How do people become respected Hamster breeders?(Not going to breed)?

Question

Im Never going to breed hamsters Never. As there are two many backyard breeders that contribute to an over population. and those mills.

But how does one become a breeder? wouldnt you have to use another breeders product to start your own for health reasons?

So how do you become a respect breeder. As this is just killing me to know. As this seems like a long task.

Answer 1

Hmmmmm intelligent question.

Firstly a breeder would be a thorough animal lover. Unless he/she is one, it is very tough to be hooked on to a career that is sometimes frustrating and does not pay well. And if he/she is an animal lover, they would have spent hours reading up thoroughly about the animals and most of them would have owned animals for years as pets or would have professional qualifications in animal management. That is how the breeders start. Most professional breeders do it more as passion than as a career.

As to how they become reputed / respected breeders, it is based on the quality of their breeding procedures. Breeding can be back breaking work sometimes - apart from researching the background of the animals and genetic mapping to ensure that they are both healthy, following the breeding protocols to the minute line to ensure quality results. It takes years of work to achieve the high quality that makes them reputed or respected.

Breeding hamsters is equally tough - no inbreeding, health checks of the male and female, genetic screening and quality breeding.

And to start the breeding lineage, you can get two quality hamsters from another professional breeder or you painstakingly research and do genetic mapping etc to make sure your hamsters are pure breed and disease free.

And regarding making money. professional breeders are not specific for hamsters only, they breed a variety of animals hence they break even. In fact a lot of them also make huge money by specialising in breeding fancy breed of animals.Also hamsters are bred not only for pets but also for scientific research (like guinea pigs) so the breeding volumes are far higher than generally calculated.

I have witnessed a friend who is a professional breeder in breeding two litters of dwarf hamsters and one litter of syrians and I can say proudly that all the pups in the litters of 8, 13 and 6 survived and have grown into beautiful and healthy hamsters. How I can personally vouch for that is that 7 of the dwarfs are with me currently, all cute as buttons. That is where a professional breeder scores over backyard breeders.

*****

I appreciate your attitude and fully agree with what you say about the mills. In fact some pet shops even buy from the backyard breeders - no wonder so many pet owners get their hammies home only to find them dying from some disease.

Animals are really cute. More than pet owners helping out the animals, I think it is the other way around - pet owners are indebted to animals for bringing so much joy into their life.

All the best to you - I hope your dream of a farm life surrounded by animals comes true very soon.

Answer 2

Well, I know how it works for rats, and I'm guessing the process is similar.

They breed with genetics in mind. They don't just choose hamsters they like and breed them, and they do not breed hamsters from pet stores, ever. They look for exceptional traits, like longevity, good health, great temperament, things like that. Those are the most important traits. They know the genetic backgrounds of all of the hamsters they breed. They do not have lots of litters at a time, maybe one or two, sometimes they won't have any available. They only breed when they have worthy hamsters, and don't do it to make a profit. They don't overbreed the hamsters they have. They arrange homes for their hamsters before they even have the litters, and ensure the person who will get them knows how to care for them.

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Answer 3

well they probably start out as the backyard breeders that everyone hates. and after years of succession they are respected. i have actually bred gerbils for a local pet store, i guess thats a way to start find a small pet store that will take any pet. Breed your hamster and sell them to the pet store.