Hamster Sex

[The UnDoug]

No, don't post the Richard Gere picture. I'm just wondering if anyone (PeterB, in particular) has any thoughts on whether to get a male or female hamster for my daughter.

I've read that the males can be a bit calmer, but they're testicles are a bit nasty to look at (at least the ones at one of the pet stores seemed to have abnormally large balls!).

[H1N1]

The UnDoug wrote:
I've read that the males can be a bit calmer, but they're testicles are a bit nasty to look at (at least the ones at one of the pet stores seemed to have abnormally large balls!).

you sound a wee bit envious, don't worry. it's not a big thing

[OWC Jamie]

[PeterB]

The common belief is that males are friendlier than females. While this is often true, it's not universally true-- in fact in my lines, I've found the females to always have been friendlier than the males... probably because I've been selectively breeding for sociability and disposition, and Freya, being the foundress of my lines, was amongst the friendliest of females I've ever seen.

So-- I would go based on the individual animal, and not necessarily by gender. A good test with any animal is to put your hand in the cage near them (but without trying to hold them) and see how they respond-- unsocialized animals will tend to avoid you, but if they act aggressively, you definitely don't want them, and if they are a bit curious about you (maybe taking a gentle nip, thinking your fingers might be food), then that's a good sign. Of course, almost any animal you get from a pet store will probably be pretty badly unsocialized... I've had animals from pet stores that were so obviously traumatized that they would never want to be held by me, even after repeated attempts to desensitize them.

As for the testicles-- that's just something you get used to, and it's much less obvious on the longhaired males versus the shorthaired.

[The UnDoug]

I've been trying to find a breeder of some sort in my area (Philadelphia), but really have struck out. I checked those two links you posted to my other thread, but they seemed to be very out of date.

I checked Craigslist and didn't find anything (I'll check again now, though, since it's been a few days), and I looked at a couple animal rescue sites in my area but didn't find any hamsters.

Is there a good way to judge the hamsters age? I'd like to get one as young as possible.

Thanks PeterB (and others) for taking the time to share your knowledge and perspective. It really is appreciated!

I'll be sure to update you all on what we end up with--if anything.



Doug

[H1N1]

The UnDoug wrote:
I've read that the males can be a bit calmer, but they're testicles are a bit nasty to look at (at least the ones at one of the pet stores seemed to have abnormally large balls!).

sounds personal to me

[PeterB]

Doug, I'm late to responding to this, but...

1) You might consider posting here: http://www.hoobly.com/12030/113/0/

2) Checking Craigslist, I found this:

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/pet/1495399093.html

(looks to be a shorthair banded sable...)

... also you might consider posting a "wanted" to your local pets section.

3) Judging age -- mostly it's by size. You really don't want one younger than 3-4 months, and a six-month old is ideal. (The issue here-- animals separated from their mother too young tend to have very bad socialization problems.) Also they can live 2-3 years, so getting one that is 1-1.5 years old is not such a big deal, they will still have a good bit of life left in them. Also the older animals are less prone to wet tail.

4) When in doubt, also Google:

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=hamster+breeders+philadelphia&aq=f&aqi=&oq=&fp=be5ffa94030d2d34

[The UnDoug]

Thanks, Peter!