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Old 09-07-2016, 02:21 PM   #1
Vespertine
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Join Date: Aug 2016
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Question Male or Female?

Male or Female?
Excuse the dirty tail we are working on it.
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Old 09-07-2016, 03:06 PM   #2
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Male or Female?

This might help - hard to tell from the photo Why does he/she have a dirty tail by the way? Has your hammy had any diarrhoea?

If you move your mouse over the photo below, it gets bigger.

Last edited by Pebbles82; 11-26-2022 at 05:52 PM.
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Old 09-07-2016, 03:10 PM   #3
Geewhiz
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Default Re: Male or Female?

Sexing hamsters can be difficult... That certainly looks like a girl, but it's possible the testes haven't dropped yet, or sometimes they're kept, uh, internal to keep them warm.
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Old 09-07-2016, 04:11 PM   #4
Vespertine
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Default Re: Male or Female?

She was adopted as female but i've confused myself with these sexing diagrams.

I've not seen any nipples and it appears to have a small scent gland in the bellybutton area which made me think maybe it was male, but they have quite a square bottom area (with no obvious boy bumps) and to me the close spacing of the holes looks more female.

I'll try a and get a clearer photo.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
This might help - hard to tell from the photo Why does he/she have a dirty tail by the way? Has your hammy had any diarrhoea?
No 'she' is a lazy little thing that refuses to use her toilet or spend more than a few moments in the sand bath. She has a habit of peeing in things and then laying in the pee. I hadn't had the chance to wipe her.
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Old 09-07-2016, 06:15 PM   #5
Nancy's Hamsters
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Default Re: Male or Female?

That looks male to me and if it was originally in with other males I have had foster males where the adult males in with the younger males actually castrated younger males in with them from large hording situations. It could also be a male who didn't develop correctly and the testicles didn't distend into the scrotal sack when a young pup. In dog terms he would be called cryptorchid and have no visible testicles
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Old 09-08-2016, 01:17 AM   #6
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Male or Female?

With regard to the toiletting, I've found they only use a potty litter tray if you put it in the place they've chosen to pee. eg a corner of the cage. They do tend to be quite clean normally so I'm wondering if your hammy has some kind of distress or something to get dirty like that. You could tray putting the litter tray where he has chosen to pee regularly - I put chinchilla sand in the litter tray. And you could put a small piece of pee'd on substrate on top of the sand to show it's still the toilet area.

If he is peeing in his house, then having a bigger house can help. With our Syrian,when we gave him a bigger house, he moved his pee corner inside the house, in a corner at the end opposite his nest - so I moved his litter tray into the house and he only pees in his potty now. Although some hams pee in their wheels as well.

A good cheap option for a larger house is a shoebox. You can cut the bottom out of the box, and cut a hole in front for the door, and use the lid as a lift-off roof. Wait and see which end he builds his nest and put the litter tray in the other end. I have a hamster sized litter tray which seems to fit easily in most houses that are shoebox size. (Linked below).

If what Nancy says is the case then that is sad, and he may have had some trauma,so lots of tlc and patience with him. But I guess it's possible he is still young and they're not noticeable yet. How old is he?

They are usually very clean and wash a lot so him having a soiled bum area isn't really that normal I think. The other thing that might help is the type and depth of substrate. Paper based substrates like Fitch in the Uk, or wood pulp substrates like Carefresh are popular and also non allergenic (some hamsters get allergies to some wood beddings).

But if he is sitting in his pee area, maybe he has some pain or discomfort. And if he has been castrated, this may be causing physical discomfort as well as distress - it might be worth a vet visit to have a checkover and they can give some pain relief medication if they think he has been castrated - and advice as well. Do you have a pet carrier.

Poor little guy - if he is a guy. Maybe try and distract him by a bit of scatter feeding - they love foraging for food. I tend to put half the usual amount of hamster mix in the food bowl and scatter the other half round on the substrate. You could also "hide" a treat or two in different places in the cage for him to find.
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Old 09-08-2016, 04:12 PM   #7
Vespertine
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Default Re: Male or Female?

She/he is over 12 months old and a little cuddle bug whose favorite place is cuddled up on my lap getting her (i'm calling her her because it's what i'm used to saying) ears played with or sitting on peoples shoulders watching the world go by. It's taken only 6 weeks for her to wander over to me snuggle up and fall fast asleep so she's very trusting and doesn't seem in pain or stressed, they really don't like being touched in the tail area though or letting people look underneath them.

I couldn't tell you if they were housed with other males they were alone when I got them. The idea of the testicles not distending properly is an interesting thought and the more I think about it the more convinced I become that that's what has happened. They are a P&H ham and not from a breeder so who really knows how mixed up the genes are.

When it comes to the peeing she has chosen a corner for her litter tray and if she is awake and can be bothered she will use it the problem happens if she has been sleeping and needs to go. What she does is burrow right to the bottom of her cage under all the carefresh substate onto the plastic and sleep (this is her preferred sleeping place right now despite having a hut, house & box to sleep in), if she wakes up and needs the toilet she can't be bothered to tunnel out again so takes just a few steps forward pees on the plastic which makes her bottom wet and then takes a few steps back to her sleeping place and nods off again. Is there something absorbent that you can think of that I can lay under the substrate and that she won't be able to burrow under?
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Old 09-09-2016, 12:34 AM   #8
cypher
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Default Re: Male or Female?

If s/he (looks more male to me tbh but I'm often wrong ) always burrows down in the same place to sleep then I would find a small tray/container put chinchilla sand in it & put that under the substrate close to the sleeping spot, I usually find if there is something close enough they will use it & have no problem finding it under the substrate.
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