Heya Everyone, so i'm having syrian hamster trouble, well not so much trouble. Just i've suddenly started wondering if my hamster is infact a girl.

See coz he's lovely but today i was playing with him and on his chest saw these marks which kinda looked like nipples so i thought i'd double check to make sure he's a boy. However i did some research and i'm having trouble telling. Are the reproductive organ and the anus obviously far apart in males? I'm sure it would be so much easier if JD (the hamster) wasnt so wriggly.

Also he's gotten into the habbit of chewing his cage, and is very persistant even if i put things in the way of the place he chews he still manages to move the objects. He's got things in his cage for him to chew on so i'm really not sure why he does it. Any ideas?

Thirdly. One time i took him outside and it seems afterwards his chin was all damp afterwards, at first i thought he had gotten a bald patch but it was just coz his fur wasnt so puffy when damp. And i'm curious as to why this happens? It was a lovely warm day. Also should i take my hamster outside? or is it a bad idea? i was supervising him at all times.

Last question (sorry there's a few) JD hangs upside down from the bars at the top of his cage (its like an enclosed plastic one with a bar ceiling bit) does anyone elses hamster do this?

Ok all my questions asked

Thanks

Jagzy Girl

XoX

I used to own 2 syrian hamsters (not at the same time!). Hanging from the bars of the cage upside down is perfectly normal for syrian hamsters as they're climbers. I'm not sure about it being a girl though. And as syrians aren't mainly sociable animals is "he" living on his own? If so would it matter? But I suppose it's still good to be curious. I think checking online how to sex your hamster might do the trick. It tells you what the male and female bits look like. And also with the chewing on his cage I do think that's normal. Well mine used to do it unless he was a crazy But you should post some of your pictures of him and show us   Oh and also with the chewing on things maybe his teeth are growing faster or something; I really don't know but maybe that's the case; and he needs to gnaw on different things
I'm not an expert though; lol; but still check online how to sex hamsters if you're still unsure of "him".

Also I've just remembered; I think the male has a huge scent gland going down his belly. I'm not sure if that's male/female or dwarf/syrian. But if the people in the shop sold him to you as a boy they're 99.9% right  
Other people's suggestions may change your mind  

Yeah he lives by himself, had him about 6 weeks now and he's really really great and i love him to pieces. He's never bitten me once. I know his genders not really a big deal, it's really just curiousity. The only problem with him chewing his cage is that im worried he'll chew a hole in it which wouldnt be too great as i do have dogs so i'd be worried in case anything happened. Glad his hanging upsidedown is normal, because it really is so so funny.  i still think its possible he's a girl though, will get pics up when i figure out how to.

Jagzy Girl

XoX

I went to a web site called `Ask jeeves` and typed in `how to tell the gender of a hampster`.
The will be quite a few question and answer web sites that you can use to find the information you are looking for and they are all quite detailed.
It will be easier for you to do that than for me to type loads and loads of detail.
You are both on the right lines though.
When my children had hampsters we worked on the premis that male hampsters were more elongated and triangular at the back, because thats where they store their `bits` and female hamsters are more rounded.
Good luck. Either way I am sure you will enjoy your hampster as a pet.

Lorna

Yeah I guess it is funny when they hang upside down haha!!   And yeah it is curiosity that you want to know if he's a boy or actually a girl. But I'm sure if you look into it more you'll soon find out. But I don't think he'd be able to chew his way out. And if he was you'd start to see bite marks or even a hole. And I don't think he'd be able to chew his way out in one night whilst you're sleeping so I wouldn't really worry Although I had mine last year so whether the Syrians minds have changed I don't know But good luck with finding out  
And to upload your pic you just send it to your computer + then when you post a messege you upload a file or something? You'll find it  

well there are marks on his cage see its made of plastic but i wont worry til theres a hole and i'll keep my eye on it right lets see if this works



There's JD that was the day i got him

Oh my god!! He is absaloutley adorable!! And yeah keep your eye out for any holes but I'm sure he won't actually bite through it    It looks like he has a leg missing on that picture too. Does he?

YaY it worked

And here he is as a Spider Hamster



And as a Sleeve Hamster

Oh my goddd he is so cute!! And I see what you mean about his cage being plastic. I'm positive he won't chew a hole in that now. I thought it was bars on the side and he was chewing them

Haha thanks for the reasurance, i wont worry about it then. Did your hamsters ever when you gave them food from your hands take it and then put it in the pile where all the other food is? Coz JD does that. Also what kind of foods did your hamsters like? I try to give him a varied diet you see. Mine absolutely loves dried bananas! Also he recognises when im by the cage, like he comes up to the platform by the top if say he's running about on the ground floor. And lastly Do you think i should get some rope to hang from the top for him to climb?

Well I used to own 2 syrian hamsters like I said but they passed away a long time ago  
But I only ever fed them the normal food. But also; I used to own 10 dwarf hamsters last May I think it was. I bought two "males"; ending up one was a girl and she had 2 litters. But I've heard of people giving them dried bananas before - they must really like them hehe!! But when they take it from your hand and put it in a pile; I think that's something to do with hibernating? As they come out at night (don't they? ) and he must want to hide them away and save them for later or something. I'm sure that's what they do But I don't know about rope though; it would have to be a pretty small rope - but you could try it! Your hamster seems very friendly  
And your dogs are so cute  

Awww shame about your hamsters two of my chickens died today was so sad.

a tiny rope lol wonder where i can get that, i just try to make things as diverse as possible. Wow baby hamsters though, thats really cool. I didnt wanna get dwarfs to start off with just coz i know they're pretty quick and i reckoned a syrian would be easiest to start off with. But i feed him all sorts because in the wild they're omnivores, i've been told they love mealworms. But he's had egg lettuce chicken apple yellow peppers carrot tomato and water cress before. just to supplement his diet along with his hamster museli. But i always check the net coz i know some things like i think kidney beans can be dangerous for hamsters and i wouldnt wanna accidentally hurt him at all but he seems happy enough

Hamsters are omnivores by nature yes, they enjoy a varied diet which includes meat protein like meal worms.

To me, the upside down pic shows no obvious man parts, he/she may well be young but you say you have had JD 6 weeks which means at the very least he is 10 - 12 weeks old, and at 3+ months boys bits would be seen and very obvious. Can you get a pic of him from above showing his bottom? Male Hamsters have a very distinctive pointed rear end, unlike females who are more rounded  

I'll see what i can do. Gonna wait til he/she wakes up though. See i reckon hes actually a girl, but im not 100% sure. Plus the only camera i got is my phone one, it's pretty decent though. We'll have to wait and see. Thanks for all the help though

Welcome Jagzy girl. Cutie hammie. The dirible might just be where he is chewing the bars- and less hair. Keep a eye on it to make sure he gets no worse. They are really great photos. I love the upside down one. I am sure it would take ages to nibble a hole in the cage too! Lorna (another 1)

Yeah i did, and he seems absolutely fine, turns out my cousins hamster had the same thing when he went outside, maybe from the humidity or something, but i dont think it's anything to worry about. The good news is he seems to have stopped chewing his cage and started chewing the end of his water bottle, which incidentally is made of metal so i dont think theres any real damage to be done. Gonna buy him a few more chewy things though just to keep him happy.

Oooh thought of another question. Are male hamsters bigger than females?

No I think females are that bit bigger. I had massive girl called Phobe once.

Syrian females are the largest  

Yeah it's definitely the females who are bigger I've just checked the internet

Quoted from Rachael_will_x

Syrian females are the largest  

Snap! we must have put the post in at the same time lol!

Haha ok coz my cousins hamster monty is like MASSIVE!!! And he's a boy, so i was thinking if mine was infact a girl him being smalled may be an indication. Seems not though, so it shall remain a mystery until i can get a photo up.

Quoted from Cat cuddler

Snap! we must have put the post in at the same time lol!

LOL I just noticed that actually !

http://www.animalloversweb.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1246990659/ Heres a post from a month or so ago... May help.

Ok got some pics. So maybe someone can confirm it for me. Felt really guilty for holding him on his back but he wasnt too squirmy coz he'd just woken up. Poor JD.

So you can see he/she has quite a long tail.



Sorry this 2nd pic may be kinda blurry, he wriggled

Wow. Seeing that now I think it may be a girl. But check with Lorna she may know  

I am sorry that looks like a girl to me...

I have not had one for two years now though. Dont have one to pick up and look at as a refresher!

Ok I definitely think thats a girl. Because I think the males have a large scent gland down their belly and you can see where "he" has the female bits. I think JD is a girl  

yeah i thought so too, but then was told at the pet shop she was a boy, thus why i got so confused!!! Seeing as JD stands for Jack Daniels she's got a bit of a boyish name but i dont wanna change it. Ah i'm gonna have to get used to calling him a her now. Lol!

Aw. It could stand for Jacqueline Danielle?   Lol. Congratulations on your new baby girl hamster  
Pet shops are normally wrong anyway. Happened to me with my dwarfies  

did you end up with baby dwarfys? coz they are so cute!

Yeah I did. My friend came around and she wanted to see them both so I got them out and there was a little pink thing on her. So I was like is that food or what? Turns out it was a baby!! I looked back in the cage and there was 5 other little pinkies! There was 6 but we think 2 died We split the father from them thinking it was a good idea though and she was panicking and everything. Afterwards we researched and found out the father helped! After the babies were about a week and a half we separated the daddy but it was for the good
Then she had ANOTHER litter.. but all was good. We didn't keep any though. A few months later the mother; Ted died and a couple of months after that so did the father Flump. But we buried them hehe

Sounds crazy! I think i'd end up paniccing if JD suddenly unleashed a load of babies on me. Fortunately the pet shop i went to had each Syrian in a separate cage so other than telling me it was a boy was a really good place. Would have thought Pets at Home would know though. Ah well.

He looks to be most definatly a She   lol if she is named JD after scrubs then i guess she can keep her name  


Rachael_will_x

Only dwarf hamsters have scent glands down their tummies (and gerbils :p), both male and female syrians have them on their hips - they can look more predominant when they are marking territory though.

Oh no nightmare happens a lot. JD's not so bad for a girl. Does happen a lot- least she was not preg if she was with boys! We thought our cat Mika was a boy- think the name works for ether. Our vet told us she was a girl, thought they differed did not want to annoy them to much being new kittens.

Hi I have female syrian called Holly shes 2yrs and 3 months and you can see her boobies some times so we know shes a girl, but we bought a syrian baby in april called Rainbow it was about 6 to 8 weeks but they never said what sex it is we have been trying to look but its not easy because its not as tame as holly so we are not sure but from your pictures I think rainbow maybe a boy. As for the hanging up sidedown mine do it and the chewing mine also do it but Rainbow has bitten a great big chunk out of the shelf that he walks on its so big he climbs up and down it he has things to play with but still bites the shelf  

Well JD turned out to be a girl so what can you do, she's staying as JD though, the little monster. Will just have to get used to calling him a her. No that it really matters in the whole scheme of things as she really is such an adorably well behaved hamster. Glad i managed to get help from you lot though because i was so confused. Just coz she looked like a girl, but i'd been told she was a boy. So i got toally muddled!

Yes know what you mean. You trust the petstore. And its pets at home- they train staff! Not good.

Very cute little hamster! S/he sounds quite normal to me. I would be careful of putting in a rope. Your hamster could accidently hang herself. It is not worth the risk. She is climbing to the top anyhow so she doesn't need it.

Hamsters are very hard to sex. How old is your hamster? If you have a male it hasn't developed much as a male. That could be a female. Of course if s/he is still quite young then you might need to wait and see what developes or doesn't develop. One of our syrian breeders should be able to tell. I have dwarfies and they are very tricky.

At any rate have fun with your hamster, you have a very special little pet.

Congrats on your little girl

She's 15 weeks old so i'm thinking thats probably old enough to be fully develloped. Still gonna call her JD though, maybe spelt Jadey though coz that's more feminine. Seems so odd to have to think of her as a girl now though. Ahh well shes still super mischievous!

If she is 15 weeks then you must have a girl. A male would look more developed as a male by now. Gender is a big issue to us, but I think your hamster won't care what you call her. She is more interseted in how kind your voice sounds and how well you care for her. JD is still a cute name.

Yeah, she's really great with me, never bitten anyone, she'll come to the top part of her cage to get picked up. She used to be more nervous with other people prob coz they smelt different and she's used to me, but now shes fine with everyone.

She sounds a real sweetie. I only had one like that, even then I think I was lucky.

Yeah i was really surprised how easy she was to tame, because i'd read things saying it might take a while to tame a hamster. But i've never had any trouble at all with her. She's my first hamster so I think i'm pretty lucky to get such a sweet and social little creature.

Aw. JD is really a cutie! Ive only ever had dwarfies so i dont know much about syrians. but then i read threads on them and found out so much about them! If only everyone could have been so lucky with such a tame hammie...