Need info on hamster breeding, good or bad? give me info

[TrevorKidd]

I do not yet have a male just a female And I would like to breed hamsters, is it good to breed them? You need to help me out here and give me info.

[f1uffster]

I will give advice that I have gleaned from the web over the past week or so since my hammies unexpectedly got in together! :eek:
(My hammy 'MAY' be expecting a litter of tiny bundles of joy in a week or so :p )

You have to ask yourself several questions..

firstly, have you got the time and inclination to care for a pregnant hammie and her pups.. ie. Extended diet and preperation for the birth...
Secondly, do you have the means financially, to care for the bubbies... you will need to seperate the babies from mum at some point, so will need extra caging.

You havent stated which hammies you have, but please bear in mind hamsters can have up to 20 odd babies... can you home (or rehome) this many? :eek:

Have you read up on breeding hammies and their genetics to know which breeds MUST NOT be bred (ie 2 white bellies are likely produce some blind pups)

Is your female healthy?

I am sure there are a LOT more points to cover, but these are just a few to consider...

I must say tho... the excitement of my Cupid being pregnant is thrilling... I'm really begininng to hope that her and morph did successfully 'get it on' :D
Infact, if there are no babies, I may consider getting them looked over by the vet, and mating them on purpose in the near future...

(Before anyone slams me, the possiblilty of them already being parents, I have found 9 (yes 9!) possible homes for the potential offspring just incase)

I really hope that helps!

[christen]

i think breeding is bad since theres plenty of homeless hamsters waiting for a good home.

on the other hand, i had an accidental litter. baby hamsters are so sweet. they're easier to tame/get used to you. mine give kisses. they're a lot more calm around me than their parents.

thats just my opinion on the matter. keep me posted on what you decide.

[TrevorKidd]

okay f1 you said if hamsters have white bellies there might be blind pups? My hamster has a white belly I will get ups some pictures soon, my female is very healthy I get her vet checked evry now and then, i have a long haired teddy-bear (it looks like a short haired but is actually long), I am going to ask some of my friends if they were wanting a hamster. Now how big does the extra cage have to be? well thanks again.

[riegfinnid]

there're a lot of hamsters in shelters, at least where i am
without knowning genetics, dont even THINK about breeding. its a lot of time and work.
Finding GOOD homes is not easy either. You may have 9 homes lined up, but i guarantee you that some of them will back out on it.
A lot of people who get hamsters also get them without knowing much, and those poor babies die because people just dont know any better. Also, another reason why it can be hard to find homes is because hamsters are cheap...so unless you're giving them away for free why should people get them from YOU when they can just go to a petstore

dont breed. a lot of things can go wrong...are you really willing to risk YOUR female hamster's life because you want some cute babies?

[riegfinnid]

oh and its not ONE extra cage you need to have, you will need to get TWO or three extra cages to seperate males from females (away from the mother)...and one extra in case some babies start fighting


oh and you're what, 14? 15? do you really think people will consider you a 'serious' breeder.

you dont know what you're getting into. dont be stupid.

[f1uffster]

oh and you're what, 14? 15? do you really think people will consider you a 'serious' breeder.

you dont know what you're getting into. dont be stupid.

I'm sorry, is this aimed at me??

[riegfinnid]

no, the original poster.

and no need to get all defensive if you ARE that age.
some kids are responsible, but not all.
and trust me, i would be skeptical about a 15 yr old 'breeder' and so would be pretty much everyone else. lol

[HammysRme]

im turning 15 in october but ive bred my hammys and it was easy and fun for me. but at the same time alot of work. If you are responsible and you REALLY want to do it and are willing to do what ever you can to bring up the babies right, i say go for it. If you want to talk with me privately my screen name for AIM is static x treme90 and my email is caitycool@bellsouth.net or if you have yahoo my sn is justatadfishy, and that goes for anyone else who would like to talk to me privately =P

[f1uffster]

sorry about getting defensive.. it was the thought of being called stupid that got my back up.

I am not going to hog this thread, but I just feel the need to stress that I am a mature woman, with more than the ability and resources to care for as many hammies as my cupid may (or may not) produce...


Trevor... I think you've got your answer tho!
Good luck with whatever decision you make, but whatever you do, dont make it lightly... this may be a hobby, but its also the lives of your pets and any offspring they may produce.

Take care...

[riegfinnid]

lol i never called anyone stupid...i said dont BE stupid.

its easy to get hamsters to breed, but its hard to do it PROPERLY (as in proper food, genetics, handling and so on.)

[f1uffster]

ok, fair enough...

I accept you make a good point... there are many irresponsible breeders about but i feel you need a gentler approach to giving advice.

If you get someones back up, they are unlikely to listen to the good advice you have to offer....

[riegfinnid]

well i thought you gave good advice too but you glorified a bit the whole breeding thing. Some one has to be harsh around here.
As cute as the babies are, its A LOT of work. Especially finding homes.

[Chaos]

I bred a single litter. I did everything right too. I did tons of research on genetics, picked parents with excellent temperaments, did hours upon hours of research on special care for mom and babies. Smudge had 12, and we lost all but 5. She was just an inexperienced mom I guess, she rejected the rest of the babies. One little runt in paticular I was really pulling for. He was so small, so I named him Tiny. I thought he was going to survive too, he made it to day 10. But I guess he was just too small. It was heartwrenching losing him. Be prepared to lose babies. I don't know if you can prepare to find cold little bodies one morning. But breeding isn't all cute babies.

Also finding GOOD homes isn't as easy as you think. I had 10 homes lined up before I even bred. Only one of those kept their word, and I ended up keeping of 4 the babies.

[HammysRme]

I bred a single litter. I did everything right too. I did tons of research on genetics, picked parents with excellent temperaments, did hours upon hours of research on special care for mom and babies. Smudge had 12, and we lost all but 5. She was just an inexperienced mom I guess, she rejected the rest of the babies. One little runt in paticular I was really pulling for. He was so small, so I named him Tiny. I thought he was going to survive too, he made it to day 10. But I guess he was just too small. It was heartwrenching losing him. Be prepared to lose babies. I don't know if you can prepare to find cold little bodies one morning. But breeding isn't all cute babies.

Also finding GOOD homes isn't as easy as you think. I had 10 homes lined up before I even bred. Only one of those kept their word, and I ended up keeping of 4 the babies.

Yea Chaos is totally right. Alot of my friends backed out at the last second too so i had a hard time finding homes for all 14. I kept two of them. I'm thankful that all of the 14 babies survived. Sorry for your loss Chaos. That stinks that after all of that research youve done, only 5 survived.

[riegfinnid]

Thanks guys. That was my point exactly: things can go wrong and its hard to find good homes. REALLY hard.

[Zouave]

I do not yet have a male just a female And I would like to breed hamsters, is it good to breed them? You need to help me out here and give me info.


No, it is NOT good to breed them.

When there are no more unwanted and unloved hamsters needing to be rescued people can consider breeding, but ONLY if they are experts who have studied a lot and have good homes ready for the hamsters.

DO NOT BREED.

[o0sapphirerat0o]

No, I don't think it is any good to breed them. I know of a shelter that has about 5-6 syrians in need of a home.

Plus even when you are 100% sure the female is in heat, the male and female (You mentioned you had a syrian) can still fight and injure/kill each other! Syrians are extreme solitary hamsters.

plus once the babies are weaned, you have to have a cage for EACH BABY, 10 babies, 10 cages, 10 water bottles, 10 food bowls, 10 wheels, 10 "sets" of toys. Lots of bedding, lots of "nesting' material and hide boxs, not cheap ;)

save yourself the trouble and don't do it.

[HammysRme]

No, I don't think it is any good to breed them. I know of a shelter that has about 5-6 syrians in need of a home.

Plus even when you are 100% sure the female is in heat, the male and female (You mentioned you had a syrian) can still fight and injure/kill each other! Syrians are extreme solitary hamsters.

plus once the babies are weaned, you have to have a cage for EACH BABY, 10 babies, 10 cages, 10 water bottles, 10 food bowls, 10 wheels, 10 "sets" of toys. Lots of bedding, lots of "nesting' material and hide boxs, not cheap ;)

save yourself the trouble and don't do it.

Youll only need all of those cages etc. if you are planning to keep them all.. otherwise youll only need a few cages--one for the girls- one for the boys and an extra for the trouble makers ;) and if you do decide to breed them, just make sure to keep a watchful eye on them so they wont fight. If they do decide to, wear gloves and take a pencil or an object that you can separate them with. If the mating does take place and all goes well, they only need to be together for at least a good 20min. before separating them.

[o0sapphirerat0o]

Actually You DO need that many. What if no one wants them, or they back out, the babies will need to be seperated BEFORE they start fighting!

[HammysRme]

Thats why you get as many people as you can BEFORE you breed your hamsters... put up ads in the newspaper, talk you your friends, put up a sign at your work billboard.. do anything that'll help you get people

[Fluff N Roll]

why do you want to breed them any way???? :rolleyes:

[o0sapphirerat0o]

Thats great, but things happen, people DO back out, and besides, if you just give them away (even for a small fee) you have to do some kind of research on the person to make sure they know what they are doing to take care of the animal.

[christen]

i had an accidental the litter. i was 2 days in to being a new hamster mom for the ones i just got and all my pups turned out fine. she only had 6 but 1 died immediately. [this is how i found out 1 of my 'boys' was a girl.

however i couldnt find a single home. someone JUST emailed me about them. but im already too attached. i have dwarf hamsters though.

i really think if you're just breeding to give them away you shouldn't. pregnancies are a lot of stress and work for a female. if your friends want hamsters theres plenty at the pet store.. and maybe a shelter if you have one near you.

[Artagiel]

Actually You DO need that many. What if no one wants them, or they back out, the babies will need to be seperated BEFORE they start fighting!


Or mating :hamster1: :hamster1: :hamster1: :hamster1: :hamster1: