Was i correct?!!

[Tammy22]

Hi Everyone,

i recently had a 13 year old boy email me the following:

I have three female teddy bear/European/fancy hamsters and I have a dwarf hamster, I don't know what breed he is. Well anyway I put my dwarf hamster about 10 - 9 months and one of my 6 - 5 months teddy bear/ European/fancy hamsters together about 3 months ago. To try to get them to breed. I have just started to noticing that the girl is starting to get fat and you can slightly see her nipples and you can feel them if you touch her stomach. I have read many of the questions asked and I dont know if she has been nesting or bringing food in it because she has been in the same cage with her mom. Also I have put my other female hamster with my dwarf and he tryed to breed with the girl so I put them in the cage together and they haven't done much. They have been in the cage for about a day in a half.

Hope you can help me.


so i replied with:


Hi,

The three large hamsters you have are actually called Syrian hamsters.

Syrian hamsters are completely solitary by nature and they should never be kept with another hamster, no matter what breed or sex - they will eventually start fighting and will eventually kill each other!! Please keep all of your hamsters in separate cages, they will be much safer and much happier too!

Syrian hamsters can not breed with Dwarf hamsters to produce babies - it is just not possible at all!! Syrians and dwarf hamsters have different numbers of Chromozones, so there is no way a mating between the two can produce babies! They shouldnt be kept in the same cage anyway!

You really do not know much about hamsters at all! Please do not let any of your hamsters breed - there are so many risks and you could end up killing the hamster if she has problems with the birth - or she could end up killing or abandoning her whole litter if she feels stressed, or is too old or too young to cope with the birth!!

Please keep all of your hamsters separate!

Kind Regards,

Tammy



So he replied with:


First of all, I have been breeding hamsters with my mom and sister for about four years so don't tell me that i can't breed them! I have gotten a "SYRIAN HAMSTER" and dwarf hamster to breed before! how old r u anyway...5? YOU apparently know nothing about hamsters... and you call yourself an expert!?!?



I couldnt believe it!!!

anyway, i replied with:


there is no way that a Syrian and a Dwarf hamster have mated and produced babies, it is just not possible!! They can go though the actions of mating, but it is not possible for this mating to produce any babies, the two species cannot interbreed!!

You say you dont know the species of your dwarf hamster, so how do you know it is definately a dwarf hamster??

Just because it is smaller than the rest does not mean it is a dwarf hamster - you can send me pictures if you like and i will try to tell you what species it is is.

I do not appreceiate you being rude to me, i do know that what i am telling you is the truth. so you must be wrong!!

I am only trying to answer your question in a truthful and civil matter, so if you dont like the truth then please do not take it out on me by being rude!!

Kind Regards,

Tammy


He hasnt replied yet, but i didnt expect him to really!

He really annoyed me and upset me a little too! after all i was only trying to answer his question and advise him as much as i could!


Was everything i said correct??

Thanks,

Tammy x

[Leon]

Goodness! What a little brat! I think you were very restrained, I would have been very rude to him.

It looks to me like everything you told him was not only true (though I am no expert myself) but also should be common knowledge for any hamster owner, let alone breeder.

Please don't let some horrible little child upset you when all you were trying to do was help him :wink: I wonder why some people bother asking for help when they react to responses like that.

[Tammy22]

Thanks very much Leon.

I cant believe i am actually letting him get to me, and actually letting him make me doubt the information i know is true!!

Tammy x

[PinkEmily]

:shock: he cant be serious?!? I think your reply was well put tammy. If it was me i would have seriously gone off on one!

[Bunsey]

everything you said was right. he can't possibly have a dwarf mate with syrian, he must have a small syrian or something.

[Spuds Mum]

How horrible for you Tammy! What a monstrous child! :twisted:
You were right, and also I might add, very restrained in your answers. His second email contradicts the first, in saying he knows more than you, but in the first confusing syrians (or teddy bears :roll: ) with the European hamsters!

you gave good advice, and he didnt want to take it. I would feel exactly the same as you to be honest, it would get to me. But from the outside I can honestly say, dont let a rude, ungrateful and obnoxious child get you down.

Poor hamsters! What a shame for them all :cry:

[Bourne Valley Hams]

Sadly this is the sort of email I receive frequently as secretary of a hamster club. You just have to bite your tongue and answer as politely and firmly as you can. Sometimes you do wonder if it is just someone pulling you leg as the things they say they are doing are so ludicrous.
We care so much for our hamsters it can be heartbreaking to think of how others treat theirs.
Well done Tammy for keeping your temper and trying your best.
Unfortunately these sort of muppets are not likely to listen to any advice you give.

[Spacemonkey]

What a brat! God, I love them, where do they hear these things? It would be laughable if it wasn't SO disturbing to think of this horrible child's poor Hamsters :(

I had an email from a girl once asking to buy two of my babies, I emailed her back a long reply telling her all about how you can't keep two Syrians together etc etc

I get a reply... "Can I keep two females together?"

Once again I give a long answer telling her that no, you can't house any Syrians together under any circumstances

I get another reply...

"Can I keep two males together?"

I just give up! :shock: :roll:

[Lady Fluff]

Oh Tammy, that's just horrible - what an obnoxious little oik (yet another notch on my 'remind me never to have children' chart) - you've done the right thing, and with a lot more patience than I would have had - good for you!

[Mollz]

I hope they didn't upset you too much Tammy. Everything you said is right, and they are obviously just a very immature and idiotic child.

Well done for not losing your temper!

[Basia]

Well done Tammy, I think you did really well. I do sometimes wonder if they are trolling.
I've had a few e-mails like this since I put my website online. Last week someone e-mailed me to ask me to buy his 5 breeding hamsters and cages for £150 and drive to Hampshire to collect them because he didn't want to have to let them go as snake food....
I sent him a remarkably polite reply considering..

[Tammy22]

Thanks everyone for your kind replies :)

Like you Sue, i have lots of questions every day asking me about really stupid scenarios and i always answer very calmly and informatively, so i am very used to stupid questions :roll: , but i dont think i have ever had one which has been so rude!

It did upset me a bit, but i have calmed down now.

I have been complimented on my patience and restraint moe than once, so it must be true, lol, my mam wanted to give him a piece of her mind, lol! she says she doesnt know how i keep my cool :)

I feel sorry for the poor hamsters too, but, sadly, there is nothing we can do about it :(

It's always the same though, they ask a question, but they only want you to say the answer they want to hear! Why do they bother when they are just going to do their own thing anyway? :roll:

Tammy x

[leedsgurl]

You didn't happen to get this e-mail on April 1st did you?

[Tammy22]

no, lol! :lol:

[Holly]

Give him a transcript of this thread and tell him from me he's an obnoxious little brat who knows nothing and shouldn't even have animals in his "care".

I'm disgusted - with him but especially with any parent who can't be arsed to research anything before putting two animals together to "breed".

I'm tired of reading about thick people breeding animals, it's much worse on the other forum, it's so depressing. Poor little hammies.

Don't let him get to you Tammy, you know you are right and so do we :wink:

[Holly]

Sue - I had the same email! :shock:

The cheek of it, poor little hams though - wonder what will happen to them as no responsible "breeder" would ever buy them :(

[agatecrystal]

Try not to let him upset you. What an obnoxious little brat!
If his family have been breeding for 4 years then he wouldn't get a syrian confused with a European hamster!
You've done really well in the way that you answered him. I would have just flipped!
I can't stand people who keep animals and are so ignorant to their proper care. There is no way to breed a syrian and a dwarf. I think him and his family should be banned from keeping pets they obviously dont at all care about the animal's welfare!