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Old 08-06-2012, 08:44 AM   #1
HarryLucy
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Default Where can I find homes?

Okay, so I would like to breed hamsters. I've read the 'think before you breed' sticky, and im pretty sure i tick all the boxes... except one. I want to be certain that I will be able to find good homes for all the babies, before I even think about going off to buy two hamsters suitable for breeding. I know a few friends who definitely want one, but I need to make sure I have homes for them all... I'm a little cautious about putting out random adverts on the internet or posters in vets etc. as they aren't guaranteed a good home... but I don't have any pet shops nearby that would want them. Are there other places I should be looking? Is the internet an okay place to sell hamsters as long as they're priced high enough not to appeal as food (etc.) ? Or should I just not breed and don't take the risk...?
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Old 08-06-2012, 10:14 AM   #2
crazygal330
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Default Re: Where can I find homes?

Really the most important thing you can do with regards to new potential owners is to vet them, regardless of where you advtertise.Ask questions about the care they will provide, do they have a vet, what cage, what food, if they are first time onwers you should be prepared to give them information about how to properly care for the hammies. Um, basically make sure they understand what is expected of the level of care hamsters need, many breeders also have a "return policy" if you like, where if for any reason the new onwer finds them self in circumstances they cant look after the hamster it comes back to you rather than going who knows where.
Also a good way of doing it is to have a list of interested parties before the mating. So essentially you already have homes before the mating has occured, long before they are born. People who want healthy handleable happy hamsters are usually more than happy to wait until babies are ready. then you know that they have homes and you won't be bringing x amount of hamsters into the world with nowhere to go.
A pet shop is definitely no garuntee they will go to good homes at all.
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Old 08-06-2012, 10:35 AM   #3
purple_x
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Default Re: Where can I find homes?

You cant just go out and buy 2 hamsters from a pet shop and breed them. You'll need to find good breeders and get hamsters from them (and have their permission to breed their hams too)

If you dont have many homes lined up and aren't able to keep all babies from a litter (could be about 10 babies) then it would be best to not breed just yet.
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Old 08-06-2012, 10:35 AM   #4
fluffymunchkins
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Default Re: Where can I find homes?

Most breeders will home to friends or through connections often made through hamster shows. You can sell pups at hamster shows, but you have to be a member and possibly involved in showing. These are probably the safest ways of rehoming.
I sold 3 pups, 2 were family friends and another was a connection I'd made through the forum and I was very lucky with the owners I found But i do show, so I was able to find other connections or home on the sales table if needs be.
Personally I wouldn't sell to people I don't know whether I can keep in contact with or not. I treated every pup as pets firstly and wanted to ensure they weren't just getting a home, they were getting a good home.

You have to be prepared to keep the litter if things were to go wrong, for example health problems in the litter.
I will never advise breeding purely to provide pet homes, as its a big responsibility to take on. I bred with the intention of creating my own show lines and that pups would be of a high standard. However, I do support breeding to improve pet, especially if theres a shortage of a species available (pure winterwhites and campbells are the main reason for this). This would involve sourcing the pure parents from NHC registered breeders and stopping any lines if they develop health problems. But again, showing is a way of confirming how good the parents are (looks wise) and making connections for possible homes.(all this assuming your in the UK and can get to shows)

I would also reccomend speaking to breeders at shows to gain experience x
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Old 08-06-2012, 11:04 AM   #5
HarryLucy
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Default Re: Where can I find homes?

Thanks everyone for the responses - really helpful to me

crazgal - yes, i will check that anyone who wants to buy a hamster definitely knows what theyre doing and the "return policy" is a good idea as long as they dont all bring the hamsters back because i dont think it would be very easy for us to keep ten hamsters!!! (two parents and 8 babies (ish) ) yeah, i think i might decide that if i can get a list of at least 12 interested parties then i will go ahead with it - because that leaves room in case people drop out. But the trouble is now where to find them! because it seems weird to advertise to strangers before i actually have the babies, so as long as i can find enough friends who are interested i guess...

purple - yeah, i read the sticky about 'think before you breed' and understand all of that, my friend knows a good breeder so that should be okay

fluffy - i do live in the uk but i dont really know anything about hamster shows so i couldnt really make any connections there... and i think if i cant find enough friends who are interested i might not do it at all... Im not breeding purely to provide pet homes, im breeding because i like having animals and the babies are really cute etc. yeah, so i guess if im really struggling the best thing to do would be start going to some shows...
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