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How to breed hamsters is a question that eventually comes up for those who are serious about these pets. Sometimes the question arises simply because there is a desire to have more and sometimes it’s based on a desire to profit from the sale of hamsters.
Either way, breeding any kind of animal should be taken seriously. The same applies to hamsters. There are some basic steps that you should learn before deciding to breed your hamster. In addition, you might want to invest in a book on how to breed hamsters to ensure that you are covering all the basics properly.
Another good tip is to check with your local vet and see if they can offer you any tips. If you don’t have a personal vet, it is easy to find one close to you by doing a simple search online. It is also a good idea to touch base with other local hamster breeders if you can find one.
Here are some things that you should know about hamster breeding.
- One of the first things you will need to do is to learn how to distinguish between your male and female hamsters. Obviously, you will need to pair them up appropriately or the possibility of breeding is zero.
- It’s also important that your hamsters be of the proper age for breeding. Generally speaking, you want your females to be in the range of 4-5 months minimum and your males to be close to 2-3 months old.
- When at all possible, you want to breed hamsters that are from different families but make sure they are from the same breed. In other words, you really want to stay away from breeding siblings.
- Female hamsters can be ready to breed every 4 days when the time is right but you have to make sure that they are compatible. There are some instances where they will begin to fight so you must be prepared to go in and separate them before any injuries happen.
- If you have observed a successful mating period, make sure that your female hamster is equipped with food, water, and adequate nesting materials. During this time, it is often best to leave her at peace.
- Once you have had a successful mating, you will start to see some obvious signs around 10 days into the process. The female’s stomach will begin to increase in size. A few days later, you will want to clean her cage and give her some new nesting material.
- You can normally expect her to give birth around the 16th day. This is not written in stone but it will be close to that time.
- It is highly important that you do not touch the cage or the baby hamsters until at least a few weeks have elapsed. This could endanger the babies as the human scent could make them unrecognizable to the mother and she may ingest them as a result.
- After about 3.5-4 weeks, you can separate the males and females and take them from the mother. You should never give them away as pets before 4 weeks minimum.
- If you are going to consider breeding the same mother again in the future, it is advised to wait for about 4 months before having her mated again.
Learning how to breed hamsters properly takes time and experience so you should use every resource available to gain additional knowledge.
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Source by Liz Andrews
