| Hamster Breeding FAQ's |
| Find all the RodentGuy's Page 4 - answers on hamster keeping: "I want to breed my hamsters. What do I do first ?" RG sez - First, breeding any animal species is not something that should be entered into lightly. You have to do your homework. Learn all you can about the species, including recognizing different traits /colors/ coats , the standard of perfection (show standards), genetic traits, fatal genes, and possible flaws. You should know the laws that cover your area. Next, what will you do with the offspring? Do you plant to keep the babies, all of them? Do you have friends and family that will take them? Or do you have a market to which you can sell them? Syrians could birth 15 or more babies in a litter. Some dwarfs could have litter after litter at intervals of every 18-21 and those baby RDH could be having babies of their own after 6 weeks. These numbers are stagering. You have to have a plan and a back up plan. Additional cages, equipment and feed will cost you money. If you want to get make some bucks trying to do something, you had better play the lotto. "I bought a syrian hamster at the pet shop last week and this week it have babies! What do I do now? " RG sez - Let momma be as much as possible. DO NOT touch the babies or nest. Feed her a good diet, make sure she has fresh water with plenty of peace and quiet. Offer her some scrambled eggs, about a teaspoon the first time. Then a teaspoon or two every day or so there after, increasing this as the babies grow and start sharing moms food. Call the shop where you purchased the momma and strike a deal. Do this well before the babies are ready at about 4 weeks old Maybe you can trade them for food, bedding and supplies for your hamster or other pets. The babies must be divided into cages, one for males and one for female at about 4 weeks of age. This is the best time to also get them out of the mothers cage, and off to a new home. "We brought home a pair of boy dwarf hamsters last month, now we have babies! The cage needs to be clean badly! What do we do?" RG sez - You can clean part of the cage, but make sure not to disturb the area where she has the nest. Look carefully, sometimes dad may have some of the babies in another nest..... if needed, use a clean spoon to move the babies.... once their eyes are open, you can pick them up very gently. The female will alread y be pregant again, and it taked about 18-21 days before the nexr litter comes along. By this time dad will have to be removed with the boys...Check the older litter.... determine which are baby males, and place them in with dad, right after you have thoroughly cleaned his cage// do it soon, so he still accepts them as little ones..... leave the baby girls with mom to help with the new babies.... in 3 week, check for more male babies, and move them in with dad and brothers, using the same procedure. Then you will have a cage of boys and one of girls and no more babies! here is a link to help with the chore of sexing: > "Is it okay to keep 2 syrian hamsters (male/emale) in the same cage?" RD sez - NO! Syrians are loners by nature and while they may seem OK during the day light, you may wake up one morning to find one seriously injured or even dead. Young syrian hamsters (under 8 weeks of age) maybe OK together for a while, but soon the fighting will start. IF they are opposite sexes, then they can mate and produce unwanted babies, but the babies may not survive, since the mother would be very nervous having another hamster around and will either ignore them or kill part or all of the litter ...and eat them. Please put the hamsters in separate cages ASAP! Breeding hamsters is a big undertaking and should not be gone about haphazardly..... If you are going to breed, learn all you can before letting them together. At 8-10 weeks the female is way too young to be a mom... she should be at least 3 months old before attempting to breed. (more on the breeding of syrain hamsters coming soon!) Breeding and marketing hamsters. ... for more info Please email me with the subject line "HamsterBreedMarket101"... There is a small fee for a 6 month tutorial, you must have PayPal. |
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