some advice, not sure how to explain in title!

[Bunsey]

ok, for a few of the shows coming up, i'm going to have already introduced paddy and orchid, and therefore she could be pregnant. what do i do about showing. can i put both in a pen and just show paddy? but will it stress her? what if the judge picks her up first to check which is the male?

also, what if orchid has had pups, can i take paddy out to show and then put him back or will he panic being away from his wife and she would forget him?

i don't know wat to do. What do you guys do with dwarfie newly weds? do you just not show them? thing is, there's no point me going to Brinsworth or Emley if that is the case :cry:

Also, please raise any points i've forgotten, too :lol:

[internet_nobody]

Unless she's obviously pregnant (ie 2/3 days before birth) you're just not going to know that she is pregnant. If they're both in the pen, they may as well both be in the show, I don't think coming out and being judged is more stressful than a day in a pen, so if she is clearly preggers then she needs to stay at homr.

If she has pups and you take Paddy out to go to a show, I don't think she'll be happy about having him put back 8 hours or so later.

[Bunsey]

ok. righty. yeah, i won't know if she's preg. i guess i meant "in case" she's preg really. i think i'll just leave them both at home. that's what i thought anyway, but i'm just disappointed cos i wanted to go to the shows. i don't know if i wana drive 4 hours, pay £20 in petrol to go to a show where i have no hamsters to enter :?

[arikata]

Unless she's obviously pregnant (ie 2/3 days before birth) you're just not going to know that she is pregnant. If they're both in the pen, they may as well both be in the show, I don't think coming out and being judged is more stressful than a day in a pen, so if she is clearly preggers then she needs to stay at homr.

If she has pups and you take Paddy out to go to a show, I don't think she'll be happy about having him put back 8 hours or so later.

Dead right! If I had a baby and my hubby disapeared for 8 hours I wouldn't be too happy either!! :lol:

[Duncton]

If she has pups and you take Paddy out to go to a show, I don't think she'll be happy about having him put back 8 hours or so later.

What do they live in at home? If part of it is "detachable", you could take that to the show. They can travel in it and only go into their pen at the show, (or put the pen inside their cage). That way they're out of their cage for the minimum length of time and if you DO want to put Paddy in the pen alone, (personally I wouldn't), he's only apart from Orchid for a short period.

[Duncton]

Addendum to my previous post, having reread both mine and Internet Nobody's;

My suggestion is, of course, for when they don't actually have pups and Orchid is not visibly pregnant. If either of these instances is the case, I would recommend leaving both of them at home!

[Bunsey]

oh yes, i absolutely wouldn't show either of them if I knew Orchid was pregnant or she had pups. I was thinking for when they've gone together but not yet produced pups. From the way they went for it in the test introduction, i'll have pups by the next show anyway! I've decided to show them at Brinsworth and then put them together after that (they are currently separate). Then they'll be missing Emley and Rotherham while they raise pups and i'll show them again in October.

Its a bit of a dilemna isn't it? I'd love to show Luke, my Campbell again since he won Reserve BIS in his first show but now he's shacked up with Ginger Rogers, I'm also hoping for the pitter-patter of little Campbell's within the next month....which is really bad timing for Bath!!! I feel your pain Bunsey! :x

[Bunsey]

yeah it really sucks. Paddy is over a year old and he will be 1.5 years by the time he shows again, which is pretty much the end of show life for a normal WW. I hope he has some super babes to take his throne! :D

[Matty Day]

yeah it really sucks. Paddy is over a year old and he will be 1.5 years by the time he shows again, which is pretty much the end of show life for a normal WW. I hope he has some super babes to take his throne! :D
couldnt you just breed em like syrians ? then you can show paddy :wink:

[Bourne Valley Hams]

Dead right! If I had a baby and my hubby disapeared for 8 hours I wouldn't be too happy either!! :lol:

Oh I don't know - one less child to look after in my case!! :wink:

[internet_nobody]

Matty kind of has a point...if you leave Pads in you'll get two litters, which is extra hams to find homes for.

[Bunsey]

i'd rather not have her have 2 litters, but i am worried about her no raising the babes very well as a first time mother and then i'd have no babies if she chomped them all or left them :cry:

[nooboo]

to be honest first litters tend to get chomped and leaving dad in doesnt stop this, in fact i had one mum who only raised her litters if the male was removed, if he was in they would be gone by day 3!

as you are new to breeding them i would suggest putting him in letting her catch and removing once she shows, if it doesnt work out then you can always try again! without putting her into the strain of two litters on the trot for her first experiance

[PKK]

Gerbils are very touchy about being separated. However, for the relatively short time they are separated for judging it doesn't bother them. But the pair are transported together to and from the show. I wouldn't think it any different for dwarfs.

[Bunsey]

to be honest first litters tend to get chomped and leaving dad in doesnt stop this, in fact i had one mum who only raised her litters if the male was removed, if he was in they would be gone by day 3!

as you are new to breeding them i would suggest putting him in letting her catch and removing once she shows, if it doesnt work out then you can always try again! without putting her into the strain of two litters on the trot for her first experiance

I'm starting to think that this might be a good idea. I won't have problems, as i think the moment she comes in heat, he'll be on her. That's what happened in the test intro. I'm very aware of Paddy's biological clock, but i guess a few weeks won't make a difference and i can always try again if i loose the first litter. You could be right that the stress of Paddy in there could make her chomp them more.

The other things i was thinking about was firstly, that Paddy is madly in love with her and i think he'd enjoy living with her for a bit and then when the male pups are ready i could move them out with Paddy. If Paddy has never met them, i'm guessing he won't live with them?

But on the other hand, i really wouldn't want Orchs to have 2 litters together. She's not the largest of hamsters. :?

Is there any way to tell if a WW will be a bad/good mother, even slightly? Orchid is very people orientated and begs for attention. i'm thinking i might put her in a different room when she has pups, cos i think there's a fair chance she'll leave them to beg, or run out to see me with dangling pups or something!

[internet_nobody]

Orna was an exellent mother, after the initial surprise of finding pups spilling out of her! Not sure how genetic "good motherhood" is though! Orchid was brilliant with Orna's second litter, her and Big Bit would round the babies up if they escaped, cuddle them if Orna was out of the nest etc, i'm not sure if already experienced with baby care will help her with her own but I can't see why it would hurt.

I found with Orna that she would come out and beg until picked up, if you then gave her a quick 30 second cuddle she'd go straight back to the pups. If you ignored her she'd stay begging. Paddy does seem very interested, which I don't think will go down well when she's trying to tend to her pups.

Not sure how easy a Dad-to-pup intro is, but I took Little Bit away from Mum and sisters at 3.5 weeks old and put him in with Mysteron and older brothers and they were all fine together.

[Bunsey]

oh that's great if she's already had that experience. That really influences my decision. You're right that Paddy could mither her, which he does do!

I think i'm going to do that then. I'll put them together for a week and then remove him. Poor laddy, but i want what's best for Orchid and i think this could be the way.

I can try some lads with Paddy and see how he goes. He was dominant with Max. I'd have more luck with Max i would imagine, as he's submissive and soppy! Even if they just went with Pads for a couple weeks, it's a bit of friendliness for them. It depends what males pop out. If there's 2 males then that's great, as i can have them with Paddy when they're young and then if i have to take Paddy out, the 2 blokes can stay together. Ladies will stay with Orchid for as long as possible. I'm not really holding hope of having anything together after about 4 months old though.

[Foreverhamsters]

Chinese males are extremely good with younger pups. in a lot of cases i have had older males who i have introduced pups to act like a mother. sometimes they even get all protective over them lol. one of the males started panicking when i took pups out of the cage to handle :?

[nooboo]

usually adult to pup intros go well, as long as you introduce the boys while they are still small there shouldnt be a problem, my dads often got there sons for company having never met them, or on one occasion the dad got someone elses sons! well he looked lonely! pairing an adult to a youngster rarely has problems and if there are issues they dont show till every one is fully grown

try not to over worry about it all, as if your nervous and keeping an eye on them i an sure they pick up on it