[Fluffagrams]

I agree with everything Souffle says.

When I started breeding I was lucky to have had the opportunity to speak to several breeders of the species that I wanted to breed and consequently was able to source good hamsters to start off my plans with relative ease. I think you need to know the species you're wanting to breed well, know the common problems that species can present and you'll need to be willing to develop an understanding of not only the genetics of the colours you want to breed but also things like type as well.
When I learnt about breeding I made a point of learning about some of the things that can go wrong because despite your best intentions, they do go wrong from time to time and heartbreak occurs.

You won't even get close to breaking even with what you spend on your breeding efforts vs the amount you will get from the sale of the pups and you'll need to have some idea of where you will be rehoming your pups to once they reach an appropriate age because pet shops often have their own suppliers and will not always be willing to take a litter of babies from someone that they don't know.

I've discovered that you need to have some degree of flexibility in your breeding plans because sometimes the pair that you wanted don't work out or a reason develops which means that you are no longer able to use a particular hamster in a responsible breeding plan. For example, I was originally hoping to breed the male from my first litter with a female from my third but as it turns out, neither are suitable candidates for breeding so I've had to work out a new plan that will hopefully help me in getting closer to my aims.