sterile hamster???

[ilovepinchy]

:confused: ive had my hamsters for a while now, and i figured its time for them to breed. i have 2 empty cages anyway. so they've been together in a cage for about two months now, and no babies. i see the boy...do stuff...but still no babies. this was also a problem with the last girl hamster i had. she was with the boy...and they would do stuff...but no babies. is it possible that my boy hamster is sterile???:confused:

[bubblz]

For what reason's are you trying to breed?

[Moosley]

-what breed are they?
-what colour are they? (in hamster terms not 'brown')
-where did you get them from?
-how old are they?
-what is their genetic history etc?
-what cage are they in?
-can you afford vet bills if the female is in trouble giving birth?
-what if the female has 20+ babies? will you have enough cages then?

the list goes on forever and i assure you, you won't get ANY support in breeding your hamsters on this website.

[Pepperland]

What breed are they? If either hamster is half Campbells dwarf and half Russian dwarf, then they are the sterile one. It's not necessarily the male.

If you're trying to breed them, they are most likely pet store hamsters, and they aren't the best to breed. You have to know their genes. Do you know who the parents are, or even what breed they are?? Get a pair of hamsters from a reputable breeder. This is where genes come in handy, because genes are probably what is stopping you from having pups. How long ago did you breed your hamsters?

Haha, I'm sorry guys for telling so much and not even ever breeding hamsters... lol

[bubblz]

Peperland good post.....WHen I saw you posted her I was scared for what you way write but that was very good

[Moosley]

Russian Dwarves can be both Campbells or Winter Whites so the proper name needs to be used...

Also, Campbell/Winter White hybrids ARE still sterile, that is why it is such a huge problem, in America is is especially hard to find a pure bred dwarf hamster.

[TiaMaria]

Yea I agree, greta post Pepper. You are learning so much! *tear* lol!

[Pepperland]

Whoo! Ahh, sorry, yes it is Winter white. My error.

Hey, I'm curious; what breed of hamster do petstores usually sell?

[Moosley]

if they are sold as 'russian' then they are more than likely to be hybrids or campbells

[TiaMaria]

In the petstore I have close there are Campbells but I've been to other stores who have hybrids such a petland. You have to know how to look for a hybrid in order to avoid it.

[bubblz]

The petco near me only has syrians. and the petsmart near me usually only has syrians,robo's or chinese dwarfs, on very rear occasions they have winter whites.
There there is a sketchy small pet store that has campbell's and winter white in the same cages so they're probably hybrid's too.

[TiaMaria]

Yea I've always got everything from a breeder or people who don't want their hammies. I wouldn't breed any who I dont know the genetic background to.

[bubblz]

No way...That's just bad news....I guess when yo udo that it makes you a hamster Back "yard" breeder ....LOL

[Sparky2006]

humm my pet store sell mainly syrian hammies, but i thing there are dwarfs too, but not sure the breed or anhthing.

[Pepperland]

My Petco sells Campbells, and Petland sells Campbells too. The only way I can tell is by their colors. I mean, I've seen a *few* Winter Whites at Petland...

[LMDH]

Also, Campbell/Winter White hybrids ARE still sterile, that is why it is such a huge problem, in America is is especially hard to find a pure bred dwarf hamster.

Dont you mean ARE NOT sterile? Hybrids can breed quite well, no problems with them being sterile.

[Sparky2006]

but it amy be 1 off...

[Pepperland]

Dont you mean ARE NOT sterile? Hybrids can breed quite well, no problems with them being sterile.

I actually read that they are sterile. I read on the internet a few days ago that when you breed Winter White with Campbells, they're (usually) sterile, so it said that the "problem almost ends there." But, these hybrids are still around the US, and some people are entering them in shows, so that was one of the things the article stressed about, like how judges wouldn't accept these hybrids that the owners claimed to be Winter Whites or Campbells, because they'd never seen a Campbell dwarf with Winter White features, or the other way around. Besides, if you were to breed a Winter White male to a Campbells female, it would kill the female because Winter Whites have larger heads than Campbells, so the babies' heads would be too big at birth, so you'd be losing both the mother and her babies (unless you got a C-section for her, but that could kill her too).
Only Winter Whites can give birth to these hybrids.

[LMDH]

They are most certainly NOT sterile, I have bred them myself without knowing they were hybrids, we thought they were a new colour mutation, and believe me they are very fertile.

Both Campbells and WWs can give birth to these hybrids. Yes Campbells mums are at more risk due to head size, but is usually only a factor with a direct mating of WW to Campbell - or hybrid that is mostly WW to Campbell.

The problem we have in the UK is that these hybrids ARE breeding and breeding very well. We have hamsters that look like WWs coming into our lines only to find out many generations back there was a Campbell/WW mating. In other European countries they breed hybrids as they dont split WWs and Campbells into 2 different species, and they have no problem breeding these hamsters.

In the UK we seem to have got the message across to people that WW to Campbell mating is very wrong and we dont see people doing it. What we are seeing though are hamsters that appear to be WWs mated with WWs, and hamsters that appear to be Campbells mated with Campbells - but these hamsters are imposters, they are infact hybrids. The hybrid mating may have been 10 generations back, then one hybrid put into a pure WW (or Campbell) line, but that still means the resulting offspring are hybrids.

We are having to be VERY careful about where we get our breeding stock from. Breeders here keep excellent records and unless a hamster has a full background with it, we dont breed from it.

So hybrids as far as Europe goes are NOT sterile. And this would make sense for USA and other countries too. Hyrbids are everywhere at the moment, so it doesnt make sense for them to be sterile.

[LMDH]

Pictures for you:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/littlemissdwarfhamster/Mushrooms/mushroompair2e.jpg

A very pregnant 'pure' ww female with her 'hybrid' partner.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/littlemissdwarfhamster/Mushrooms/wwlitterbrown4.jpg

Their babies :-)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/littlemissdwarfhamster/Mushrooms/Mushroompair2babies1.jpg

Male babies when bigger. Dont seem to have any pics of the girls :-/

Once I discovered the Dad was a hybrid, he was not bred again. He now has a nice pet home. All the offspring were rehomed as pets too. Mummy hamster stayed with me until going to live with a little boy who wanted a nice show hamster (no breeding).

Nice ending for all my lot. But you can see they did breed, and they did so very easily - thats why it is a problem.

[TiaMaria]

They are very cute babies but still hybrids :(

[LMDH]

I was very annoyed when I found out they were hybrids, but they all did get lovely pet only homes.

[TiaMaria]

thats a good thing! :)