Fat Hampster???

Question
Hi,

 I bought a regular short haired hampster at a pet store exactly 21 days ago and was told she was female and she was rather plump at purchase time and the clerk said she was big bcz she was 6 months old....but ive noticed since i have had her that shes gotten very much more wider and fatter...ive researched pregnancy and read it only is for 16 days and ive had her for 21...can there be anyway possible she is pregnant but just overdue in giving birth? and if thats not possible is there anything i can do to slim her down bcz shes really fat and never exersices and eats constantly and sleeps?....im comparing her to the other female i purchased that same night and that female is very active and regular size...any help u can give me would be really appreciated...thank you.

Answer
heya,
Theres no chance she could be pregnant,as you said hamsters are pregnant for 16 days, and they never go overdue.
 Sounds like she needs a bit more exercise to me! does she have a wheel? if not its best to get her one, they are the best source of exercise for a hamster. secondly, get her out more and play with her, being stuck in a cage is no fun, and not big enough to run around in.
  Another idea would be to get a ball, that way you hardly have to watch the hamster while shes running about, and she gets plenty of exercise. its important you don't keep her in there for longer than 20 minutes at a time, becuase she'll need to drink. but you can do that twice a day if you want to.
  check her diet, if you're giving her treats, don't for a while, hamsters store food rather than eat too much,so don't change the amount you're feeding her.Chances are its the exercise thats the problem, you're just gonna have to encourage her a little in that :-)
i hope this helps,
Suzi
p.s  my hamster site is great www.angelfire.com/jazz/suzibabes