Reproduction of hamsters at home

For some people, breeding hamsters is a business. Others conjure over genetics, putting their soul into the nursery. Still others were not going to breed hamsters at all, but got offspring by chance.

How do hamsters reproduce

If heterosexual hamsters are kept in one cage, reproduction is a matter of time. The fertility of these rodents is legendary. At home, the animals bring numerous offspring all year round, and the young reach maturity in a month. At 1,5 months of age, hamsters will go to a new owner.

The female can become pregnant already in the first day after birth. Considering how often hamsters breed, you should find a market in advance.

How to breed hamsters at home

Breeding hamsters at home is not as profitable as people think. If done responsibly, the process is costly.

If the owner wants to regularly receive offspring, they acquire one male and at least two females. All of them are kept in different cages, they prepare additional cages for seating young animals.

They select producers in different pet stores or in a nursery to avoid closely related ties.

It is unacceptable to cross different species: Djungarian hamsters with Campbells. The mating of a brother and sister is also undesirable, it will result in non-viable offspring.

When do hamsters start mating?

These prolific rodents are able to become pregnant at the age of 1-1,5 months, sometimes male hamsters begin to breed from 3 weeks. It is necessary to prevent mating of animals until active growth and skeletal formation is over. Young dzhungaria may have complications of pregnancy and childbirth, they often devour the offspring.

Knowing at what age hamsters begin to mate, the breeder must have time to seat the young by gender in different cages.

The optimal period for the first mating is from 4 to 6 months. The second mating is 8-10 months (for the female). The animal is allowed to recover after childbirth for at least 2 months, and preferably 3-4 months.

Hamsters breed up to 1-1,5 years, after which the female loses the ability to give birth.

Males retain their reproductive abilities all their lives, and they can be bred as early as 5 weeks. But frequent matings are also undesirable – it exhausts the producer, and many females do not become pregnant after mating.

How hamsters mate

Hamsters mate several times with short breaks. The whole process takes 20-30 minutes, and sometimes even 5 minutes is enough for the animals. It is not necessary to keep the couple in the cage for longer than 45 minutes: if during this time the female did not allow the cage to be made, the mating is postponed.

When the coquette is ready to breed, it stands motionless with its hind legs apart and its tail up.

It can be difficult to mate hamsters if the male is younger than the partner and inexperienced. But if you choose the right time, the fight may well end in intercourse. Hamsters do not always get pregnant after the first mating. If the female is in heat after 3-5 days, she is brought down again.

Mating hamsters is a short process, but sometimes energetic frictions weaken the animal, and the male lies motionless for some time.

How to breed hamsters

It is better to bring hamsters – Dzungarians and Syrians – on neutral territory, in a carrier or a simple cardboard box. The absence of the need to protect the native cage reduces the likelihood of aggression, the animals are easier to seat (no need to catch), you can quickly get it if you see that they are fighting.

In the absence of a carrier, the female is put in a cage with the male, but never vice versa. Given the nocturnal lifestyle, mating is carried out late in the evening.

Syrian hamsters should not be left unattended. So you make sure that the pairing of the Syrians took place, and avoid injury. It is also better to seat the Dzungarians after they stop paying attention to each other.

Sometimes it is recommended to move the cages for a few days to introduce the boy and the girl. Others release the animals to run together in pleasure balls. You should not humanize furry pets by arranging romantic dates for them.

The main condition is that the female should be in heat. Then she will allow the male to mate with her.

Hamster in heat

It is very important to determine in time that the hamster begins the hunting period for successful mating. Otherwise, the animals will seriously harm each other in a fight. Estrus in hamsters happens every 4-5 days, lasts a day, and sometimes less. Sometimes owners wonder if hamsters have periods. Their reproductive cycle is fundamentally different from the human, but the secretion of mucus accompanies estrus.

Signs of estrus in a hamster:

• specific musky smell from the animal;
• anxiety, loss of appetite;
• in response to stroking on the back, it freezes and raises its tail;
• loyal to the male.

External manifestations of sexual hunting are clearly visible in Syrian individuals, but the owners of dwarf rodents sometimes doubt whether hamsters are in heat. In Dzungarian females, estrus can only be determined by reaction to a partner.

Estrus may disappear in older individuals (1,5 years and older) or under adverse conditions (low room temperature, little food).

Why don’t hamsters breed?

If, in the case of joint keeping or regular “dates”, the animals did not acquire offspring, there is usually a more reasonable explanation for this than “did not like each other.”

The reasons:

same-sex animals

Even if the seller assured you that it was a boy and a girl, you need to carefully examine the crotch area and determine the gender of the rodents. It is not uncommon to find that two males, or two females, were required to make children.

Obesity

Excess weight is a common problem of Djungarian hamsters. Adipose tissue affects the level of hormones and the female cannot become pregnant. Checking a dwarf pet is simple: when a fat animal sits, the paws are hidden under the folds, the stomach touches the floor when walking.

Insufficient diet

Unbalanced feeding and deficiency of certain vitamins disrupts reproductive function, and also provokes cannibalism (the female eats children).

disease

If the hamster has suffered a serious infection (pneumonia, enteritis), then for a long time the body will not be able to reproduce. You can’t get offspring if the couple lives in conditions of constant stress: the sounds of the TV, drafts and sunlight, a cramped cage, an annoying cat.

Is it possible to castrate a hamster

Hamsters are solitary animals, and frequent estrus does not cause concern to either the female or the owner. Due to their small size and poor tolerance of anesthesia, sterilization of rodents is extremely rare.

If the owner considers the operation necessary, you need to check with the veterinary clinic if the hamsters are castrated by their surgeons.

Hamsters are not ferrets that do not go out of heat until they mate or die. Chemical sterilization with hormones (Suprelorin) has been developed for ferrets. There is no such drug for hamsters. These animals are castrated only for medical reasons: a tumor of the testis, pyometra.

Conclusion

Breeding hamsters is not difficult, but the owner needs to study the biology of these animals.