hamsters possibley dwarf

Question
1. how do you tell a boy hamster from a girl?

2. how do you know if your hamster will have babies?

Answer
Hi Jessica.

You can sex hamsters by gauging the distance between their genitals and their anus.  Females hamsters have a much smaller (sometimes it seems like they have no distance) between them, and males it is farther apart.

You can see the difference here:

http://www.petwebsite.com/sexing.htm

It can be very difficult to tell if a female hamster will have babies, usually people do not know until the very last stages of pregnancy when the female will gain a lot of weight.  The gestation period for hamsters is about eighteen days (Syrians as few as 16 days, dwarves as much as 20), so if you have seen a breeding take place, just count foward 18 days and wait.

If you think your female hamster is going to have babies, please handle her very gently if you handle her at all, and be sure to not mess with her around her due date.  If you stress her out (especially if she is a first-time mother) there is a chance that she will commit infanticide and kill and eat her babies.

Also remember that Syrian and Chinese dwarf hamsters should be housed seperately, especially if one is going to have babies.