Should I believe the Guys at Petsmart about the Chinese Dwarf Hamster?

Question

I got to hold a pet a female Chinese Dwarf at the store for a little. He told me a lot about them and stuff so I think I"m going to get a male and a female and he said they're fine together and breed only like once every 2 months and that they only give birth from 1-2 babies? Is that all true??

Answer 1

he may be lying just so that you'd keep buying more dwarf hamsters in the future. check this website for info about breeding dwarf hamsters:

http://www.hamsterhideout.com/breeding.h...

also, i'm not really sure petsmart sells male chinese dwarf hamsters. (in my area, anyway :/ )

Answer 2

This is incorrect. The average gestation period is 21 days and they can conceive 24 hours after giving birth. Litter size is 4-6 pups. But even if he were correct, why would you want one of each gender? That would have been a lot of responsibility to try and find good, nurturing homes for 6 to 12 babies every year (not to mention the real numbers of 70 to 105 annually) and you should not even think about breeding of you haven't done any basic research and do not really know the breed of animal. Just get a pet.

Answer 3

I suggest instead of believing anything a petstore tells you about a new pet, you do research before you get an animal.  You do not need to get a male and female.  They will breed as many times as the female comes into heat.

It's better to get same s*x pairs than pairs of opposite s*x.

Answer 4

i wouldn't believe anything anyone at petsmart tells you, right down to their veterinary staff.

no.  you should never own a male and female.  the males are known for killling the babies.  and they can have up to 6 babies or more at a time every 30 days.  in a year's time that's 72 babies.  what are you going to do with them?  and what are you going to do with the babies the babies are producing?  you could easily end up with over 1000 baby hamsters in a year's time.  

you are best to get one.  either a male or female.  invest the time into researching properly.  find websites devoted to the care of these guys and spend the time to research what you'll need to know.

but as for listening to what that guy told you.  no absolutely not.

Answer 5

NO. He is incorrect. I work at Petsmart, too, and they don't give the employees any sort of "training" regarding when hamsters breed and when they don't, so he was almost certainly making that up.

As someone else said, I've never heard of a Petsmart that sold both. You should get a same-s*x pair if you're going to get a pair.

Answer 6

No, that's not true.  Hamsters go into heat right after birth, so the litters are spaced about 3 weeks apart when housed together.  This is very taxing on the female, and she should not be allowed to be bred repeatedly like that.  Additionally, they could have up to 6 babies a litter, and babies will be able to start reproducing when they are around 4-6 weeks old.

On top of that, you should never breed animals when you don't know their background.  Pet stores do not breed animals with genetics/health problems in line.

I don't even know of any Petsmarts that have both male and female animals, but the employees should NOT be encouraging people to breed.  That is just rediculous, sorry.

Answer 7

What they told you is all wrong!All hamsters,regardless of the breed,will mate the minute they are put together,if the female is in heat,which is every 4 days,meaning thats how often they can have babies.Also,hamsters can have up to 26 babies(reader:=O)and have to have to have at least 3.Plus,its not very healthy for hamsters to give birth more than 3 times,and they shouldnt be over 8 months old.And besides,I think the guy was trying to trick you into buying the hamsters.

That was a smart move,coming to Yahoo! to check. After reading this,you probably think so,too!

Good Luck if you douy one of those Chinese dwarfs!

-HamsterLuver

Answer 8

THAT GUYS STUPID! THEY DON'T DO THAT. tHEY HAVE LIKE 9-12 BABS AT ONCE.