We resuced some russian dwarf hamsters, and we just found ...

It certainly may be true that this female will become pregnant (or already has).

There is no procedure or medication that can terminate a pregnancy in hamsters.

Dwarf hamsters are extremely sensitive to stress, and females that are recently moved or have a lot of changes in their environment may eat their young.

If this hamster carries a litter to term and gives adequate care to the babies, you can take the pups to a pet store when they are 3-4 weeks old. The pet store will probably not pay you for the youngsters, but will sell them to new owners for you. Alternately, of course, you may separate them by gender at this age and keep them in 2 separate family groups.

Dwarf hamsters will live together in harmony provided they have enough space, food and are not handled excessively...they maintain their "family" group by scent bonding.

Spend some time now getting aquainted with the appearance of the male and female posterior so that you can more easily separate boys and girls. The male should accept his sons as long as they are placed in his enclosure at a young age.

The openings for urine and droppings in female hamsters are very close together...almost indistinguishable. The hind end is shaped like a point with the tail as the tip.

Male hamsters' elimination openings are comparatively farther apart and the bottom is rounded or flat in appearance (depending on whether the testicles are pulled up into the abdomen or are relaxed). The tail sticks off the males bottom like a stem.

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Ok, now it looks like she is at this point that she is chasing the male hamster away and she is looking like she is biting the male hamster. She bites anything that comes into the cage (hands, toys, and treats) like its an enemy, and we have been bitten a few times. What should we do?

This is partly what I was indicating by "scent-bonding".

It is unlikely that these two hamsters will be able to live together in the future without fights (and they can be severe). Females are often the aggressors in mixed gender cases. If she does accept him back, she will always be at risk of pregnancy since there are no "signs" of heat in hamsters, except for acceptance of mating.

This aggression toward a perceived intruder (this male that she doesn't recognize any more) can become "generalized"--that is, her anxiety and heightened state of alertness causes her to attack anything and everyone.

I have actually had aggressive individuals that just were biters on principle...this may be part of the reason these two little ones were given up.
This behavior can be genetically inherited in part, so I would limit her reproductive opportunities!

This may also be an indication that she would be aggressive toward her own young, either at birth or later...I have seen both.

Sometimes this type of hammie personality can be tamed by gentle persistence (I wear gloves to prevent being pinched), and sometimes they prefer to live more like a wild ancestor and accept food and water and shelter without affection! I call these my "Zoo Specimens" and enjoy them from afar by observing their burrowing, gathering, cheek-stuffing behaviors.

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The place I rescued them from has agreed to exchange the female for a male hamster, even though i didn't buy them myself. What is your opinion about this?

This would depend entirely on what you want...if you wanted two pets that you could handle and cuddle, then the exchange seems a good idea.

If you don't mind having one tame and one enjoy-from-afar creature, then that's OK!

I would be frank with the rescue group about her aggression just so they don't adopt her to someone else who is expecting a tame pet, at least at first.

I would not expect that another male would be accepted by your #1 male, unless the second one is a very young fellow (and is therefore non-threatening)...again, if you plan on handling these guys as pets, they should be housed separately because they will not re-bond after being apart, even for a "short" amount of time. This just seems to be a natural way that hamsters recognize "Family" and "Not-family" in the wild.

Are there any other ways that I might help you?





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You have helped us greatly in making a decision about the hamster. We are going to go with the exchange becuase she is a little too agressive for us. She bites hard enough to draw blood. Again thank you for all of your help.

You're very welcome, and thank you for caring enough to get the info you needed!

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Enjoy your new hobby!

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Your concern has touched me--if you have follow-up questions, or need to clarify your case, please let me know right away! Your "Accept" helps me reach out to others!