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How To Sex Baby Hamsters

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By RenaSherwood

Image you can use for comparison
Image you can use for comparison

When baby hamsters are about a month old, they can be weaned. Not only that, but baby hamsters are pretty precocious. You need to separate the brothers from the sisters or you will be ankle deep in baby hamsters before too long. This is, of course, easier said than done.

Please Pass The Microscope

One month old baby hamsters aren't even one inch long. It's hard enough to tell where they are, let alone what sex they happen to be. Unlike adult hamsters - where the sexual characteristics are amazingly obvious - the babies look virtually identical. Trying to figure out one of those Magic Eye puzzles is easier than trying to determine the sex of a baby hamster.

And baby hamsters will not be cooperative. They are live wires. They will wriggle, kick, scratch and scream bloody murder if you try to flip them on their backs and peer under their tails. They don't care about you looking at their privates - it's their bellies they are worried about. In the wild, if a hamster is flipped over on its back by a predator, it soon not a hamster any more but lunch. This instinct is well ingrained in the baby hamster.

So What Can You Do?

The least stressful way to sex a baby hamster is to beg, buy, borrow or steal a portable plastic connecting tube made for hamster cages, like Habitrail's accessories for their Safari series of Hamster products. Most of them are made in many colors. You might not be able to get a colorless tube, but even yellow will work.

Put the baby inside the tube. You may just lay it down in the cage and wait for a curious baby to waddle in. Place your hand over the entranceway. Chances are, the other end will already be blocked. Then lift the tube and baby slowly and carefully over your head. Look up. You should be able to see the underside of the hammy baby. You should see two dots. One dot is the anus and the other is the genitalia. (See image at the beginning of this article) Females have their dots close together. Males have them further apart.

You will probably have to do a lot of comparing and rechecking each hammy baby. But placing them in a tube where they don't have to be flipped over will be a lot less stress on you and the hamsters. Good luck!

These babies play in some interchangeable tubes you can use for sexing. Film by justinbarrass


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poop  says:
2 years ago

what?

Whitney05 profile image

Whitney05  says:
2 years ago

Looks good. The younger the hamster, the harder it is to tell the sex.

kim  says:
2 years ago

awww the baby hamster is soooo cute.but the baby hamsters i have r way cuter;I have 2 albinos 2 that look like the mother 2 that look like the father and one that is like all black

Hayley   says:
2 years ago

wow i don't know if i should get a hamster or a gerbil!!!

Erica Moss profile image

Erica Moss  says:
2 years ago

Ya good luck. Take my advice and get a cage or container for each. They hit puberty fast so just when you determine what sex they are, you have to start determining the next generation. They are fast.

Ana  says:
17 months ago

I'm really into hamsters! I think I wanna get a boy and a girl. my only question is... what do they mean when they say seperate the babies? How do you do that?

Whitney05 profile image

Whitney05  says:
17 months ago

When you separate the babies, that means separate them- males and females in different cages. You can leave the females with the mother, but take the males out at 3 weeks old.  You also want to separate the male after the mom gives birth, as she can become pregnant again right after the birth, and she will kill one or both of the litters as she will know she can't take care of both, which means that you want to have at least 4 cages available. Plus, you want to keep the male away from the female to begin with because you don't want her breeding if you get her as a teeny pup, it will stress out her body and can potentially cause an early death. Plus, teddy bear hamsters (if that's what you're thinking) are not compatible with living mates and should be kept singly except for a short time when the female comes into heat.

bax  says:
12 months ago

my hamster had 9 babys my mom to them is w n the dad is gray n black

amber  says:
10 months ago

hey im amber. my hamsters, milo and irene, mated alot today. i think irene will get pregnant. i have a cage for the boys when we need to separate them. do you know how long the babies will stay inside irene's belly before she gives birth to them? and by the way milo (boy) is white and an orangey color, and irene(girl) is gray.

bassam  says:
10 months ago

i have a cut Roborovski mother with 4 babeis better then all hamsters

nikki  says:
10 months ago

i like fudge

cassie  says:
10 months ago

hi im cassie and i have anawnser to your question. the babys will stay there 18 to 20 days well i gess it depends on what kind you have. i have a roborovski. and mine had 4 babies too!

to amber

laura  says:
8 months ago

hi my hamster just had babys and i dont know what to do if 1 dies how do i take it out or do i not

megan  says:
6 months ago

My hamster just had two babies, but one died :'(, the other one looks really healthy and is ssoo cute and tiny but i dont know what to call it if its a girl, out of: titchy-tina or cloud? If its a boy, out of: tiny-tim, doudly or clive? I know your strangers but i dont know what to call the baby lol :)

jazmin  says:
5 months ago

my hamster just had babys 3 weeks ago.14 babys!omg.boy or girl?hard to tell.pulling my hair out.the moms a brat too!

jazmin  says:
5 months ago

Ok laura do not take out the dead hamster.the mom will eat it as a part of nature,and tridtion

Haley  says:
4 months ago

Hey i'm Haley && my hamster had her babbies yesterday morning; she had 15 babbies!! There daddy's name is Oreo and he is a panda bear hamster; && the mother is Cookie && she is a black bear hamster. My boyfran got Oreo for me last Valentines day && i got Cookie like 3 weeks ago && as soon as i put her in the cage wif Oreo they started to mate the next day she was prego; lol && was was only about 4 or 5 days && she was huge it took her about 2 or 3 weeks to have her babbies, but it was worth the weight im am going to sell the babbies to make my money back but im going to keep one of the babbies that look like my Oreo so.. im a BUG

CRYSTAL  says:
4 months ago

my hampsters eat all her babies like a month ago and then i think the same day she got pregant and she jsut had baby ies last night and i need to know what to do am i suppost to take the male out because i woke up and he has a cut on his nose from her. does that mean he is suppost to be out of her cage?

raeanna  says:
4 months ago

wow i didnt know they were that small well i guss it would make sence

melanie arnett  says:
3 months ago

i hav just bought 2 hammies for my daughter the pet shop said they were male n female but the fight every so often wot can i do.

Elisha  says:
3 months ago

hey i need someone with alot of experiance to help me out here! i have 2 russian dwarf hamsters, 2 cages. there names are demitri and hazel. demitri is gray (black eyes) and hazel is mostly white little bit of tan, and a spot or two of black (red eyes) demitri has been trying to have sex with her for about 4 weeks now but shes just not into him, shes been eating alot and so i puut her into the bigger cage, im not sure how to tell if shes pregnant but if you can help me my email is

elisha.risinger@gmail.com

pls help!!!

katelyn  says:
3 months ago

hi my name is katelyn i want a hamster but my mom will not let me get one and i can even get one for free because my friends hamster is going to have babies an she told me i could get one how do i talk my mom in to leting me get one please respond!

fatima abam  says:
3 weeks ago

i got my hamster a month ago and got pregnant... 10 babies but she ate 8 of them... 1 of the 8 died because of getting stuck on the 2nd floor rails of the cage.now October 24 the survivor bay can now be separated ...... mating again.......

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