Recommend reading colour inheritance in small livestock. It's not for the faint hearted but if you can't handle the genetics in that book - you probably shouldn't be breeding.
If you can, fair play. I have 2 degrees - 1 a master's in English and I still couldn't understand a word of it
haha
However plenty of breeders do and a passion for genetics is a prerequisite quite honestly - differentiates the pro's from the backyard.
A good breeder is going to know with a 99% degree of certainty exactly which mating is going to produce what result and can make plans for years ahead of typical expectancies from litters - amending as they go along.
Also recommend getting a mentor. This means working closly with a breeder already well established and recognised in the hamster fancy, for a couple of years before starting your own programme.
Anyone can put a male and female hamster together and produce a litter, a professional breeder has vetted and wonderful homes lined up well in advance of any pups being born.
They have the finances and resources to cope with returns, unexpected events, large vet funds.
They have a strong understanding of medical terms and illnesses relating to hamsters.
Are able to deal with the public - have established homing guidelines, application forms and are able to be firm with people. Along with generating PR and marketing and creating a sound and solid reputation.
They are ambassadors of hamster welfare.
They would be members of recognised hamster bodies, eg the national hamster council and have that's bodies support. Most often they will have taken a committee position - although that isn't a 100% requirement.
They will likely be able to respond to media enquiries and write articles for pet magazines.
Likely will have volunteered at pet shows, cultivated friendships and formed alliances with other breeders that meet their own standards - you'll need these when you want to borrow a stud hamster or pass a litter to someone.
Basically, it's the most thankless, underpaid, hardest work you could do that will take up every single moment of your free time.
Along with continuing study into genetics and veterinary updates for the rest of your life.
And you need the transportation and ability to go all over the country attending shows and events to represent your hamsters.
95% of ppl who enter into breeding fail within the first year or two and give up - and they're good people, they just didn't realise how all time consuming it would be or how much it would cost.
It's for the die hard, passionate people - who are completely transfixed by their animals - a passion that lasts a lifetime and makes a significant contribution to the knowledge we have today.
Anything less than that and you're simply another person adding to the rescue problem. If you mix a couple of unknown background hamsters who then produces a litter of 17 of which you find a minimum of 12 homes and keep 5 for yourself - would you honestly hand on heart know that the 12 homes were the best homes and none of those hamsters would wind up in rescue? You produced the litter - the responsibility is yours for that hamsters life - which means a no quibble agreement if someone or all of the homes want to bring the hamsters back. You take them all back and have the resources to deal with it.
I don't mean that personally to you - I mean that in general for anyone starting out.
Basically don't do it. If you haven't got the means to get to a breeder to adopt a hamster - where will you get your first breeding pair? From a pet shop? you don't know their health or history - you don't know what's in their line - therefore you cannot know what will be produced in terms of colour, temperament or worse diseases.
And if the negative feedback is hard to take you won't cut it as a breeder. You will face endless criticism - a thick skin is a must.
You'll need a well paid job to support your hobby or be willing to make sacrifices for the type of lifestyle you want to lead, I.e the choice between a holiday or your vet fund...
Basically it's just easier to put together the train fare and be one of the great homes a breeder is looking for.
I've been closely connected to rescue and closely connected to the breeding world for small furries. I've seen both sides of the coin. And I ultimately came to the decision I wasn't cut out for either and I did most of the above that I listed.
I'm not saying you can't do it, I don't know you at all - but I'm saying you have to work damn hard for it. Unless you want to be a crappy breeder who advertises on gumtree, produces poor health hamsters and leaves a trial of hams in rescue in her wake of experimenting with breeding because it seemed like fun. I've seen that happen before as well - not pretty. I'm sure you don't want to be that person.
If you can do all of the above - dedicate yourself for at least 2 years of attending shows, volunteering for pet shows, being mentored by a breeder, study your genetics etc get your first breeding pair to start (from an already established breeder after earning their trust and support) - then hats off to you! Good luck.
Of course you will always find pockets of people who aren't part of the fancy and breed but are better breeders to the rest of the Gumtree brigade. Those ppl do exist but you would still be starting with unknown stock and therefore it would be down to you to keep every single hamster from a litter in order to collect your data and monitor them from birth to death - knowing exactly what illnesses have come out and genes expressed. You'd need to have and keep every hamster from years of generational matings to have a accurate data and what if suddenly a genetic illnesd crops up in your line?
Professional breeding is the stuff of nightmares. And of course I've seen entire life's work completely wiped out by one contagious disease...
That's why you need to understand diseases - viruses and bacteria, how they work, where they come from, how they are spread and what to look for to protect your animals.
Seriously I could go on and on.....I think you get the picture though!
It's doom and gloom but knowledge is power and having the knowledge upfront will actually help you in the long run - if it's something you want to do later down the road.
Join the council, create a pet blog/website - get your name and reputation out there. Go to shows, meet breeders, do your judging training, find a mentor, study genetics and all that will take a couple of years - if you still want to breed - great!
Breed because you want to lead the way, and lead the way you shall!xxxx
Questions on Breeding?
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