confused!! newbie

[fern]

well we have had a pair of dwarf hamsters for a few months now.. and we are complete novices

i had a look and think they are possibly male and female, does anyone have pictures of winter whites at this time of the year? and good pictures that show both male and female bits. there have been no babies in this time :S

were not sure if these are deffinatly winter whites. we got them from a friend who didnt want them.

i know hardly anything so any help pleaseee!

x

[ad36]

I am no expert but if you click the Wiki tab on the top of the Hamster Central page, you can find a link to sexing hamsters with some photos that may help. If you are able too, try posting some photos of your hamsters because there are lots of more experienced owners on the site that will be able to help you if the photos are nice and clear. Hope this helps a little.

[souffle]

Hi fern and welcome. Hamsters can be very hard to sex especially dwarfs who are small and wriggly.
There are some piccies here
http://www.hamstercentral.com/wiki/Tell ... _female%3F
and here
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=230

If you can post pics of your hammies we might be able to tell you what they are. On the Wiki there is also a section for each type and if you look around the previous posts there are quitea few pics of different colours. If you cannot sex your pair at least try and establish is they are both the same underneath. If they are very different you would be best separating as breeding siblings is a bad idea and once they start they will have many, many babies which is not good for you or the mother. The males usually have a much more noticable scent gland on the tummy where the tummy button would be. It can look quite yellowy and stain the fur in a mature male. Have you seen them mate? Even same sex pairs will 'mate' as it is a dominance thing but with a male and female the male is likely to pursue the female and persist in his attempts when she is in season. Dwarf hamsters mate immediatly after the female gives birth so she will be pregnant again straight away should you leave a male in with her. Try and get some piccies for us to look at.

[fern]

they are deffinately male and female, we have had them both about a month and previous owners had them a couple of months before, we see the boy humping the girl quite often but nothing has happened yet :S

[souffle]

I think you should separate them fern. It is only a matter of time before she will conceive and if he is her brother there could be genetic problems with the babies. Even if you do let them stay together you will need to separate them sooner or later or else you will be overun with babies and she will become very run down. What colour are they? If you have a campbell and a ww they can interbreed but it is a very bad idea as the hybrids produced can have major health problems. If she is already pregnant you should feed her well and prepare for a litter. You could then let her stay with a daughter and try and introduce a male to the father for company. Many winter whites need separated anyway and they are quite happy alone so don't worry on that account.