pregnant chinese dwarf hamster, I think

Question
-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
My daughter has two chinese dwarf hamsters.  We were told they were both males, but now I'm not sure.  What does a hamster look like when they get pregnant?  Do they get big between their tail and their hind legs?  This past Friday, they got into a fight, where the one was bleeding. They haven't gotten into another fight since, but the one who has a bulge in the back is very busy.  I noticed that there is now a mound of wood chips underneath the water bottle.  Could it be pregnant?  If so, the pet store told us we do not need to separate them.  Anything else to look for?
Answer -
Sue,
 Before i answer this, look at the base of the tails of the hamster. If there is a large bulge then they are males. Let me know if they aren't and i can answer your question from there.


Blake

Well, one of them has a really big bulge at the base of the tail.  That's the one I was thinking was pregnant, but maybe that's the male.  Pretty sure that's the one that bit the other one that's been acting really wild.  The other one does not have as huge a bulge as the other one.  Maybe that's a female. The one with the huge bulge is bigger than the other one.

Sue

Answer
Ya, it sounds like you have a mating pair, but the one with the buldge is the male. You may have seen him building the nest if she is pregnant as the males do help but i would remove him before she has babies as he may eat them. If she is pregnant, you may notice barely anything besides her getting larger. The average length or pregnancy is 16 days so i would watch her very closely for the next few days and see if she shows any signs. Good luck, make sure she gets extra food and constant water and let me know what happens in a few days with her.

Blake