How to Breed Syrian Hamsters

Breeding hamsters to add to your current hamster family? Plan ahead and educate yourself before adding more fuzzy friends to your household. Hamster breeding is not something to take lightly. Make a firm commitment to your plan before going through with it.

EditSteps

EditPreparing to Breed Syrian Hamsters

Have a valid reason for breeding Syrian hamsters. You should have a clear plan in place about what you're going to do with all these babies. Some options include:
- Keeping them as pets
- Selling them as pets (though it's not likely to bring in much income)
- Using them for snake food
- Giving them away to good homes
Consider how you will enact your plan. You might think "I'll just give them away to good homes," but that's likely going to be harder than it sounds. Think hard about your market before breeding, or you'll have more hamsters than you have customers.
- How will you advertise your hamsters? Good places to start include online, in the newspaper, and at the pet store.
Avoid breeding closely related hamsters. If you already own some hamsters from the same family, you don’t want to breed them together. When you allow brothers to mate with sisters, or fathers/daughters or mothers/sons, you create an inbred line of hamsters. Inbred lines can suffer from genetic flaws. For healthy hamsters, avoid inbreeding at all costs.
Buy an unrelated male and female hamster. If your current hamsters are related or if you don't yet have any, talk to several pet stores about where they get their stock. You only need one male and one female to get started. However, buy them from different suppliers to ensure the two breeding animals are not closely related.
- You might also contact a hamster breeder directly.^[1]
Make sure that the hamsters are about the same age. Hamsters can start breeding as early as two months of age. However, it's best to let them grow to 4-6 months before breeding them. This improves the chances of a healthy litter.
Provide the hamsters with comfortable environments. You only want them to breed when you plan for it, so buy each its own medium-large hamster cage. Keep them separate unless you are actively trying to breed them. Keep the cages in the same room, but not close together. In each one, place:
- A food bowl
- An inverted water bottle
- Exercise toys
- Anything else you think will make them feel more at home
Move the cages together after a week. This will allow your male and female to see and smell each other. Let them introduce themselves, but don’t put them together yet. Another way to let them get to know each other is to put them into separate exercise balls. While you're watching, let them roll around in their pods, smelling each other and interacting safely.
Introduce the hamsters when they come of age. Once your hamsters are at least four months old, you can introduce them to each other in a third, neutral cage. If the female attacks the male, she is not ready to mate. Get him out of the cage as soon as possible to avoid injury.

EditMating Your Hamsters

Determine whether the female is in heat. You can't mate your hamsters if the female isn't going to be receptive to the male. She could go into heat every 4-5 days, though, by this age.
- Gently stroke the female on the bottom. If her tail goes erect, she's in heat.
- That means she's ready to mate with the male.
Do not place the hamsters together when the female is not in heat. Hamsters are territorial animals. If they don't want to mate, they'll likely ending up fighting instead. This could lead to injury, or even death. Check the female every day until she's in heat before placing them together.
Place the hamsters in the same cage when the female is in heat. Either gently place her in the male's cage or put both hamsters in a neutral third cage. Don't put the male in the female's cage, though, as she will likely fight him to protect her territory.
Supervise the mating process. If all goes well, the female's tail should go erect, and the male should mount her more than once. This may last for around 30 minutes, and the male will likely clean himself between attempts.^[2]
- Be watchful for fights, even if the female seems receptive.
Separate them when they're finished. You'll be able to tell when they're done because they will seem suddenly disinterested in each other. When this happens, move the female back into her cage.
Make a record of the date. An important part of breeding hamsters is keeping good records, so you know what to expect. Either mark mating dates on a calendar or write them down in a notebook.
- Hamsters hibernate when the temperature dips below 50°F (10°C). They will not breed at that temperature.^[3]

EditPreparing for Birth

Observe the female for a week. Sometimes, a hamster's behavior changes noticeably when she gets pregnant. Note if she's being strangely quiet, cleaning herself more, or eating and drinking more than usual. Another common sign is an instinct to gather up large nests. If you see these telltale behavior changes, she is likely pregnant.
Figure out when she will give birth. Syrian hamsters usually grow and carry their babies for 15-18 days before giving birth. Look up the date on which you last mated your hamsters and add 15 days to it. That is the earliest likely due date for your new litter.
Watch for physical changes in the female. You won't be able to tell she's pregnant for sure until just a few days before she gives birth. By ten days after the mating, you should be able to see her belly swelling clearly, just like with human pregnancies.
Provide her with nesting and bedding materials. A pregnant female will have a natural instinct to build herself a big nest. Give her extra bedding materials like paper towels or bathroom tissues so she can shred them up for her nest.
- You might also offer a safe (non toxic, no ink, not sharp) bedding material like Pennine “Curl Up” Hamster bedding.^[4]
Prepare the cage for the birth and babies. Make sure you've cleaned the cage five days or so before the due date, and that there is extra food and bedding in the cage. Prepare ahead of time so you don't disturb the mother and babies for the first week after birth.
Do not handle the hamster close to her due date. You want to keep her as calm and relaxed as possible. Keep her environment quiet and soothing — dim or remove bright lights. Keep curious pets like dogs and cats away from her as she gets ready to deliver her babies.
- Hamsters usually give birth without problems if you wait until they're old enough to mate (4 months).
- The birth will likely happen at night when everything is quiet.
- Litters can be as small as 4 or as large as 16 babies.^[5]

EditTaking Care of the New Litter

Don't disturb the new mother or her babies. Female hamsters sometimes eat their own babies if they get stressed out. It's very important to keep the environment as calm as possible. Though you might be eager to play with the babies, give the mother space and peace for their safety.
- At first, the babies will look pink and hairless. They are born with their eyes closed.
Continue to care for her after the delivery. While you don't want to disturb her, you do still need to make sure she has everything she needs in her cage. For the first week and a half to two weeks or so, discretely refill the mother's food bowl and water bottle.
- You don't need to provide the babies with anything at this point. They'll get everything they need from nursing.
Begin feeding the babies about one week after birth. Scatter small portions of broccoli, grated carrot, wheat germ, or tofu in their nest for them to eat.^[6] The mother will also store food in her cheek pouches, and bring it back to the nest to feed her babies.
Check for healthy development in the babies. A week after birth, they'll start to grow fur. You should just be able to tell what colors they are. The pups will also start making little noises at this age. One or two adventurous babies may leave the nest, but don't worry if the mother picks them up in her mouth and puts them back.
Clean the cage at two weeks. Enough time should have passed by now to let the mother settle into her new role, so you can give the cage a much-needed cleaning. It's also your first opportunity to handle the babies, which is an important step in socializing them to humans. By handling them at two weeks, you make them more comfortable with human interactions.
- Get your hands "dirty" with the scent of the used litter before touching the babies. This prevents the mother from rejecting or attacking them later.^[7]
- Move the hamsters into another cage one by one.
- When cleaning the cage, avoid completely destroying the nest.
- Hamsters will usually have a “toilet” area in the cage. Concentrate your cleaning there, and leave the nest more or less intact.
- Of course, if the nest is soaked or filthy, go ahead and replace it with fresh materials.
Adjust the cage for the babies. While cleaning the cage, make a few changes to transition them into adulthood. Add a second food bowl to the cage. The mother's water bottle will be too high for the babies, so place a second one at a lower position. You could also place a raised platform under the mother's bottle so the babies can reach it.
- Don't lower the mother's water bottle to the babies' height because then she won't be able to reach it.
Check the babies’ two-week development. At this age, the babies should have all their fur and be running about independently. Though they were born with closed eyes and ears, they should be starting to open up now.
Determine the babies' genders at around 3.5 to 4 weeks. This can be a tricky process. Look at the distance between each hamster's anus and genital opening. The distance on a male will be longer than the distance on a female.^[8] By four weeks, the males' testicles should also be noticeable, as should the nipples on the females' bellies.
Separate the males and females once you determine the genders. Hamsters have a lot of loose skin, and you can hold them by the scruff of their necks or by the loose skin down their backs. Don’t drop them, though, and be ready to return them to the cage if you start to lose your grip.
Double check the babies' genders. Not all hamsters mature at the same rate, so you have to make sure you gendered them correctly. For a few days after you separate them into male and female cages, keep checking gender every day. You might notice testicles one day that you didn't see before in a cage of baby “females.” If so, switch the baby to the correct cage.
- If you are unsure about the sex of your babies, take them to your vet or an experienced hamster breeder for help. You want to avoid accidental breeding of siblings.
Get the babies used to human handling. Place your hand in the cage so they can smell it, and let them climb up into your palm if they want to. You can also scoop them up with a small cup and start gently petting them on the back.
- The babies will be ready for their new homes after 35 days of age.^[9]
Line up customers early. Don't wait too long to start looking for people to take your hamsters, because 35 days goes by fast. Keep your customers updated as the hamsters approach 35 days in age, so they can prepare their own homes.
Sell the hamsters. Make sure you send them off to reliable homes with families that will love them. Provide the new owners with information on hamsters and hamster care. You want the babies to have the best new start you can provide.
Separate females after 2-3 months of age. If you keep any of the babies, know that the females are highly territorial. While you can house adult males together as long as there's enough food and space, adult females are terrible roommates. When they reach 2-3 months of age, separate all females into their own cages.

EditTips

Don't clean the cage before the babies reach two weeks. If your scent gets on the babies, the mother might neglect or attack them. Don't touch them at all until two weeks have passed.
Once the hamsters have mated, separate the male and female back into their own cages. Isolate the pregnant female away from noise and bright lights.
Breeding hamsters is a big investment of time and money. Be sure you're committed to this before breeding your hamsters.
Do your research before breeding hamsters. Talk to reputable breeders and a knowledgeable veterinarian.

EditWarnings

When the babies are born, DO NOT TOUCH THEM. The mother could abandon or even cannibalize her own babies. Avoid loud noises, bright lights and commotion.
Mother hamsters can have up to 20 babies or more, so make sure that you have enough bedding, food and space in the cage.
Despite what pet shops say, an 80x50 hamster cage is the smallest acceptable size for a hamster cage. Make sure that the babies cannot escape, as they are much smaller than the adult hamsters. Using a cage with clear solid sides (like a fish tank) will prevent the babies from escaping or getting caught in wire floored cages
Breed healthy animals with good temperaments. This increases the likelihood that the babies will also have good health and temperament.
Do not allow anybody to buy a hamster if the cage they intend to put him/her in is smaller than 80x50cm.
Have the information for a hamster-savvy vet who can answer your questions along the way. Develop a relationship with him or her before you start breeding hamsters.
Line up customers before breeding the hamsters.

EditThings You'll Need

Cages
Lots of hamster food (depending on how many babies).
Lots of bedding during the end of gestation so she can prepare the nest, and do her best before delivering the babies.

EditRelated wikiHows

EditSources and Citations

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