How to Know the Age of Your Hamsters

If you do not know when your hamster was born, then you can never know its exact age. However, you can use a variety of health and activity signs to determine roughly how old the hamster is and where in his life span you have received it. Remember, hamsters only live from two to three years at most, so many age signs occur by the middle or end of the second year of their lives, when they may not have much farther to go. A hamster younger than a year can be considered "young," while 1 to 2 years is "adult" and over 2 is a "senior hamster."

Things You'll Need

• Hamster
• Cage
• Hamster wheel or other activities

Instructions

1. Check your hamster's coat. Young hamsters (less than a year) have thick, bright coats. Their fur is neat and all the same length. Adult hamsters (1 to 2 years) also have fairly thick coats, but as they near the middle of their second year, the coat may become more ragged. Senior hamsters may have raggedy, balding coats and their fur is not shiny.

2. Monitor your hamster's weight. If your hamster is plump and you cannot feel his bones when you hold him, then he is likely young or adult. Senior hamsters tend to get bonier and thinner as they age because they stop eating as much.

3. Take note of how much your hamster sleeps. In order to accurately gauge this, you need to make sure that your hamster has something to do other than sleep, like play with a hamster wheel or chew on a treat. Young hamsters are very active and will use a lot of energy. Adult hamsters also tend to stay active, but will start sleeping more as they reach the end of their second year. Senior hamsters sleep nearly all the time and limit their movements as much as possible.

4. Try out your hamster's speed. If he is very difficult to catch even in a small cage, then he is probably young--maybe only a few months. Adult hamsters are also fast, but senior hamsters limit their movements as much as possible and may not run at all. So if you are in a pet store, do not pick the hamster that seems to not mind being picked up at all--it may be that she is too old to care.

5. Look for dry skin. Adults and young hamsters should have smooth skin that may be pink, peach or the color of their fur. Senior hamsters often get dry skin, and it will be easy to spot because their coats are fairly thin in many cases.

Tips & Warnings

• Because it is difficult to label hamsters' ages much more closely than young, adult and old, many pet stores have a "two-week return" policy that states that if your hamster dies in the first two weeks, you can get another one.

References

• How Old is My Hamster
• Hamster Life Span

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish