 |
| Take a look at other sections: |
 |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |
 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
Make sure you have gone through the previous section, or consult experts, before you think about breeding
your own dwarf hamsters. Breeding hamsters is a lot of fun and it is a very exciting experience. On the
other hand, there is also some risk to take.
To breed, you'll need a female dwarf hamster and a male one, that are compatible. In other words, they
should be the same species and they can get along well. It is possible for different species of dwarf
hamsters to breed. However the chance is slimmer (for example, Djungarian and Siberian). The babies will
carry some genes of both parents and they are called hybrids. It is recommended not to do hybrids in
order to keep the complication to minimum.
Boy or Girl?
To tell a dwarf hamster's gender, take a look at the following:
| Male The distance between the penis and the anus is bigger. | | | | Female The distance between the virgina and the anus is smaller, almost next to each other. | | |
Mating
Once we have a compatible pair, there is nothing much extra for the pet owner to do except observation.
Clean their cage periodically and keep watching everyday. Some "couples" may live together and refuse
to mate at all, while some may do immediately. This is all depending on the personalities and it cannot
be forced. When the male is chasing after the female's tail, and the female does not resist, this is when the mating
may occur.
Pregnancy
The gestation period ranges from 18 to 25 days for dwarf hamsters, depending on their species.
During the gestation period, the female may become aggressive to the male and restless; however, she may
as well act normal and therefore it is somewhat difficult to tell if she was really pregnant. For example,
Marshmallow did not show any sign of pregnancy, except that she appeared to gobble more food and became
bigger. On the contrary, all female would build a nest or a few nests before she gives birth to the
siblings.
Maternal Care
We had no idea about Marshmallow's pregnancy until one morning, when we checked her nest and we saw a
bunch of red stuff (babies) inside. The new borns are hairless, red in color, eyes visible but closed,
very very tiny (about a finger nail's length), and there are five of them.
Normal dwarf hamster should have 3 to 8 siblings in one cycle. The mother doesn't requires help from
the male nor the pet owner in the process. She gathers all the babies in a group and she sits on them to
provide warmth and milk. During the first few days, she would be very aggressive to the male as soon as
he wanders around the nest.
Pet owners take note: do not disturb the mother and her kids at this stage, or she may slaughter all the
babies and eats them. On the contrary, unlike regular hamster, the male should be left in the same cage.
Interestingly, he helps taking care of the siblings to relief the exhausted mother. The babies, although
with their eye shut, would crawl everywhere so the parents will keep dragging the kids back to the nest.
For pet owner, make sure there is enough food for the parent hamsters and have enough fresh water
everyday.
Growing up 
Total Number of Hamsters on file: 6| Name | Size | Color | | | Bao | 4" | white/grey | more... | | Small Brother | 4.5" | brown | more... | | Big Brother | 4.5" | brown | more... | | Marshmallow | 3.5" | white | more... | | Rice Ball | 3" | grey | more... | | The Angels | 4 X 3" | white/grey/brown | more... |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
