Dwarf hamsters are probably among the easiest to breed.
These adorable creatures are naturally sociable and lively, and will breed with each other naturally, without any coaxing on your part.
However, there are some important points that you should consider before breeding your dwarfs: 1.
Age Females are at their most fertile between 4 and 6 months of age.
If you try to breed them younger, this can lead to small litters with weak babies who are unlikely to grow to full strength or live long, healthy lives.
If you try to breed female hamsters much older than this, they may not have the energy to recover fully from childbirth.
Male hamsters can breed from a younger age.
With dwarfs, they are fertile from as young as 6 weeks, but you shouldn't breed them until they are around 2-3 months old.
2.
Housing The Litter Hamster litters can be very large indeed - in fact a healthy female can produce as many as 20 babies at a time.
This makes it essential that you have a cage which is of sufficient size to hold all of them.
You can't split them up immediately after birth as they still need to be fed and nurtured by their mother, so this is an important consideration.
Extend-able cages are an excellent option here, because if the litter is bigger than you expected, you can just add an extra area.
3.
What To Do With The Babies In reality you probably won't be able to keep and look after 20 baby hamsters yourself, so it's important to consider what you're going to do with them.
Bear in mind that pet shops will usually have their suppliers already set up, so might not be able to take many off your hands, if any.
However, you could sell them directly, although this may take some time.
Breeding dwarf hamsters is a fantastic experience and, so long as you've figured out the practicalities of it, you should find it an enjoyable and rewarding activity.
These adorable creatures are naturally sociable and lively, and will breed with each other naturally, without any coaxing on your part.
However, there are some important points that you should consider before breeding your dwarfs: 1.
Age Females are at their most fertile between 4 and 6 months of age.
If you try to breed them younger, this can lead to small litters with weak babies who are unlikely to grow to full strength or live long, healthy lives.
If you try to breed female hamsters much older than this, they may not have the energy to recover fully from childbirth.
Male hamsters can breed from a younger age.
With dwarfs, they are fertile from as young as 6 weeks, but you shouldn't breed them until they are around 2-3 months old.
2.
Housing The Litter Hamster litters can be very large indeed - in fact a healthy female can produce as many as 20 babies at a time.
This makes it essential that you have a cage which is of sufficient size to hold all of them.
You can't split them up immediately after birth as they still need to be fed and nurtured by their mother, so this is an important consideration.
Extend-able cages are an excellent option here, because if the litter is bigger than you expected, you can just add an extra area.
3.
What To Do With The Babies In reality you probably won't be able to keep and look after 20 baby hamsters yourself, so it's important to consider what you're going to do with them.
Bear in mind that pet shops will usually have their suppliers already set up, so might not be able to take many off your hands, if any.
However, you could sell them directly, although this may take some time.
Breeding dwarf hamsters is a fantastic experience and, so long as you've figured out the practicalities of it, you should find it an enjoyable and rewarding activity.
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