Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Purchasing hamsters for breeding
• Part 2 of 3: Breeding hamsters
• Part 3 of 3: The birth of hamsters
• Tips
• Warnings

Lovely, goofy hamsters that are so easy to care for are great pets. Taking a responsible approach to breeding hamsters can be an interesting and rewarding activity, as well as a great way to supply your neighbors and children's friends with pets. With some preparation and planning, it's simple. If you have a place to house your hamsters, here's what you need to do.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Purchasing hamsters for breeding

1. 1 Decide what type of hamster you want to have. Syrian hamsters are great pets, in part because they are loners, but they can be difficult to breed. If the male and female are introduced at the wrong time, they can start fighting. Dzungarian hamsters can be biting with people, but they are more socialized with their relatives and easier to breed.
   • There are also Russian hamsters, as well as many other species. If you are purchasing hamsters from a breeder, talk about the different varieties of hamsters to find out how socialized they are, or vice versa to get some idea of ​​the breeding process.
2. 2 Buy a male and a female. It is best to purchase hamsters from a breeder so that you have a wide variety of hamster colors and shapes. It's also a good idea to learn about the hamster's pedigree history.
   • The pet store often sells related hamsters or mestizo of different breeds, which it is undesirable to breed. Also, often in the pet store it can be difficult to determine the gender of hamsters.
3. 3 Choose healthy hamsters. Eyes should be clean, bright, fur smooth and shiny, and the hamsters should be active and interested in their surroundings.
4. 4 Purchase two large hamster cages. Plastic containers or aquariums are very suitable for breeding hamsters. Place each hamster in its own cage and place sawdust or other natural bedding on the bottom. Try not to use small sawdust as it gets in your hamsters' eyes and can harm their respiratory system.
   • Avoid using metal cages. Hamsters, especially toddlers, can crawl through the bars.
   • Get a small plastic hamster house for your hamsters to sleep in. Fill it with the same sawdust as the bottom of the cage.
   • It would be nice to get a running wheel for hamsters. Any wheel size is suitable for Dzungarian hamsters, but more than 20 cm for Syrian hamsters. The wheel should be plastic, not metal.
   • You will also need a drinker, bowl, hamster food, treats, and anything else you may need.
5. 5 After bringing the hamsters home, allow them to be alone for at least one day. Do not pet them or remove them from the cage, make sure that the hamster has enough to do without your intervention. It is best to start picking up your new hamster the day after you bring it home.

Part 2 of 3: Breeding hamsters

1. 1 Wait until the female is ready to breed. At the age of 28 days, hamsters become sexually mature. The female is ready to breed approximately every 4 days. In this case, her behavior is very similar to that of a cat: she begins to fall to the ground and lift her tail. You may also notice that the hamster begins to smell stronger due to the release of ferromones.
   • If the female is not ready to breed, trying to breed hamsters can be dangerous and backfire. The female will start to fight and can kill the male.
   • When planning to breed hamsters, place two cages close to each other for a few days so the hamsters can see each other, get used to each other, and the ferromones do their job.
2. 2 Place the female next to the male. Hamsters are nocturnal animals, so it's best to do this in the early evening. Place the hamsters in neutral territory, in a spare cage, as the female can attack the male if he is added to her in her territory. If the hamsters start to fight, plant one of them and try again another day.
   • Continue following the above steps until they pair. If you miss the moment when the female is ready, wait a few days until it comes again.
3. 3 Isolate the female after mating. While some male hamsters can take care of their offspring, others can eat them. It is better to protect yourself even if your hamster is very kind and caring, and to plant it for the period of pregnancy and childbirth, which takes about two weeks.
   • When breeding Dzungarian hamsters, the time to puberty and the duration of pregnancy are slightly longer. It can take anywhere from 4 months to a year for a Djungarian hamster to reach puberty, and pregnancy lasts about three weeks.

Part 3 of 3: The birth of hamsters

1. 1 Wait. At this stage, you must be patient and watch the progress. If the female is pregnant, this will become noticeable after a few days, and by the time she is ready to give birth, her sides will very clearly stick out. You do not need to do anything special, just do not roughly grab the female, it is better to leave her alone.
   • collecting food and nesting material for their nest. When labor begins, you will notice that the uterus begins to open and little pink bodies emerge from it. They will be born one after another, while she rushes around the cage, and one by one she will drag them into the nest.
   • When the female gives birth, do not try to intervene to help. Childbirth, especially the first birth, is often difficult for the female, but there is nothing you can do to help her at this stage. Just don't get involved, let nature do its thing.
2. 2 Babysitting. Now and for a while afterwards, you must not disturb the female in any way. If she leaves the kids at the bottom of the cage, you shouldn't touch them. If for any reason you need to do this, take a spoon, rub it well against the bedding in the cage, and then pick it up with the baby and return it to the nest.
3. 3 Let the mother take care of the children for three weeks without disturbing her or even cleaning the cage. Leave her, the cage and especially the little ones alone, except for the careful addition of food and water. This is especially important for a first-time mother who is under the influence of stress, there are times when she can kill and even eat her children.
   • Do not think that a mother is going to eat her children if she takes them in her mouth. This happens when she is scared and believes that they are in danger.
4. 4 Wait three and a half weeks. At this stage, it is safer to separate the young hamsters by sex by determining their gender. They become sexually mature at 5-6 weeks of age, and you do not need related breeding, which leads to genetic disorders. For another 2-3 weeks (until the hamsters go to their new owners) keep the females in one cage and the males in another.

Tips

• Do not disturb the mother who has given birth during the first days, as she may bite you or even eat her children.
• Avoid flash photography during childbirth, as the female requires silence and the flashes of light harm the eyes of newborn hamsters.
• You can see that the female is ready to mate by running her hand over her body. If it sinks to the ground or arches slightly, it may be ready.
• Make sure your hamsters are ready to mate before attempting to breed them.
• Don't worry if the mother kills or eats multiple babies in the first few weeks. This is normal behavior to weed out weak offspring that would not survive in nature.
• Loud music can make hamsters nervous.

Warnings

• Do not try to breed a female that is not ready to breed.