Russian Dwarfs

[smokey21]

Hi, I have some questions about russian dwarfs. I have had 2 syrian hamsters (one many years ago and one I have right now).

I have been looking into getting russian dwarfs. I have read that russian dwarfs are more "tame" than syrians? Is this true? Also, I was also considering getting a pair (Male and Female). However, would they not become as tame and friendly towards me if they had eachother? (I know this is true for many birds, wondering if it is the same for hamsters).

Also, I have always used cages for my hamsters, which they seemd to love to climb on. I was considering getting a tank with a screen lid this time. Would this be suitable for dwarfs? Do they love to climb as much as syrian hamsters? If so, what is the best decorations to add into a tank so that they can climb. What would be a good size tank for a pair of dwarfs? And can the male always be left with the female when they breed? Or does it depend on the hamsters temperment?

Thanks, :hamster1:

[piggy101]

its good that u ask before u got them (it helps to get info before u buy buy them so u dont have to worry if u have the right stuff.
TAMING:It mainly depands on the hammy. Two or more in the same cage it doesnt matter*u have to play with them just about everyday.THey can become wild if not handled.
CAGES: Tanks are a good choice with dwarfs. It depands. its up to u.I like tanks for my hammies.
CLIMBING:They can climb with tubes(not as good as syrians)but u can get them.
BREEDING:Here is the biggest question before u do this ask yourself do u have the time,money,skills to know what your doing. Yes the pups are cute but when they get bigger they need their own cage to be in, and they should get checked by a vet when they get bigger too.When the female is about to have hammies the male can be left in the cage but the only problem is he will mate with her 24hrs after she has had the pups. The male does help the female with the birth but mateing again after 24hrs is hard on the mom.
MATEING:Russian dwarf hammies mate year round so they can have pups any time of the year.
EXTRA THINGS:Wheels can be in the tanks toliet paper rolls can be in there,little toys that are made for hammies can be put in the tank also.
BUDDIES:If u dont want babies but u want two hammies u should get hammies of the same genders. Males can be in the cage if introduced at a young age. Same with females but they seem to get along anyways.Here is also a point where it depands on the hammies.

Hope this helps you with the dwarfs.If u get them post it on here.

[smokey21]

Thanks for the inforamtive reply piggy101. I will handle the hamsters each day, so whether I have one or two does not depend on how tame they will be?

As for breeding, you said that the male will try and mate again after 24hrs of the pups birth, so do you remove you're male (assuming u breed them) after 24 hours? How long do you wait to return him if you do remove him.

Also, how many dwarfs could comfortably live in a 10 gal. aquarium? Aside from having more than one of the same gender (Buddies), When breeding, do the dwarf hamsters have to be in pairs (M & F) or can they also be in trios (1M 2F)?

I don't want to cram a bunch of dwarfs into one tank, I want to make sure they have plenty of room to live. But If I were to get two females now, and maybe in a few months get a male, would that work out? Just an idea.

Thanks

[smokey21]

Sorry, I forgot to add something else.

How much work is involved in breeding dwarfs? I have bred/handfed lovebirds in the past, which was lots of work, but very rewarding. How difficult/ or how much work is involved in breeding dwarfs compared to lovebirds? And does it get to a point where the dwarfs will "produce like mice", or is it tollerable?

Thanks

[Revenge]

Yeah you need to have more resreach on the breeding if your planning to breed them and yes leave the male with the female if there at a proper young age such as 3-5 months old

[piggy101]

yes i did bred them not too long ago. I removed the male because i didnt want her to have anymore pups. i havent put the male back in with her because the girl babies are still in with the mom.As for them being tame no it doesnt matter how many hammies you have just as long as u hold them. I say about 2 or 3 can be in a 10 gallon tank. When breeding they have to be in pairs(m&F) i wouldnt do 1m&2f because then u would have them male try to mate with both females then you would have to split up the 2 females cause if they were both pregnant one pup might go to the wrong mom and have a different scent and the wrong mom might to kill them. and u will have a lot of pups and will need alot of cages. mayb if u want 3 get 3 females alone or 3 males alone i think that would be better. Work really isnt in with breeding dwarf hammies. The mom does most of the work.U just give her fresh food and water.Leave the cage alone for 18 days and on the 18th day u can hold hammies.
******* if u do want to bred them think about it for a month than post it and ill give you more info.***** Hammies have pups anywhere from 18 - 21days. Then u have to wait 18 more days before u can hold them. THey mustly have 4-7 pups but they can have up to 14 pups. Like said if want more info post it on here ill help u.

[Revenge]

my hamster just had her pups and there just 11-12 days old and they just had their eyes opened yesterday. I thought you hold them on the 21st day

[Revenge]

piggy if you want to see what my pups look like I will give u a photo of them

[piggy101]

yea why not i like looking at hammies. no u can hold baby hamsters at the age of 18 or 19 days the mom will freak a first but she'll be fine.did u get to see my hammies ??? I'll show u guys if you's want to see them.Need any more info smokey21??? Are u still getting dwarfs?????

[smokey21]

Hi piggy101,
Yes, I'm still getting dwarfs. I am getting a pair (M&F). I'll be using a 10 gal tank with a screen lid. I will be using aspen shavings. I was thinking of adding some little hide-aways, two, incase they want to get away from eachother. I will also get a wheel for them to play on. Feeding dish, drinking bottle... and I'll add some paper towel tubes for fun and some to chew on.

How does that sound? Am I missing anything? I will probobly get them in a few weeks. I am also looking around at different breeders in my area to see what they have available.

Let me know if there is anything I am forgetting.

[wheels]

The proper age to begin handling a hamster pup is 18-21 days. I begin holding them at about 18 days of age. I guess it is just personal preference.

Breeding is a lot of work. Be prepared for 3-10 babies per litter, per a russian dwarf. You must remove the male as soon as you have seen them mating, otherwise they will continue mating, which can cause illness. You should not return the male to the cage, because as long as the male is inside of the cage, he will mate with the female, and you will have more pups. I would only recommend 2 russian dwarf's per a 10 gallon tank. They tend to fight when you add more then 2 to a tank. If you were using a larger tank, say a 20 gallon, then you could try having 2-4 dwarfs in the cage, but always be prepared to separate them if they do not get along.

Also, if you buy a pet store hamster, do not breed them. It is frowned upon in the hamster world, as you know nothing about the backround of the hamsters being bred. If you plan on breeding, I recommend getting the hamsters from a reptuable breeder.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.

[Revenge]

My litter doesn't get weaned till the 6th so am going to have to wait awhile

[smokey21]

Hi wheeles,
What you are saying is the opposite of what I have been reading and been told. It sounds like you are talking about syrian hamsters. From what I understand, russian dwarf males help out the female while she is giving birth, and generally do not fight with eachother if introduced at a young age. But I'm still learning. Do you breed russian dwarfs?

[Revenge]

Its good to learn something new

[SBonnier]

Hi Smokey21, please go to the link below and check out my post about Russian Dwarf hamsters. I recently purchased a large number of them from a dealer so that I could start raising them myself. I have raised syrian hamster most of my life, (47 years old now) and have found the dwarfs to be a lot more more nasty tempered than syrians. I have had them for about 4 weeks and have not even attempted to handle them without gloves or a container. The first week I had them the back of my right hand was covered in nip marks from just trying to change their water dish. I quickly bought them bottles to save my hands. The babies I talk about in my post that were eating each other were only 7 weeks old, so, as you can see, if you breed them, seperate them as quickly as you can. Some of my friends who felt bad for me with the situation I got into with the dwarfs, bought me a tort colored teddy hamster. He's only been here 3 days and he's already hand tamed and crawls around on my desk everynight. I'm not saying every dwarf is nasty-tempered, but at least try to handle the animals before you buy them and check them over carefully for mites or bite marks. Good luck with your decision!

http://www.petshub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20145

[Revenge]

*reads notes then copys them down*

[wheels]

smokey, sometimes the father will help with the babies, and sometimes he will not. There is always a chance that the father will go after the babies, or kill the babies. Even if you were to leave him in there with the babies, within a week or so, he would begin to mate with the female again, meaning you would end up with more pups then initially thought.

Yes, I have bred russian dwarf's before. I do not breed to sell though. I only breed to keep as pets. As of now, I have 1 syrian hamster, and 3 russian dwarf hamsters. Now, my russian dwarf's were raised from babies, so they are friendly, although they can get nippy at times.

As previoulsy stated, any dwarf hamster is not going to be as tame as a syrian hamster. From personal experience, syrian hamsters are easier to tame, and are more friendly in nature. Russian dwarf's can be very nippy, and can break the skin often. Russian dwarf's, or any dwarf for that matter, will be more snippy or nippy then a syrian hamster. If raised correctly, they can be semi-friendly, but will always have a nasty side to them. Another reason to buy only from a reptuable breeder.

[Texas Hamsters]

I'm getting really scared after reading these posts. My little precious dwarf babies are 21 days today. I was coming on here to ask how to tell the difference in their gender when I start reading about mites and cannabalism. If something like that happens I will just die. Please tell me this is rare. I have 2 children that adore these animals, as well as myself. If they see something like that, I just don't know. Please someone reassure me. I'm so depressed now.... :(

[Revenge]

how our syrians easier to tame my sisters took like forever to tame it

[Revenge]

how our syrians easier to tame my sisters took like forever to tame it till it was 8 months old

[Texas Hamsters]

Revenge-
Please tell me that my little hamster babies will not eat each other. Please tell me that.

[wheels]

Texas Hamsters, your hamsters are of a good age, so cannabalism is highly unlikely. Mites are also semi-rare in hamsters, but if one of your hamsters was to get mites, it is easily treatable with ivermectin. As long as you raise your hammies correctly, you should have no problems.

Revenge, it depends on where you get the hamster from for one. If you got it from a pet store, it is obvious why it took so long to tame. It also depends on the age of the hamster when bought or adopted. A young hamster is much easier to tame then a older hamster. Another factor is the technique in which you tamed the hamster. When you buy or adopt a hamster, you should leave it be for about a week or so. You can feed it a lot of treats though, as this will get him or her used to your scent. After the week, you should handle the hamster a little bit every day, until he or she is fully comfortable in being held by a human. You have to remember that these little creatures see us as a danger to them.

[Revenge]

I will agree with steve on that they won't even eat eachother but if you had the females in together and started having a cat fight you need to get the one that started the fight in a different cage.

[Revenge]

I offer them tiny trinkets as gifts (trinkets that our bigger then there jaws

[Revenge]

such as a top of a stock car as a bed that as the top cut off

[Texas Hamsters]

I wanted to give away the males (if I can ever figure out which ones they are) and keep the females with their mothers. I have 2 moms with babies in separate cages. Do you think this is a good idea. I wanted to keep them all, but thats impossible. Thank you both so much for the quick replies and knowledge. I'm learning as I go. I've done research, but whats on a page and whats in a cage are 2 different things I find. Thanks again
Lori

[wheels]

If each of the mothers has had seperate litters, then keeping them in different cages is the way to go. If you could tell me how many babies each has had, I can assist more with your caging situation.

[SBonnier]

Hi Texas, I don't mean to scare anyone, just try to make them aware of what CAN and does sometimes happen in the hamster world. As far as sexing them, that's why my 5 older babies were still in the same cage, because I could not tell the sex. Unless you can pick them up and handle them completely, I found it impossible to tell the sexes. I even tried putting them in a glass and looking at them with a magnifying glass!!

Sometimes when any animal is in-bred, it can bring out every bad trait and also intensify bad traits, such as temperment. I really don't know what made these babies start eating each other. It just helped me to decide that I really didn't want to be raising this type of animal to sell to children. Your best bet is to seperate them at 4 weeks old and hope for the best.

[Texas Hamsters]

Bubbles has 4 very fat and active babies
Clover has 5 smaller babies, but all alive!!
They both had litters within a day of each other. I bought each female as a solitary animal for my two children to each have. Low and behold, 2 weeks after I have them home, babies...babies..babies. I took both cages out of kids rooms and became the only person taking care of these animals. I am only now letting the kids back in the picture. I still won't let them handle the babies. I'm too scared. They are eating like crazy and are now drinking from the water bottle. I want to keep them, but I don't want them mating with each other. I don't want anymore babies, just the little darlings I have now. Thanks for any advice you can give. Sorry about the rambling.. :)

[Revenge]

and if you want to have a colony before giving the babies away put them into separte cateorgys like the ones that our soicalble the ones that or male or female if there dwarfs

[wheels]

Personally, I would only keep 2 dwarf hamsters to a cage, unless you test it out, and know that more of them will get along. Since they have been together since the beginning, you might be able to keep 3-4 hamsters to a cage. Just make sure to seperate the males from the females. :)

[Texas Hamsters]

They are dwarfs. I can't tell which are male and which are female. I'm not sure what to do. I guess I need to buy another cage. They are all very social. It is a strange thing though, in each cage there is one baby who acts like a little bully. You must think I have no life. I watch them a lot. I wanted to add that I called petco and told them that they had sold me 11 hamsters for the price of 2 and they said that they would take them off of my hands if I needed them to. I don't think so. I've found homes for 2 so far. (males) I try to hold them by the scruff of the neck and look at their bottoms, but I have no idea what I'm looking at and the babies DO NOT like me holding them like this. What do I do? I don't want more babies.
Lori

[Revenge]

Wheels have u ever thought of studying to be vet after High School

[wheels]

http://www.petwebsite.com/sexing.htm

Hopefully that website can be of assistance. Once you get the hang of it, sexing a hamster is very very easy,

[wheels]

Revenge, yes I have considered it. I am still unsure on what study to go into after I complete high school.

[Texas Hamsters]

Thanks! I will definitely check out the site. Thanks for the help and listening to my confused soul.
Lori

[wheels]

Not a problem. That is what we are here for.

If that site is not of any assistance to you, just go to google.com, and type in hamster sexing. You will get loads and loads of results.

[piggy101]

is there a certian class u have to go to open a petshop.I think i would love to open my own pet shop. I know there is a certian kind of school for the vet thing but where would u go that would be cool. were would i start for opening a pet shop???

[Revenge]

Oh sweet maybe I will go to you for problems with my pets one day

[Texas Hamsters]

I feel so bad right now. I gave away my baby dwarfs. They are 3 weeks old. I feel like it was too soon. Did I do the right thing? Someone tell me I did. I finally got them divided by sex. Ended up with 5 males, 4 females. I kept all the girls with the moms and let go of the boys. I miss them so much. I didn't think it would be this bad. I am so sad!!

[Revenge]

don't be sad you did what was right you found them new homes instead of a petstore thats like hell to these animals

[wheels]

You did the right thing. You knew that you would not be able to handle that many hamsters, and I am sure you gave them away to loving homes, where you know they will get the attention they deserve. Just move on, and appreciate your female hammies. :)

[Revenge]

Good luck with your new family members

[piggy101]

Revenge were u talking to me or to wheels??? U said "Oh sweet maybe I will go to you for problems with my pets one day" who were u talking to???Just asking. Does anybody else need answers???

[Revenge]

Translation: It means that I might go to him for medical resreach on my pets health

[piggy101]

anybody else need answers??? Lets go back to smokey21 do u need anything else??? Did u get ur hammies????

[smokey21]

Hey piggy,

Actually, i'm not getting Russian dwarfs anymore. Instread I am getting Roborovskii hamsters this week. I found a breeder near by. I will keep you posted!

[piggy101]

o ok if u need any help just ask.

[Revenge]

Yeah I have a question how can hamters have there back green

[piggy101]

well what do u mean green???

[Revenge]

thats what I was wanting to ask Da one but hey he might of put me in the ignore list

[piggy101]

ok .green????