Buying a non sexed hamster baby off of Gumtree

Nadia · 04-21-2018, 02:31 AM

Hi, i have been trying to search for breeders locally near me to no avail. I am looking for a lone syrian. Finally i came across a ad on Gumtree about 10mins walk away from me.
He is not a breeder, His hamster had a litter, he has 2 babies at 9weeks of age left. They are feeding and drinking on their own. But hes not sure what sex they are. (Does sex make a difference on a newbie owner?)
Would you recommend me to chance it on Gumtree as they both look sooooo adorable than the ones my local Pets at Home have. The fur colour on his syrians looks so vibrant rather than the dull orange and greys i saw at the shop.

bry · 04-21-2018, 02:46 AM

it doesnt matter if you get a boy or a girl, how you care for them is the same

i would say go for it if you love them so much

Coco61 · 04-21-2018, 03:37 AM

Hi Nadia, As a Londoner I keep an eye on hamsters that need rehoming on Gumtree too!
I picked up a baby boy from a breeder only a week ago. He is only 7 and half weeks old now. But he is obviously male. If you look at his thread 'Maestro is here!'on the Syrian hamster section, you will see a photo I took of him only last night sitting on my hand. Have a look at his tail area and you will see what I mean. So at 9 weeks old, a boy should be easily identifiable!

Nadia · 04-21-2018, 04:10 AM

Thank you bry.

Thank you for replying Coco61.
Hopefully when i go to see them (if they are still there) next week i can easily identify them.
Your little Maestro is very adorable! I really hope the one i get is not a naughty one.

SimonandSyril · 04-21-2018, 04:28 AM

As bry said the care is exactly the same but personalities can vary more with gender. Typically males are more calm and better for newbies and females are more energetic and attention seeking. But this is only a majority as you can get males that are energetic and females who are calm also.

SKB_Hamsters · 04-21-2018, 04:43 AM

Sex doesn’t make difference really however as you mentioned in your other post that you have a toddler a male might be a better option than a female as males are more likely to be relaxed and chilled out so will be easeier to be handled by your children.

If you can identify a male out of the hamsters I would also chose that one as if the owner can’t sex them if you get a female there could be a chance it might be pregnant if not kept separate from the males. So like Coco61 says boys are easily to identify.

Pebbles82 · 04-21-2018, 05:53 AM

I would say definitely get the male because if they haven't been sexed and are still living together at 9 and a half weeks there is a risk of pregnancy in the female (I think - Souffle may know!). Some males don't show as much at a younger age but by 9 and a half weeks they should show a different shaped back end. The male's back end is sort of longer like an oval shape. A female will have a very round back end. The longer oval shape of the male is due to the testicles underneath which are usually retracted inside so don't show much except when they're very warm and relaxed and then they can protrude (the first time I saw this I thought our hamster had an abscess as they look like a reddish lump!

I don't think the owner should rehome the female until she has been on pregnancy watch for a period of time.

Some pictures here showing the difference between male and female syrians

You might need to pick one up and look underneath if it isn't obvious from the shape of the back end.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ma...w=1366&bih=603

Nadia · 04-21-2018, 06:48 AM

That is my main worry. What if i pick out the female (im no sexin expert) and bring home a pregnant one. Would it be wrong of me to ask the owner to send me pocs of both hamsters fronts? Maybe i can post it here and someone can help identify for me.

SimonandSyril · 04-21-2018, 08:23 AM

Maybe when you get to the owner just give them a quick check underneath (it would be easiest if you brought a clear dish with you so you can just put them in their and look under the clear dish) Look out for nipples as that is the easiest way to see if they are female. Any nipples then they are female.

Pebbles82 · 04-21-2018, 08:30 AM

That might be an idea to ask him to send photos of the rear ends of both hamsters! Because if he hasn't been able to sex them then maybe they are both girls (or both boys). I think once you go and see them you will want one and would be going with a pet carrier to bring one home, so maybe best to ask for photos first. I would be diplomatic though and just say you would like photos to help sex them and choose which one.

I've attached some photos of our male Syrian when he was only 7 or 8 weeks old and you can see the extra lump/protruding part at the back end - almost torpedo shape at the back. Females don't have that - they just look rounded.

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