how do you breed a hamster?

Answer 1

When done responsibly, breeding hamsters can be fun and rewarding, but there are a few rules and tips that you may want to follow to prevent a "Hammie-Disaster!" Once you've got homes lined out for the hamsters-to-be, here's what to do.




Steps
Buying Your Hamsters
Decide what type of hamster(s) that you want. Syrian hamsters are good for breeding, and are quite friendly. Dwarf hamsters have a habit of nipping. Keep in mind that there are many more breeds to choose from.

Consider the color(s) of the hamster(s) you'd like to breed. In genetics, there are dominant color genes and recessive color genes. The dominant gene, naturally, will have a greater chance of appearing in the offspring than the recessive gene. By constructing a Punnett Square, you can determine the likeliness of the color of the offspring:


R r
r Rr Rr
r rr rr


Assuming that you have a black and white hamster, RR is a dominant black hamster, rr is a recessive white hamster, and Rr is a hybrid black hamster. A hybrid carries the gene of both the dominant and the recessive, but is more likely to produce recessive offspring.

If you are breeding a hybrid and a recessive [i.e. Rr and rr], as shown in the example, there is a 50% chance that a given offspring will carry the recessive genotype rr [white in color] and 50% chance that a given offspring will carry the hybrid genotype Rr [black in color].
Go to a good pet shop where the animals are cared for well. Local town pet stores are usually a better option over franchises.
Look for hamsters that are in good health. Make sure that their eyes are clear and bright, their fur is smooth and glossy, and that they look active and interested in their surroundings.



Welcoming Your Hamsters Home
Buy two large cages — one cage per hamster — and fill the bottom with wood shavings. Try to avoid sawdust, as this gets into hamsters' eyes and can affect their breathing. Supply the cages with the following:

Buy a small "hamster home" — that is, a mini house that can be placed inside of the cage. You can fill it with shredded paper or hay.
Buy a hamster wheel, water bottle, food bowl, hamster food, wood shavings and straw, and anything else that you might need.
When you bring each of your hamsters home, allow it at least an hour of time alone. This is to help your hamsters to assimilate and get used to its new environment without disruption. It is best to start handling them the day after you bring them home.



Breeding Your Hamsters
Plan to breed your hamsters about a month after you have bought them.
Place the two cages together (side by side) for a few days, so they can see and get used to each other.
Place them together for five minutes on the first few days, then ten minutes on the following days.
Put them into a cage together, and then leave it up to them. If they start fighting, remove one of the hamsters from the cage, and try again another day.
Keep following these steps until they mate.
Isolate your female hamster once the mating is over - or at least definitely before the babies start to arrive. While some male hamsters will care for the babies, some will attack and even kill them.
Wait for the 15-18 day gestation.
Look for the babies. You will know the babies will be born soon when the female becomes particularly restless. She wanders around her cage, gathering food and nesting material for her nest. Then labor begins: you see her uterus starting to heave and tiny pink bodies begin to emerge. One by one they are born while she is on the move in her cage, and one by one she carefully picks them up in her mouth and brings them back to the nest. It is during this time and the days that follow that you must take extra care not to disturb her.
Allow the mother to nurse for three weeks without any disturbance, not even cleaning the cage. Leave her, the cage, and especially her babies alone, with the exception of discreetly topping up her food and water. This is particularly important for the first time mother, who under stress, has been known to kill and even eat her babies.
Wean the babies from their mother at three and a half weeks. Determine their genders and separate them (females in one cage, males in another) for another two to three weeks until they go to their new homes.



Tips
Don't breed your animals without first considering who will adopt your babies. If you will be keeping some, be prepared to acquire several new cages; as they reach maturity, they will require their own spaces.
It is best to start breeding your hamsters in the evening, as this is when they are most active.
You can see if your female hamster is in season by stroking her along the length of her body. If she lies down, or slightly curves her back down, then she might be ready to mate.
For additional advice, speak with your local veterinarian or pet-store breeder before you start breeding your hamsters.



Warnings
Always keep the hamsters in separate cages when you're not breeding them. Hamsters have been known to fight to the death when left alone.




Remember my warning earlier about breeding hamsters? Are you going to be able to find homes for all of the babies (assuming that there are up to 20 in a litter - always plan for contingencies)? If you are thinking that your local pet store will take them off your hands, think again. A lot of pet stores already have ready suppliers of hamsters from hamster breeders and will not take any more from other sources. Talk to them first before you embark on a breeding program for your hamsters. If you're still keen on learning how to breed hamsters, then read on...

Which hamsters do I breed from?
You generally would breed hamsters according to their specific breed ie Breeding only Syrian hamsters or breeding only Chinese hamsters. It is not advisable to breed hamsters of different breed types. If you've got a friend who has a hamster of the same breed of the opposite sex, you can arrange with him/her to breed your hamsters and then share the load of having to find homes for the young. This is the case for breeding Syrian hamsters as they are more often than not kept in isolation. Dwarf hamsters are different in that they are sociable and can live in social groups - so long as they are introduced to each other after weaning and they 'grow up' together. If you have a cage of dwarf hamsters (who are not of the same sex), they will start to breed when they are ready - and they generally will pretty much 'self regulate' their breeding pattern and frequency and you just have to 'watch' it unfold.

What's the best age to start breeding hamsters?
Generally for female hamsters, the ideal age to start breeding is at 4-6 months - any younger and you would risk her having a poor litter (she has still to grow herself) and also increase the likelihood of cannibalism. Leave it any longer than 6 months and you run the risk of birth complications. For male hamsters, they are sexually active from as young as 6 weeks of age but it's probably best to leave them alone till they're about 2-3 months old before contemplating breeding from them. Dwarf hamsters kept together will start breeding at 2-3 months of age.

How often can I breed my female hamster?
Whilst you can just keep her breeding litter after litter, this will greatly shorten her lifespan. It's best to wait about 3-4 months before you breed her again. This will give her body time to 'recuperate' and put her in a better condition come mating time. If you stick to this regime, it will mean that you will probably get 2 litters out of any one breeding female hamster as they often become sterile when they turn 14 months old. Sometimes you can get a third litter from a female but this is the exception rather than the rule. Strangely enough, this is the self same pattern that dwarf hamsters will adhere to even though they have 'free rein' as to how often they mate and produce offspring. 2-3 litters per breeding female is the norm for dwarf hamsters kept as mating pairs.

Breeding Syrian hamsters
Because Syrian hamsters are kept in isolation, you usually have to play 'match-maker' when it comes to breeding frivolities. Female hamsters come into 'season' once every 4 days (ie they ovulate during that time) and it's only when they are in season that they are 'receptive' to the advances of the male hamster. Any other times fighting would inevitably occur.

How do I know when my female hamster is ready to breed ie in season?
Given that they will go into season once every 4 days, if you get it wrong the first time, there's always the next time. Generally, the female hamster will emit a musky odor just before she comes into season and inevitably, it's always around evening time that the 'oestrus period' (time when she's fertile and accepting of the male) starts and it lasts for anywhere between 4 and 18 hours. It is during this 'window of opportunity' that she will be receptive to the male so breeding them has to take place then. After the female hamsters finish their season, there is a thick white mucous discharge that is excreted from their vaginas. Less experienced hamster breeders will then take that as a starting point, count another 3 days after that and then try for a breeding encounter (anticipating the next oestrous cycle 4 days later). If the weather is cool (ie winter), most hamsters will not breed. The other tell-tale sign that she is in season is that when you stroke her back towards her tail, she will freeze on the spot, flatten out and lift her tail.

The hamster breeding protocol
Okay, you've established that the female hamster is ready for breeding, what now? You have 2 choices - you can put her in the male's cage or take them both out and put them in a separate breeding box (neutral territory). Wear protective gloves, have an object ready to separate them if any fighting ensues - they often aren't very selective about who they nip and will nip you in your efforts to separate them if they choose not to breed. If you've picked the right time, the female will 'freeze' with her tail in the air and allow the male hamster to mate with her a few times. Keep them together for anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour - when they start to lose interest in the mating ritual, then it's time to separate them. Virgin males can be a bit confused initially and may turn the female hamster off by mounting her from all directions but they will soon learn 'on the job'. Breeding is generally more successful when both male and female hamsters have had previous mating encounters.

How can I tell if the mating has been successful ie that the female hamster is pregnant?
If the female doesn't come into season again 4 days later, she's regarded as being pregnant. Given that the babies only stay in her for 16 days, 10 days after the mating, she will start to become decidedly pregnant - her abdomen will swell (no, she's not getting fat), and her nipples will start to become more pronounced.

What do I do after the mating?
You return both hamsters to their respective cages. Female hamsters will need extra food during the pregnancy. High protein foods like tofu, boiled egg, wheat germ (to aid in birthing) can be added to the diet. She can still be handled but it's best to leave her alone when it's closer to the expected birth date. Clean out her cage at day 14 and take out the exercise wheel, provide her with extra nesting material (eg shredded paper). Then put her cage in a warm, quiet spot with as little disturbance as possible and wait...

Ooo - the babies are here - what now?
Let her nurse the babies till they are about 3 weeks old. DO NOT disturb the nest during this time as she may decide to turn on them and eat them. The cage will smell during this time - that's unavoidable, any attempts to change the bedding material would increase the likelihood of cannibalism so it's best to just leave it for the moment and put up with the smell. Sometimes despite all this, the female hamster will still cannibalize her young, this is common in female hamsters bred under 4 months and in older females who will cull some babies to reduce the numbers in the litter. Continue with the high protein foods (other ideas are bread soaked in milk) during this time. At about 3 1/2 weeks of age, the hamsters are ready to be sexed and weaned - they are no longer reliant on their mum for nourishment. You can keep them in 2 different boxes/cages (all the male hamsters in 1 cage and the females in another). They can be kept in these groups for a further 2-3 weeks. In the meantime, you can find new homes for them and they can go to their new owners at 5-6 weeks of age

Answer 2

First, what species of hamster are you trying to breed? You will want to do research specific to the species you select (Syrian, Dwarf Campbell, Dwarf Winter White, Chinese Dwarf or Roborovski Dwarf). Then you will have to decide what you will do with the offspring you produce. Some species or certain colors are not popular in particular areas or communities. After that, you will need to secure all your equipment (water bottles, etc), feed source, cages (you will need at least 4 or more), and select the best animals you can find, which should be from unrelated family lines. Cages are important, since when hamster are not sleeping, eating or making more hamsters, they are trying to find a way out of the cage (this includes chewing and running on a wheel) If your breeding stock is not of proper age, and unless they have been given proper nutrition for the long run, you could have problems. Not all hamsters eat their young, or kill each other. Again, good research is important. Lastly, WHY do you what to breed? Don't answer me, I just want you to really think about this one for yourself. If some one is just breeding hamsters to make more hamsters, then don't. If a person just throws some hamsters together in a closet to have them make more hamsters they are not a breeder, they are simply a multiplier. True breeders have set standards and goals, and hold themselves to a very high degree of ethics. We work to maintain and improve the lines and standards we are working on. Culling and re-adjusting the bar is important, as well as hard evaluation of the results of a breeding program. Give this a true and honest consideration before breeding hamsters, or any type of animal. Please email me privately if you need more info. I never want to stop someone from working towards being a true and honest breeder, but I also feel those that just want to multiply have no room in the pet hobby. Do you know how to end up with $200 cash from raising hamsters?!?!?!? Start out with $500!~

Answer 3

Choose a female and male short hair/teddy bear hamster. Have 2 cages available. As soon as mating is accomplished, remove the male to its own separate cage or the female will hurt or possibly kill the male. Gestation is about 3 weeks. Hamsters produce about 12 young and the mother cares for them adequately. Be sure to provide pine shavings, a suitable hamster diet, fresh fruits/vegetables, water in a bottle, something to chew on and a wheel for running. If you are going to breed hamsters, have a pet store that will accept them or friends that want them first. If the female is not fed properly, or sometimes the first litter, she will eat the young. Hamsters are not social animals and prefer a solitary life. Have been breeding hamsters for over 14 years.

Answer 4

get a hamster of the opposite sex, and well make sure there the same breed. For instance, Dwarf hamsters are aggressive so they may fight. I would recommend finding someone with another hamster and breed . Because you will have to get two cages. Rodents have like 27 babies. and it only takes a month until born. if you don't separate them you will have like 300 hamsters in a year.

Answer 5

There is no easy answer as you have not specified what breed of hamster you're interested in breeding. There are five species of hamsters commonly kept as pets: Syrians, Campbells Russian Dwarf, Winter White Russian Dwarf, Roborovski Dwarf and Chinese. Syrian hamsters are the ones that every pet store incorrectly sell as "Teddy Bears", "Black Bears", "Panda Bears", "Honey Bears", "Calicos", "Dalmations", etc.. It has become such a long standing practice that many people think that they are all separate breeds. The pet stores do this to get more money for them.

Breeding Syrian hamsters takes a great deal of work. I know because I'm a Syrian hamster breeder. Syrians are solitary animals and each must have their own cage. A female Syrian will go into heat every 4-5 days. A female in heat will display very obvious signs: lowering her body and raising her tail ("freezing"), musky smell and white discharge. Sometimes a female in heat will freeze when you stroke her back, other times she won't do it until introduced to a male. Place the female in heat into the males cage. He will begin licking her bottom area and then mounting. He will mount several times. With the first few mounts, he will not ejaculate enough sperm to impregnate a female so allowing him enough time with her is essential. Many breeders will leave the male and female together for ten minutes. I leave mine together until the female rejects him (she'll begin to fight with him) or until he's exhausted. Once mating is finished, remove the female to her cage and that's it. Female Syrians gestate for exactly 16 days. Syrians can be a bit tricky to breed during the winter though and breeders use artificial lights and additional heat to help overcome these problems but it's not always successful.

Campbells Russian Dwarves are the easiest to breed as a male-female pair can live together. I know that many breeders use a male-female-female trio to breed. It's harder to know when a Campbells litter will be born though as there's no way to tell when actual mating occurs since it doesn't need your help. Campbells females also have the ability to delay implantation of the embroyos. Even without delayed implantation, Campbells gestation still has a range of 18-20 days. Unlike the Syrians, the male can remain in with the female and he will even help care for the young.

Breeding Winter White Russian Dwarves is exactly the same as breeding the Campbells with one twist. A Winter White in its winter coat will not breed. You will need for it to moult out of its winter coat before you can expect any pups.

Roborovski Dwarves can be set up in pairs and colonies just as the Campbells and Winter Whites. Roborovskis have the longest gestation period of the five species, 23 days. It is not confirmed whether they can delay implantation or not. Roborovskis have an extra twist in that the females will not become sexually mature until their first spring. This means a female born in the summer will wait for almost a year before she'll give birth to her first litter. There are exceptions to this but the majority of females won't be.

Lastly are the Cninese hamsters. They have the reputation of being the hardest to breed. It all depends on the personality of the individual hamsters. Some of the Chinese hamsters can live in male-female pairs, but no trios. Some need to live alone and be bred like Syrians. There's no way to tell until you observe the personality of the pair you want to breed. Chinese hamsters gestate for 20-21 days, though there have been observations of gestation periods shorter than this.

I don't recommend casual breeding. If you're considering it, I suggest you join the Internet Hamster Association of North America:
http://groups.msn.com/InternetHamsterAssoc

On the site you will find a Code of Care and a Breeder's Code. I also strongly recommend you join a Yahoo! Group called Hamsters In Focus
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/hamstersinfocus/

This is a group discusses breeding strategies and techniques, genetics, exhibition standards, and ethics as they relate to the purposeful, goal-directed breeding of both Dwarf and Syrian hamsters.

Another excellent source of information is the California Hamster Association newsletter:
http://www.geocities.com/calhamassoc/Newsletter.html

-Janice
http://www.holmdenhillhaven.com

Answer 6

If you are just looking for hampster babies, all you need is a Male and Female. Rodents have no qualms about breeding, and sterilization of the rodents is expensive so most pet stores and breeders don't bother with it. Be careful however and keep an eye on them as Hampsters are often canibals. You should introduce the two slowly, by seperating the cage with something they can see and smell through, but not get through like a heavy wire screen, or plastic devider with tiny holes in it. After they get used to each other, you can remove the devider and let nature take its course. Watch the hampsters and after they have mated a couple of times, maybe after a couple of days, you should seperate them again as the male will eat the babies
(( sometimes the mother will too, but she's nessissary to feed the babies, so that's a risk you have to take ))
If you are trying to become a breeder there are several things to consider, such as what breed the hampsters are, what breeders they initially came from inorder to avoid inbreeding, and the qualities you are looking for in the hampster such as hostility, coat, color etc. There are several books on various types of hampsters available at your local pet store and likely your local library as well. Also Consider why you want to breed them, if you want just to breed hampsters for your own pets or feeders (( not recomended as they can hurt snakes and lizards)) thats one thing, but for money most Pet Stores won't purchace rodents from private breeders who don' t have the proper licences.

Answer 7

you need a boy hamster and a girl hamster put them in the same cage for a while, if they fight seperate them again, if the don't leave them until they start to fight. Hamsters are solitary animals and won't tolerate each other except for mating. (Except those tiny russian ones, I think they don't mind each other's company so much.)

Answer 8

Get a male hamster and a female hamster and
put them into a cage and they will take it from
there.

Answer 9

well to begin you will need:
a male hamster
a female hamster
an enclosure

step one:
place female in enclosure

step two:
place male in enclosure

step three:
leave alone for a while

step three:
optional removal of male hamster

step four:
wait a few week or months

step five:
Tada you succesfully bred a hamster...

Answer 10

i agree with all the top answers but you do need a seperate cage and put the female in first hamsters can get very teritorial they will feel better if it isnt too light as well. good luck

Answer 11

There really is not much involved except getting another Hamster of the opposite sex. They kind of do the rest.