*paces room*

Skwee · 09-05-2006, 02:30 PM

I'm sure it's the husband thats ment to do that! But in this case i'm pretty sure he doesnt care much

My Moo (black tortoiseshell dominant spot) was mated to Spanner (silver sable) on Saturday the 2nd (evening after the London Champs show...

We are expecting her to have her bablets at at least 17 days really, her last litter (was in January.. im sure 7 months rest is enough

) was born at 21 days

I was trying not to take her to vet as i could see she was in labour and as it was, it was an easy birth, 11 babies but all but 3 died over the first week due to bloat and random 'dissapearances'.

I'm slightly worried as we knew what the silver sable's parents were etc and the mating was fine, it was only yesterday i found out that the silver sable had roan siblings!! And as Moo is a dom spot, i have the whole anopthalmic white gene to worry about, i'm not sure if Moo has the white belly gene or not... bah!

I'm so anxious excited already! Thank god for the short gestation period!

SnuggleHam · 09-06-2006, 05:53 AM

Yes thank god for a short pregnancy! I dont know very much about genetics, the white belly gene.. is that the one that causes them to be born without eyes? If so I heard a blind hamster can still live a fairly normal life.

I guess youll have to wait until the pups are born and their colors show through to know. Maybe someone else can shed some light here. Still it must be exciting to have baby hamster! I got so excited when my gerbils had pups! Its to bad they arnt as popular as hamsters or id keep breeding them.

foxykitty911 · 09-06-2006, 09:22 AM

Good luck!

**babyboos** · 09-06-2006, 09:23 AM

Any news yet? what are you hoping to get from this mating?

Skwee · 09-21-2006, 04:32 PM

Sad to say... this is the second time Moo has reabsorbed her litter quite late in the pregnancy. I doubt we will try again, although she isn't nearly as old as we thought she was (i hadnt stopped to think really) without working it out (hate dates and numbers) she is 7.5 months old.

She gets all chubby and then by the time she hits 16-17 days she shrinks back to normal, if it wasn't for my parents, i would bring her home to have her litter here and she would be fine, i think maybe she just doesnt like the sound of other animals (although she has been there months!).

I think parents should be banned, if i sell mine on eBay, d'you think anyone would buy them?

souffle · 09-22-2006, 02:45 AM

Aww that is a pity as you will be disappointed. I guess Moo just wants to be home with you rather than having babies. Maybe she is not resorbing but having a phantom pregnancy as sometimes happens. Maybe try one more time then call it a day as she is getting on for babies in hammy time. When was her first litter?
She is older than 7and a half months though Skwee coz you introduced her on 6th January and she must have been about a month old then so that makes her at least 10 months.

Skwee · 09-24-2006, 08:32 AM

Ok, i AM going crazy!! I was so sure i got her a month after my birthday not a month before

As it is, she was younger than i thought when i got her so... argh! LOL.

As she is in *perfect* condition and has had a litter before, we are going to try one last time to see if she will get pregnant, this time to Kat's new Yellow Black male from Sue (Bourne Valley). He is such a sweetheart but needs to grow up a bit (tho he was incredibly excited when he got to meet his future lady friend)

If she isn't pregnant in 3/4 weeks time then I shall be bringing Moo home with me.

**babyboos** · 09-24-2006, 02:29 PM

you should really let her rest for at least 3 - 4 weeks if you were to try breeding her again. Unless you have some great particular aim in breeding her I really would encourage you to think again. Once is unfortunate twice is a sign not to try again with this female. I am sure you will get the chance to breed another hamster soon, be sure you are doing any future matings with her best interests at heart please.

Skwee · 09-24-2006, 03:03 PM

Moo is healthy and in great condition, i did say so long as she was *pregnant* by 3-4 weeks, i know i didnt make it all that clear, my bad. It will either be 3 or 4 weeks before i can properly get to Kat's again (where Moo is) and Moo won't be mated until just before i go (depending when she is in season) so she can be checked at 4 days to see if she accepts a male or not, if she does stand then she will come home and if she mates then she stays.

We want to breed Moo because she is such an amazing hamster, she is more than healthy and looked after her last litter great. She produce two very different but very beautiful torts in her last litter, both of whom are still with Kat and are also staying and being bred from. As is one of Moo's granddaughters, a dove tort. Moo produced a lovely litter and she seemed to enjoy having her babies, she never stopped wanting her cuddles though and i have fussed her so much that she probably misses being in my room and being out of her cage more than in it. It is her choice to mate or not but we would love to see if she can produce another amazing litter with a different and potentially better male.

She is being mated to a yellow black (a BV hammy) and this time we know everything he is carrying and they *should* produce the same if not very similar colours, i am desperate for another black tort. All babies have homes already if they happen to be born so that will never be a problem.

Don't get me wrong though, i maybe a dappy twit and bad at putting how i feel accross but i would NEVER do anything to compromise Moo, she is my baby and she has stolen my heart, i love her so much it hurts, i wouldn't do anything to hurt her. She is still a happy hamster, Kat is no idiot, i wouldn't trust anyone else to look after my baby.

suga · 09-25-2006, 06:00 AM

Skwee - Moo sounds like a very special girl .. I don't know anything about breeding but I guess its important to just see how she looks, her weight, health etc and then decide whether to try again with her. You said before that she has had babes already, maybe she doesn't want any more (just a thought). I hope everything goes alright for her.