 weeks.  At 4 weeks they need to be sexed and separated into single sexed cages and at 6 weeks Syrians need to go into their own cages otherwise they will fight.

I'm assuming that as your other hamster is a teddy bear, then this new hamster is also Syrian.  Syrian hamsters live in isolation.  If you cage two or more Syrian hamsters together they will fight, sometimes to the death.  I have seen many hamsters being brought into the rescue with serious injuries, limbs missing etc. because they were kept together.

Hamsters become sexually active at 4 weeks old. They don't have periods as such, but come into season every 4 days - occasionally there is a slight discharge.  On the 4th day they can get pregnant, the other 3 days they can be very aggressive towards the male - hence the reason why if you want to mate two Syrian hamsters, you only put them together on the 4th day, wait until they have mated and then return them to their own cages.

If your new hamster is only a couple of weeks old she will not be pregnant - but I find it hard to believe she is only this age - two week old hamsters are tiny and barely have their eyes open.  Are you sure this is how old she is? If she looks like a 'normal' hamster, just slightly on the small side, then I would think she was around 4 weeks old - in which case it is possible she could be pregnant.

If she is pregnant, she will probably produce a litter after 16-18 days. although occasionally if they are too young when they conceive they reabsorb (miscarry). However, with very young hamsters who get pregnant their litters are often quite small, may be only 5 or 6 babies.

She needs to be moved into her own cage urgently.  Otherwise they will fight and if she isn't already pregnant, she soon will be.

Please let me know how you get on.

Regards

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

QUESTION: thank you for helping me with my new hamster ok...here's the story of how i got my hamster. One of my friends was at e petco and they saw this hamster in a ball just thrown into the store, and so the store was giving her away for free, so my friend call me and asked me if i wanted to know if i wanted another hamster so she asked the store how old she was. but she's almost the same size as my teddy bear hamster.so i was wondering if you knew how old she might be.

Answer
Hi Brianna

If she's about the same size as your adult teddy bear then she could be anything from around 4-6 months old.  It's difficult to say without seeing her, but she is definitely adult and if she is in good condition, i.e. coat looks thick, then if you are keeping her with him she will get pregnant - if she isn't already.

If you haven't already separated them, then you must or they will fight and injure one another.  

Regards