First time

[Poetgonemad]

Thinking about breeding my two syrians. Once Ash gets bigger(which should atleast be a few months) i read about it online, but knew i should ask on here cause i know yallhave expirience. I know atleast one of you is gonna ask why. My reason is i dont really know how old kilalah is. I cant stand the thought of losing her. I want to have a little piece of her when shes gone. And i love hammys and i love taking care of them. Please i can take all the help i can get. I know its a big challenge but im up for it!

[StarlightSerenity]

Please, please, please don't breed these hamsters As you don't know Kilalahs age she could be too old to breed - the pregnancy, birth or feeding pups could easily kill her. You also don't know the genetic background of them which is essential for ethical breeding.

Breeding is extremely complicated, often heart breaking and doing it purely for a 'little piece' of your current hams isn't a good enough reason to bring so many little lives into this world. The pups may not even look like her, behave like her or anything either.

Please don't breed them

[Poptart]

As SS said, breeding is very complex. It takes years of research on fenetics and proper husbandry to the mother and her pups. If you go into breeding blindly, you could bring eyeless hamsters into the world or hamsters with other types of defromites. Wanting to have a piece of your hamster after shes gone isnt a proper reason. You should be striving to better the species. If you dont know your females age you could harm her by breeding her. She could have around 20 pups possibly, can you find homes for them all?
A lot of people choose to bury their hams in the garden and plant a flower over their grave to remember them by or if they cant do that they get them cremated or buy a potted flower in their memory. Why not do that instead? Please dont breed.

[kyrilliondaemon]

Yeah... If you don't know her age you massively increase the risk of problems when you try and breed.

Even when people breed very, very responsibly it can still go horribly wrong. Increasing that risk is cruel to yourself and the hamsters involved.
If you're unsure then read about the story of Hush Puppy. The only survivor of a litter bred by one of very few people I trust, who did absolutely everything she could, got it all right, and still lost almost all the litter. We were all lucky Hush survived and her story really is one worth listening to.
It was heartbreaking for me and I only got to read about it once the worst had passed. Hush is a fantastic little sign of hope, but she's also a heck of a reason to think very, very carefully before you breed.

Please don't do this.

[Kissa]

Echoing everything else everyone else said. Breeding these hams is a very bad idea, for a variety of reasons. It can take ages to learn everything you need to know about breeding before you are ready to breed, and even if you do everything right, things can go wrong (like with Hush Puppy's siblings ).

[Charley101]

I also agree with what everyone else has said. Breeding isn't as simple as it seems!