Hamsteries.

[Lula]

This is just a series of queries really, based on an interest. For all the people that run Hamsteries do you do it as a full time job? How did you get started? I'll presume you bought your initial ones from other breeders to make sure you were going to be getting good quality little hammies? What age did you decide to persue breeding hamsters?

Don't take this the wrong way and think that I'm just going to up sticks and start my own hamstery, oh no, I'm training to be a Florist and adore working with flowers. It's more of a fascination with me. I can understand if you don't want to give the information out too freely in case someone impressionable makes a wrong decision. So if you want to answer through pm/email then that'd be fantastic.

nintendo_lula[at]hellokitty[dot]com

[SnuggleHam]

Im sure nobody here would be apposed to giving input. And to all you hamstery owners out there! please do continue this topic in public if you can, Id like to educate the people, and this way we already have a thread to reference for similar questions.

I don't personally have a hamstery, but I did write an article about hamteries and posted here on HC. It was put together by basic research and I also sent a survey to a number of hamsties asking them similar questions. It all comes together in my article. If you have seen it yet here is the link..

Might be some interesting reading while you wait on replies from people with first hand experience.

http://www.hamstercentral.com/user.p...ewArticle&a=12

[souffle]

In the UK a hamstery can be from one hamster to hundreds. You can register with one of the main Hamster Clubs or councils after you have been a member for 1 year and most people who register have been showing for a year.
Our aim as a hamstery was not to build up a vast quantity of hamsters but to try and improve on quality, health and very importantly temperament. It is not our wish to fill the world with nippy biters and some commercially bred animals can be just that.

There is no money to br made in hamsters. The cost of rearing a litter properly both financially and in time spent taming far outweighs any monetary rewards The pleasure is in seeing new owners with healthy, tame pets which we hope will give them pleasure for many years.

We will only breed when we know we can home the pups as there are too many hamsters in rescue. We obtain stock from known and trusted breeders and ensure temperament is correct. For ourselves we usually have a colour in mind and keep the best to show. We enjoy the showing and the chance to meet other hamster mad folks!

At present there are only 5 hamsters here. Some breeders sell on retired mums and show stock but ours are as much pets as show animals and stay for life. I know others differ in that respect. We like them all to get their fair share of attention and more would be too much to allow them to have that. I hope that is of use to you. Most hobby breeders breed for pleasure but commercial breeders breed to supply the large pet chains stores. I would always advise people to seek out a breeder but that is not to say some of the pet shop hamsters make lovely pets because they do. Sometimes they just take more time and patience.

[Lula]

Ah thanks for your answer.

[babyboos]

Some people started out with quality stock but most got a hamster from a petstore and it gave birth and so began a legacy of the majority of the large names in the hamster fancy in the UK today

[Christine Yule]

Hi,

I thought I would let you know a little about how I got started breeding hamsters.

I had several Syrian hamsters when I was young and always loved them.

I was in my 30's when I decided to breed hamsters. It is a very long story and a sad one so I won't go into details. But basically, I had some very bad experiences buying hamsters as pets for myself from my local pet store.

So, I studied the subject of hamster care and breeding. I read everything I could get my hands on and searched the Internet for experienced breeders to help me.

I traveled from Canada to the U.S. to pick up some excellent quality Syrian hamsters from breeders there. I started small and started advertising locally and sold my hamsters directly to people and taught them how to feed and care for the hamsters. I quickly found that there was a demand for well bred hamsters. I started breeding Russian Campbell Dwarves and then Roborovskiis.

The most hamsters I have had in my hamstery at one time was 200. At the time I was supplying hamsters to a pet store chain and they wanted all the hamsters I could produce. However, I knew that the health of my hamsters was my priority and could not continue to produce large numbers of hamsters. But, I sure had a great time breeding for lots of wonderful colours. And looking after the babies and watching them grow was fun too.

I am no longer breeding now since all of my Syrian hamsters are past their breeding age and I have decided not to breed Campbells because of the Diabetes problem. I can't see myself ever breeding large scale again since it is a tremendous amount of work and Vet bills are expensive for so many hamsters. But, my goal now is to be a source of good information about hamsters for ones who do have them as pets. I have learned a lot and hope I can help others take the best possible care of their little "babies".

Hamstermama
Hamsters Inc.

[SnuggleHam]

Originally Posted by Christine Yule

I was in my 30's when I decided to breed hamsters. It is a very long story and a sad one so I won't go into details. But basically, I had some very bad experiences buying hamsters as pets for myself from my local pet store.

So, I studied the subject of hamster care and breeding. I read everything I could get my hands on and searched the Internet for experienced breeders to help me.

Thats similar to why I started Hamster Central! I didn't care for any of the other forums and their silly rules, plus I had a couple bad experiences with loosing young hamsters to wet tail that I bought from chain pet stores. After that I wanted a website that was fun and friendly and devoted to providing people with proper knowledge on hamster husbandry. :P

[Christine Yule]

That is such good news to me! That is exactly what I wished I could do but simply didn't have the techno know-how to produce it myself. I'm so glad you are here!

Hamstermama

[babyboos]

Snap - I am so happy that HamsterCentral exists

I am glad I met Candace all those months ago, getting on for years now I think! (well over one anyway?!)