Help needed to determine the gender of my two Chinese hamsters

[PusheenFan]

Urgent help needed!

I bought 2 female Chinese hamsters from Petco 6 weeks ago, they have been living together happily and sleeping together in the same hideout within a 20 gallons long. Starting last week, at night, watching them from the petcam on my cell phone, I see one keeps chasing another. No sound from any of them. Last night, I finally came down to see them up-close and saw one was chasing the other non-stopped to mate. I separated them for the night and put them back together this morning.

I understand the pet-store could have mixed up their gender since they were so small 6 weeks ago, can someone please tell me from the pictures if I have a boy and a girl or two boys? I really don't want to have a litter in 15 to 22 days or need to separate them into two habitat

Thank you.

[souffle]

I've checked with one of our experienced Chinese breeders and FurBall is female. Spinney is likely also female though less obviously so. Males normally have very obvious testicles by this age in Chinese. I think they can mate as a dominance gesture. I would separate these two now as two females will fight to the death. It's not pretty

[minijeva]

chinese hamsters cant live together as they are solitery and will eventulay fight

[PusheenFan]

Thank you both for your quick replies, I truly appreciate your help.

I will go buy another 20 gallons long to house them individually, I have separated them and one of them is now in a big plastic bin. I am so sad that I cannot have 2 of them living together. I wanted to get 2 female Robos originally but the staff at Petco told me to get Chinese hamsters instead, he told me the wrong info that they could live together peacefully if coming from the same litter, also they are easier to tame for beginners and not as fast as Robos.

So does it mean female hamsters can mate as a dominance gesture, it was FurBall trying to mate with Spinney. She really fooled me as male with her actions last night. She would not let Spinney go and was constantly chasing her and got onto her back. Spinney just wanted to do her usual activity like running on wheels and eating.

[souffle]

There are some good reference pics here. Male Chinese hamsters have huge unmistakable testicles. Sexing Chinese Hamsters
It sounds more like she may have been harassing the other one and trying to get at the vulnerable neck area and if she overturned her she would bite at the genitals too.
This is very common at this age when their hormones kick in. Remember two same sex animals living together is not a normal situation for animals of most types once they become mature.
I think you have made the right choice and won't need to worry about them fighting. Remember no play date or anything either as they are loners now and will be quite happy this way. They will likely become more people friendly now too. Chinese are quite easy to tame and they tend to be quite placid and easy to handle. The pet store was correct in at least that! Robos are much more tricky to handle and very fast too. They can also fight when the mature. Vectis has some taming tips on her site too
Vectis Hamstery and Exotics - Handling Hamsters

[PusheenFan]

Thank you for the info, wow, they are definitely female hamsters without doubts. I have uploaded a very short clip of the petcam videos taken from last night. FurBall chasing Spinney Video (The camera had a wrong time on it, it was way past midnight) So sad about this new behavior change as they have always been cuddling and sleeping together for the past 6 weeks. (even with multiple hideouts in the housing)

They are people friendly now, they used to hide and get very scared. We play with them every night, they would eat treats and sometimes come to our hands.

Thank you again for your help, Souffle

[souffle]

I'd say the video shows her trying to overturn the slightly smaller one pusheen. Good for you on being so observant. You made the right call here and have them safe before any damage was done. Hope we will hear more about them in the future

[Fluffagrams]

Originally Posted by PusheenFan

I am so sad that I cannot have 2 of them living together. I wanted to get 2 female Robos originally but the staff at Petco told me to get Chinese hamsters instead, he told me the wrong info that they could live together peacefully if coming from the same litter, also they are easier to tame for beginners and not as fast as Robos.

Unfortunately it's a rather common story where pet shops are concerned... I think that sometimes it's a case of them not knowing much about how the species differs from the other 'dwarf' hamsters. In my experience, most Chinese are solitary and will usually fall out at some point.

I was told a similar thing by a pet shop when I got my first Chinese several years ago and whilst they lived together nicely for about six months, they had a fight one day out of the blue and although we were lucky enough to avoid the worst case scenario, one of the pair was scarred for life.

Originally Posted by PusheenFan

So does it mean female hamsters can mate as a dominance gesture, it was FurBall trying to mate with Spinney. She really fooled me as male with her actions last night. She would not let Spinney go and was constantly chasing her and got onto her back. Spinney just wanted to do her usual activity like running on wheels and eating.

It's not mating as such but the chasing and the behaviours you describe can occur in fights. Chinese often go for the faces, ears, paws and tail area in fights and sometimes it does seem like just one of them is the aggravator.
You've done the right thing by separating them and after a while they will adjust to living on their own.

I will say though, that although Chinese are often not very loving with each other, they can be very loving with their humans. The majority of mine have been very easy to tame and placid with handling.