Males or females health wise?

[Wiglett]

Hi. When I had female hamsters in the past they always seemed to suffer urine problems towards the later part of their lives tho my male I wasn't lucky with either he got a Tumor. I was wondering are males generally healthier? Thanks.

[Mango]

Hello

I'm sorry to hear that your hamsters suffered health issues

I'm not too sure about this one as I have never had a female hamster. However, my previous male hamster, Toffee, died when he was about 1 1/2 years old. My current hamster, Sammy is 2 years old soon and going very, very strong. So really, Toffee died quite 'young' and he was male. We don't know the cause of his death.

[racinghamster]

I always try and have males if I`m honest. Females will probably have more illness due to the fact that they can get Pyometra just because they have a womb and female hormones that can cause mammary tumour growth. Males can also be prone to tumours, but these are usually in old age if they happen at all. Some species are more prone to them than others. Urinary tract infections can be bacterial or due to a high protein/calcium intake, so diet sometimes need changing as a hamster ages and doesn`t require high protein in the diet.

Generally, males will not be as prone to the same tumour or illness that females are, but their health can also depend on how they are kept and how much stress they are exposed to during their lives.

[Wiglett]

That's it! Pyametra (can't spell it) that's what Harriet had. Thanks for your advice. X