Please do not breed your hamsters. There's a lot of things involved in taking care of hamster babies and you don't know the genetic of both hamsters. You might get handicapped babied due to wrong genetic mix. There are more than enough hamsters in this world that needs a home.

At the same time your cage is too small for a hamster. Most commercial cages are. Hamsters need more floor space rather than levels. Remove the bottom bar as it can cause bumble foot.

For more information do visit hamster hideout forum. It took me months to study and read up to provide the best care for My two.

This post has been edited by starrynight: Jun 23 2013, 12:02 AM

"People breed for all sorts of reasons. For money, for fun, because they're cute, to keep their ham 'alive' in their offspring, to 'get experience', because they 'love' hamsters, to teach kids about the miracle of life, they were bored, etc.

The right reason is to improve the species as whole. breeding out things like diabetes, extending life spans, creating an overall healthier animal is the right reason. This isn't easy, it isn't a light decision, it isn't cheap and it won't happen right away. But that is the only right reason to breed. "

- HH

"To explain where we are coming from with this I have some questions that you may not have considered.

-What if you can't find homes for the babies? can you keep 10+ hamsters? According to your profile you have a syrian- that means they will all need their own cages. Keeping in mind that we recommend a minimum of 360 square inches of floorspace per hamster. That's a lot of room that will be taken up.

-Can you afford that many hamsters? Food, substrate, cages, toys, supplies and vet costs aren't cheap and with that many hamsters you're going to need quite a bit.

-Can you afford the time for all of those hamsters?

-Say you do have to keep all of the babies, what if they have some illness or disease that pops up due to their genetics. That's 10+ hamsters that will need the vet. Not cheap.

-What if the female culls (kills) her litter for some reason? Can you handle that emotionally?

-What if something goes wrong can you afford to take the mother and her litter to the vet?

-What if the mother dies? Can you guys handle that emotionally? And can you spare the time to feed the babies yourself? They feed every couple of hours and it is not easy to keep them alive.

-Do you have homes lined up at all? Not just your friends and family members or strangers but people that are willing to put effort into researching and caring for their new pets?

-Do you know the genetic background of these two hamsters? If not then how can you ensure that the babies will be healthy. What if they all died at a young age?

Breeding should not be taken lightly. There are hundreds of hamsters that need homes everyday. By breeding you are taking away homes that those hamsters that already exist could have gone to. Please consider separating them, much more research should be done if you are serious about breeding. But if you want to experience the miracle of life than go google it, I'm sure there's a video. If you want more hamsters then go adopt. If you want to see baby hamsters then wait until you are ready to do it right. You might be lucky, maybe you guys can get away without having to deal with a litter and all of the responsibility that comes with it. "

- HH

Babies that are 4 -5 weeks old are sexually mature to mate again and by then you must separate them according to gender else they will just mate with their siblings and that's where you get the lots of babies from .. why do you want to breed anyway?

yes i copied paste from the forum because i think it's important for every hamster owner to know this ..

"a day ago , Tripaws changed. His fur matted , movement slow. His breath laboured though only having three legs never served a problem. He didn't stay awake at all and would try and sleep every chance he got. i got him from Etoile, who was bred by someone who didn't know what she was doing.. Tripaws was only born with three legs.

Now, i get up at two hour intervals to feed him food and water and change the hot water bottle so he could hold on a while longer. I fear for the worse due to losing three hamsters in a month that losing another would be traumatizing. I tell you all, breeding is no game. i lose sleep now.

sunday 2:15am ; i just went through the routine and let's just say , he's doing okay. he's moving around a bit a least through he still looks to be in difficult status and pain.

may this log change the way you look at breeding if you think it is easy.

my name is Mika, and I am an animal lover who suffers heartache to help them.
My name is Mika, and I don't breed when i can rescue and help those in need.

edit :: 2:24am : he's slowed down even more and i fear he's ready to say good bye.

follow the updates and maybe the light shall shine. for i know i can't bare not to cry. "

-- mika, hh

me either. the thought of seeing how my fur girl could be suffering and knowing if something goes wrong, it's all on my head .. that is scary and it's preventable. my concerns (if not financially) about breeding would be the emotional pain in seeing your own hamster cull their young and if the mother dies, the babies are your responsibility for life. also not to mention the genetic defects that the poor baby have to suffer through .. and it will messed up your head and turn your life upside down if you truly do care for your hamsters .. otherwise they're just cheap throwaway pets right?

plus in msia, we don't have much vets that are expert in hamsters. where to find in case of emergency

This post has been edited by starrynight: Jun 24 2013, 12:17 AM

I had said my piece, it's up to you whether you want to take it or not. In the wild, animals have the choice to choose their mates thus choosing one which can produce the best offspring, in captivity you're putting a mate for them. Instinctively they just mate.

Lack of knowledge and you'll get brother sister mating which in turn produces a poor line of genetic the next generation. When you breed, you can NOT think. You have to KNOW. Any sensible breeder calls that trying to convince your own mind that what you did was okay. It's psychological behaviour that causes that thought. Defects come when they want to. You can't challenge that, but that doesn't mean you can say it's not common.

When it comes down to it, it depends on how view the hamsters. Are they just your pet or do you really see them as a life? Every baby that is born under your care is your responsibility. You have a commitment to take care of them and any oops moment is not something to be taken lightly.

There's no "bad mother", it's usually human error that made her do it. Her environment which the human has to provide. In fact, there should be no wheel in the cage with babies around. Imagine if the babies were crawling under the wheel and mother decided to go for a run.

I agree in life there are certain things we cannot control but since this is something we can control, why do you put your hamsters to it? You're allowing innocent lives to be affected. Innocent creatures to pay the price just so you can get stronger and feel better about yourself.

Like I said, it depends on how you view your hamsters. I see mine as little lives which are depending on me 100% to make sure they have the best life they can and by all means, I give them everything they need.

What if at 1 am or so, one of your little ham babies is suffering, what would you do? What if the mother has birth complication and just passed? Who's going to take care of the babies? How?

Just like backyard breeding, we already have so many dogs/cats in need of home, why don't help those existing ones first?

This post has been edited by starrynight: Jun 24 2013, 10:11 AM

Hi,

How bout this brand :-

http://www.kohepets.com.sg/products/image-...AWCG75T2Q12.JPG

Have you seen it around? You can try that as well. I'm not sure where do they have delikate bathing sand as I stopped using the scented one

I used it for both of mine. They use it to pee though and my younger one use to roll it in.

When it comes to sand, avoid scented. Also the sand shouldn't be too fine as it can get into their nose.

which brand of paper cotton?

is this the one ?

https://theonepet.files.wordpress.com/2012/...7i6n8.jpg?w=642

how long he had that symptoms before he passed?

sometimes it could be internal maybe heart problem.

did he make any sound before or did he start acting weird?

your hammie is gorgeous! look at that teddy face

Just wondering .. why not plastic tank?

I'm suggesting plastic tank because it's cheaper and you can get a bigger size compared to a wire cage which will benefit the hamster. I use a storage bin for my hamster which is about 345 square inches and it cost me only RM 50.

There won't be smell if you clean the cage up in appropriate time - like I cleaned mine every 2 weeks and I put quite some bedding in to soak up the pee. If you need idea, you can google on how to make a bin cage for the hamster .. how old is the child?

if you want to go for bin cages, here's an idea :-

http://hammyhappenings.files.wordpress.com...10/rscn2778.jpg

if you prefer plastic tank, you can make it up to be this way :-

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu285/b...lyscam41009.jpg

besides, having a wire cage can cause a mess as the hamster will kick the bedding out of the cage and such.

This post has been edited by starrynight: Sep 4 2013, 04:14 PM

one more reason I like storage bin .. it's easier for me to get them should I want to take them out .. I find with wired cages, there's only a slot where you can put your hand in ..

Don't grab them when they're not tame though .. or else they might bite

Hmm I personally don't use wood pellet bedding because to me it looks difficult for them to burrow and my hamsters like to dig around and pick pieces of bedding to nest.

first time i heard hamster roaming around in malaysia. anyway for lucky, i think slowly feed her and tame her .. eventually she'll grow stronger .. does she have any cut or injuries? is she pregnant? sure it's a her? i see like got testicals

first time i heard hamster roaming around in malaysia. anyway for lucky, i think slowly feed her and tame her .. eventually she'll grow stronger .. does she have any cut or injuries? is she pregnant? sure it's a her? i see like got testicals

if one is chasing the other away from the food or kept harassing the other non stop, then it's fighting.

pay attention especially to their physical well being .. notice if there's any cut or injury or blood, separate them right away.. it can end up fatal

what is the brand called? bear in mind that cotton is dangerous to hamsters, they can swallow it and gets caught in their digestive system or the cotton can get tangled in their limbs cutting off blood supply ..

I use paper bedding - expensive but also a bit of dust. Like you said wood shavings are sharp and the hamsters cannot pouch/carry it to nest or play with ease.

oh we have carefresh here? where did you see it?

mine is called healthy ultra pet or something like that .. it's about 100 a bag of 50L