Male or Female Hamster(s)

So you are at a pet shop, what sex should you choose? I believe this guide will help you decide.



How many are you getting?

Are you keeping only one hamster? Or are you going to get two hamsters so that they can play with each other? Hamsters, in general, are solitary animals. They prefer to dominate their living areas rather than live with others. However, it is possible to keep more than one hamster in one cage.

If you are buying one only, you can skip this portion below and go on to the other sections.

If you are buying more than one, read on.

1. Ensure that both the hamsters can get along well with one another. If you are at the pet shop, you should try placing them together and see if they get hostile with each other. If you are adopting, also do the same thing. There is a way to make hamsters stay in the same cage even though they keep fighting when placed in the same cage. I'll cover that in subsequent chapters. But as a rule of thumb, you wouldn't want to start having a pair that keeps fighting. So, make sure that they can get along with each other if you are going to keep them together in one cage.
   
2. Get a male and a female hamster if you are prepared that they will reproduce and you intend to keep that many hamsters. A hamster can easily give birth to more than 5 babies. In that case, it would be better if you separate them into different cages.
   
3. Get two males (preferred) because the tendency of both males living peacefully is much higher than both females doing so together.
   
4. Get two females (not preferred unless they have been living with each other for a period of time peacefully) because females are dominant in nature and prefer to have herself as the sole female in the territory. Nevertheless, if brought up together since young, female hamsters are still able to peacefully coexist.