Is our new hamster pregnant?

[Puffle123]

Hi all, I'm new here. We bought a female syrian hamster from a pet shop 3 days ago and I'm wondering if she's pregnant..purely because she's quite a big girl considering they said she's 10-12 weeks old? What do you think?

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[hrl20100]

Hamsters grow incredibly quickly. By the time they are 10=12 weeks old they are pretty much fully grown. She looks about the same size as Flump did when I got her and she was 12 weeks old.

[Puffle123]

Originally Posted by hrl20100

Hamsters grow incredibly quickly. By the time they are 10=12 weeks old they are pretty much fully grown. She looks about the same size as Flump did when I got her and she was 12 weeks old.

Ah ok thank you..our last one wasn't this big even when he was 2! 😂

[Shannonmcn]

You can never be too careful, pet shops aren't always great at sexing and oops litters happen all the time because a boy found his way into the girls tank.

The gestation period is 16 days so once she's past that you know you're in the clear. If she is pregnant, she will start to look "pear shaped" and might start building a big nest to prep for pups. If you notice her getting bigger you can start feeding her nice protein-rich foods like boiled or scrambled egg or plain chicken or mealworms and give her lots of bedding. There are plenty of great breeders on here who can advise you on what to do if she is expecting, so it will be awkward and a bit stressful but you'll both get through it okay

[Puffle123]

Thank you, I guess I need to wait and see. As she's new to us she's really jumpy and scared so I can't handle her to check..she bit the girl in the pet shop..oops! When she first came home she was on her wheel lots but over the last couple of days she's just in her house. I can just about tempt her head out for treats.

[Bertiebobbins]

Hamsters come in different sizes, even though pet shop hams tend to be on the smaller side. Both mine were bigger than that at 12 weeks! Also, she might be benefitting from better access to food now she's on her own with you, and they really do grow very quickly when they're young, I've noticed mine have grown significantly overnight at times! And they do keep growing fast after 10-12 weeks, mine didn't slow down their growth until about 16 weeks at which point their growth slowed but still hasn't stopped.

[racinghamster]

It will be a waiting game really but if she hasn`t had any babies in the next 20 days or so since you bought her, I imagine there won`t be any. Make sure her accessories are big enough as Syrians need larger accessories. Her bed/nest area should ideally be the size of a shoe box turned upside down so she can dig into the shavings below. Just cut a few doors into the box as entry/exits. Toilet roll tubes are too narrow. The larger Chube tubes are a wider size.

She does look big for her age. Was she alone in the tank at the pet shop or housed with other Syrians? x

[Puffle123]

Originally Posted by racinghamster

It will be a waiting game really but if she hasn`t had any babies in the next 20 days or so since you bought her, I imagine there won`t be any. Make sure her accessories are big enough as Syrians need larger accessories. Her bed/nest area should ideally be the size of a shoe box turned upside down so she can dig into the shavings below. Just cut a few doors into the box as entry/exits. Toilet roll tubes are too narrow. The larger Chube tubes are a wider size.

She does look big for her age. Was she alone in the tank at the pet shop or housed with other Syrians? x

She was on her own, but we also saw her the day before and there were others in with her then (it was labelled as females), so they'd obviously been sold. However..the tank next to her which had the younger hammies in, were mixed sex.

She is much bigger than our last one, so we have got her a bigger house and I've just ordered a bigger wheel too. I'm actually thinking I might look into a larger cage/tank too if she's going to carry on growing!

It's a shame we can't handle her to have a good look..

[racinghamster]

I`m sure she`s pleased to be in a nice home! Pregnant mice and hamsters usually look very pear-shaped when they are in the final week of a pregnancy, so looking down on her from above, if her body shape stays the same, chances are she will be okay. If she gets fatter around the abdomen, looking as though she`s swallowed a tennis ball, then yes, she could be carrying babies. But watch her weight for any sudden changes. x

[Puffle123]

Thanks for your help..I'll keep a close eye on her!