Can i breed these hamsters?

Question

C:\Documents and Settings\$Brooke$\My Documents\My Pictures\07-14-08_1434.jpg (male)

C:\Documents and Settings\$Brooke$\My Documents\My Pictures\07-14-08_1427.jpg (female)

the female is a little bit bigger

Answer 1

Pet Store hamsters should never be bred.

Syrian breeding should only be done by an experienced breeder, since the personality is so territorial, they can kill each other.

Dwarfs are only marginally easier.

Pet Store hamsters have often been inbred and that will show up in the babies as missing limbs, organs, or eyes.

Keep in mind Syrians are solitary by nature, so each and every baby will need its own cage.

IF you insist:

Do you have a small animal vet and funding in case the pregnancy or birth goes wrong? Or if one severely injures the other?

Do you know both of their medical histories? Pet store hamsters should not be bred, as you don't know their family history with defects or injuries. The hamsters you have now may even be inbred.

If you got them from a breeder, call and ask the breeder's advice.

Are you planning to keep the babies or adopt them out?

If you are planning on keeping them, you need to get enough living spaces for them- new cages, etc.

If you are going to adopt them out, you should have enough homes BEFORE the babies are conceived.

How old is the female?

If she gives birth and decides she isn't ready, she will eat her babies. Same if she is too old. Anything over 4 months is too old to be bred for the first time.

The male needs to either not be housed with her during the pregnancy, or removed IMMEDIATELY after the babies are born, or he will impregnate her within minutes or hours or birth, that's how hamsters work.

Do you know enough not to try and change the bedding for a week or so after the babies are born, so as not to upset the mom? If they smell like humans, she will eat them.

That is a lot to think about and do research into.

Please don't do something stupid.

Contact breeders in your area and get some research done