How to determine the sex of a hamster and distinguish a boy from a girl, males and females of the Dzungarian and Syrian breeds

Often, sellers in a pet store have no idea how to distinguish a hamster boy from a girl, and sometimes they are deliberately cunning in order to sell an “overstayed” animal. When purchasing a rodent, you need to know how to determine the sex of a hamster. It is even more important to be able to do this for those who breed hamsters at home. Not only in order to avoid incidents with the mating of same-sex animals, but also in order to timely divide the offspring – little Dzungaria or Syrians.

Inspection technique

To determine the sex of a hamster, you need to look at the genitals of the animal. You need to take it in your hands correctly, if a tiny rodent wriggles in panic, there will be no use from the inspection. The hamster is taken in the palm of your hand, held in a thumb ring so that the back half of the body hangs freely. If necessary, the animal is gently supported from below with the other hand.

You can not lift the hamster by the scruff, turn over on his back. In doubtful cases, you can ask the assistant to take a photo and release the pet as soon as possible in order to avoid severe stress.

Sexual characteristics in hamsters

Inexperienced hamster breeders first of all look to see if the animal has testes. This approach often leads to erroneous conclusions, especially if you want to determine the sex of the Djungarian hamster: the genitals are too small. In young animals, they are not fully developed, and it is necessary to seat heterosexual hamsters in different cages no later than at the age of 4 weeks in order to avoid inbreeding and unwanted offspring. Our article on determining the age of a hamster will help you find out how many weeks your baby is. It is also impossible to exclude cases when the testicles do not descend into the scrotum, but remain in the abdominal cavity, and are completely invisible (cryptorchidism).

If the testicles are clearly visible, there is no doubt that the hamster is a male. Convex formations of an almond-shaped form in the perineum can be distinguished at the age of 35-40 days. With age, the testicles increase significantly in size, and it is no longer difficult to determine the sex of an adult Syrian hamster.

A reliable sign by which it is possible to distinguish a female from a male already at the age of 3-4 weeks is the location of the urethra relative to the anus. The male has a distance between the holes, covered with wool. In an adult Syrian hamster, the gap is 1-1,5 cm, in young animals it is about 0,5 cm. In a female, the vagina is located almost close to the anus, hair does not grow between them, and a characteristic “bald patch” is formed. The structure of the organs is difficult to understand in dwarf hamsters due to their small size, if you can’t find the urogenital opening at all, you have a jungarik girl in front of you.

The older the animals become, the easier it is to recognize whether a female or a male is in front of you. With dwarf hamsters, this process is always more difficult than with Syrians, due to the tiny size of these animals.

Additional gender differences:

• in a female hamster, two rows of nipples are clearly visible (in young ones, these are barely distinguishable “pimples”), while in males, the abdomen is completely covered with hair;
• dwarf hamsters have a well-marked sign of belonging to the masculine gender – an odorous gland on the tummy, with which they mark the territory. You can find out the sex of an adult jungar by its presence or absence. A round, hairless, yellowish plaque is located at the site of the navel. A female Djungarian hamster cannot have it.

Conclusion

It is important to know the sex of the animal even if a single isolated content is supposed. At least in order to give the hamster a name. If a rodent is bought for a child, the little owner will certainly take an interest in whether it is a boy or a girl. A conscious purchase of a dzungarian boy in a pet store will allow you to avoid buying a pregnant female in the case of keeping hamsters together.

Determination of gender is a mandatory skill for those who plan to breed rodents. First, it is necessary to select a pair, then to separate cubs of different sexes.