dwarf hamster questions

Question
I have promised a friend I would adopt one of her baby dwarf hamsters when they get big enough to be weaned.    I did not want to take more than one because I do not wish to have babies.     I went to PetsMart this weekend and bought a "Down Under" cage that is appropriate for the dwarf hamster size.     It has a wheel,  two levels,  water and feeding area,  and I purchased what the pet store rep. told me was the best bedding (he said not to get certain kinds of wood chips due to repiratory problems.)    I did not buy wet tail stuff because I did not know how common that might be - the ones my friend has at school have never had it.

Anyway,  I think I am pretty well prepared to be a dwarf hamster owner,  but I am wondering when they should be old enough to wean.   I know they are  not yet,  they were just born last Thurs.,  and they have no hair yet.   

Also,   do you know about how to tell what sex they are?    I would take 2 of them if I could be certain I would not have babies!     

Do you have any advice I may not have heard at the pet store?

Thank you.
Mari

Answer
Dear Mari,
thank you for your question.
I recommend taking only one of the babies since all dwarf hamsters are solitary animals. It's a myth that they can be kept in pairs or groups, it's almost always stressful for one or all of the animals, especially when they grow older.
Dwarf hamsters should be seperated from their mother at the age of 26/27 days. They are weaned earlier, but should stay with their mother a bit longer to learn from her. They can breed at an age of around 32-42 days.
It's very hard to tell the sex of a young hamster. Here are pictures and a description how to sex them:
http://www.petwebsite.com/sexing.htm

I don't think you will need wet tail medicine. I never had it with my hamsters. It might be a good idea to start feeding your hamster only small amounts of vegetables if he didn't get much while growing up, but hamsters that were fed normally won't have any problems when being fed veggies and fruit. However, dwarf hamsters are suspectible to diabetes. Avoid food that contains sugar (for example Vitakraft and almost all hamster treats) and avoid fruit. You can feed such things like raisins, apple, banana ect. to your hamster but only as a treat.

Is this the cage you bought for the hamster?
http://shop.petsmart.com/product/2534374302023695/2534374302026380/8455244418078...
If it is, I must say that it is far too small even for a dwarf hamster. They are immensly active and love to dig. Dwarf hamsters are best housed in a tank, measuring at least 2x1x1 ft (length/width/height). The only problem is that you reach into the tank from above which mean sdanger ot small animals (predators always come from above for them), but if you reach into the tank at the far side where the hamster doesn't sit, that's not a big deal.
There should be no plastic in the cage since it can be chewed and swallowed, hurting the hamster's cheek puches or guts or even killing him.

You will need a sand bath, filled with sand for chinchillas/degus (it's finer than normal sand(bird gravel). Some dwarf hamsters use them as a toilet, but if you offer two baths then will usually accept one of them as bath and the other one as toilet (which makes cleaning the cage a lot easier).

They don't need a wheel but if you want to offer one, I recommend the Wodent Wheel. It's safe and big enough for the hamster. Most other wheels are too small for all hamsters and the hamster can break his legs in the wheel's open surface. You can get the wheel here:
http://www.transoniq.com/
or order it at a local petshop.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer