Thinking of breeding.

Matt · 07-07-2005, 03:32 PM

I'm thinking of breeding hamsters and would like some information.

Which is the best hamster to breed?

If I was to breed Syrian when they are old enough does EACH hamster have to have its OWN cage? Or can they be devided into 2 cages, 1 males and 1 for females?

If I wanted to breed, would the male and female go in a cage straight away together or do they only get put together when the female is in heat? What happens to the dad after they have mated? During/After pregnancy? Does he stay in the cage or does he have to be taken away?

SnuggleHam · 07-08-2005, 04:34 AM

Depending on how much room you have may be the best way to decide what species is right for you.

On one hand dwarf hamsters are communal and they can live together in same sexed cages. However there are cases where certian dwarfs need to be housed seperatly becasue they simply will not get along with anyone esle. In that case you either need a new cage or to find it a new home.

Dwarf hamasters..

~Usually reach sexual maturity at around 4-5 weeks of age. Gestation is 18-22 days. The litter size ranges around 8 and weaning of the young occurs in 21 days.

Syrian Hamster...

~Usually reach sexual maturity at around 3-6 weeks of age. However it is not recommended to breed a female younger then 4-6 months of age. Breeding to young can result in poor litter size and cannibalism of the young. Decided to breed the female for the first after the age of six months can result in complications in the birthing process.

Gestation is 15-18 days. The litter size ranges from 4-12 and weaning of the young occurs in 21 days.

Once sexually maturity is reached female hamsters will start to come into “season” or “heat” this is called Estrous. Hamsters come into estrous ever four days. Estrous usually lasts 10-12 hours.

At this time the female should be placed in the males cage. If mating does not occur in 5 to 10 minutes or there is aggression take the female out of the cage. You may continue this for four days each night during the females estrous.

You should never just place a female and male syrian hamster together without supervision. And since the pups reach sexual maturity around 3-6 weeks you will need to seperate them into same sexed cages, but I wouldnt keep them all together longer then a months age, Once they reach that age they will probably start fighting. Syrians are solitary creatures.

So you will need to consider these things..

~Do I have the funds and space to buy separate hamster cages for the young and feed them?

~How will you find homes for the babies once they are old enough to leave?

~What happens if I cant find homes for the young?

~Am I contributing to the general well being and strain of the hamsters by breeding?

~Can I afford a vet if I need one and can I get there?

Dont breed hamsters that will just end up in a shelter someplace becasue you cant find homes. Its best to find homes before you even breed them.

There is information on the Hamster Central Website

http://www.hamstercentral.com/breedinghamsters.htm

You can also read up on the different hamster species on the website which has more specific information.

You can also google search, we could use more articles on that, but hopfully we will get some with the current contest.

Matt · 07-08-2005, 08:59 AM

Thanks alot. Whats the sitution with the dad?

SnuggleHam · 07-08-2005, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt

Thanks alot. Whats the sitution with the dad?

Well that all also depends on what kind of hamsters you want to breed. In dwarfs the male can stay with the female so long as you can find homes for the young if you plan on letting them have a few litters. But you need to take the pups out and seperate them into different same sex cages when mature to prevent the male(father) from breeding with mature female pups and also to keep the male(pups) from breeding with the mother.

If you decide to stop breeding the dwarfs then you need to seperate the male with a male pups from their last litter so he has a cage mate. and leave a female pup or two with the mother.

In syrian hamsters the male always lives in his own cage and is only ever introduced to the female for short periods of time for mating.

Sexing syrian hamster is much easier then with dwarf and its common for people to mess up the sex of dwarf hamster pups without an experianced eye, and this leads to inbreeding and way to many pups! So make sure you know your males from females well before you start.

Matt · 07-08-2005, 04:06 PM

So syrians seem to be the best but I guess the finding of homes needs to be done quickly or a hell of a lot of cages need to be bought as they fight when together?

SnuggleHam · 07-09-2005, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt

So syrians seem to be the best but I guess the finding of homes needs to be done quickly or a hell of a lot of cages need to be bought as they fight when together?

Yes they will fight once they reach sexual maturity, I mean you never know a pair of the same sex may get along for a time, but in syrians fighting is inevitable. If you cant find homes you will end up with many mature solitary hams on your hands, and unless you can find proper homes then you shouldnt breed, there are so many animals out these, like hamster in shelters waiting for home, you dont want to add to that population of homless hams do you? So thats something to think about.

Matt · 07-09-2005, 02:32 PM

Yeah - I dont think its a good time to breed right now. Not having enough experience doesnt help.. Alot of research needs to be done etc and I don't think I would be able to find that many homes for the pups so really, at the present time It's best to give this a miss. I couldnt stand knowing a hamster isn't going to to a good home. Thanks for the advice

Emma · 07-11-2005, 06:36 AM

I think you made the right decision Matt. I'd really love to breed hamsters on a small scale too but it just isn't practical for me right now unfortunately, however tempting it might be! For the meantime I'm concentrating on being able to give homes to rescue hamsters which is quite fulfilling.

I wrote a post on this board for anyone thinking of breeding hamsters, which you can find here http://www.candacebell.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=415