It can be a truly wonderful experience to breed teddy bear hamsters; You need to think about a number of things before you decide to breed your hamsters:
Who are you going to sell your baby hamsters to? After only 20 - 25 days, baby hamsters can be weaned. They can begin to breed once they reach 45 days old. Once the pups are born, there is not much time before you need to find them homes. You need to know long before the time comes, where you are going to send your baby hamsters. Do not just set the babies free. They will be eaten, or they will starve. In the unlikely event that they survive, they will start to breed and will become a pest. They will have to go to their new homes sometime between 4 - 7 weeks old.
Do you have the required supplies as well as enough space to breed hamsters? You will have to have enough space and living area. At least four housing facilities are needed: one for males, one for females, one for a quarantine tank, and one for a birthing house.
Are you ready to commit to all the work needed for hamster breeding? You need to make a considerable commitment to be able to successfully breed hamsters. You need to keep the cages very clean. Your will have more expenses because your will need more bedding, more food, and more supplies overall. You also need to remember the cages, the toys, exercise wheels, and so on. Before you decide on breeding your hamsters, be sure that you are willing and able to invest in those resources.
Men are generally more careful of the breed of their horses and dogs than of their children.
—William Penn (1644–1718)
Once you have made the decision to breed your hamsters, the following steps will get you off to a great start:
1. Purchase your hamsters from a good breeder. Find a breeder who keeps their hamsters areas clean, and provide them with enough space to live.
2. Before completing the sale, make sure to observe the hamster you are interested in closely. Is the hamster friendly? Calm? Tame? Curious? Do not pick a hamster who seem timid or one that seem overly aggressive. Temperament is hereditary, so you wouldn't want to breed these hamsters. Instead you want a hamster that is tame. Ideally, you should try to find a breeder who handles their hamsters often and even tames them before they are sold. You will probably want to get your hamsters for breeding from a good breeder. This is because the local pet store does not usually handle their hamsters often enough.
3. Keep the male hamsters separate from the female hamster until you are ready to breed them. Females will often abuse their male partners if they are not yet ready for mating. Every four days or so, a female hamster becomes fertile. You will know when a female hamster is fertile by the way she freezes her tail up in the air when a male hamster is around.
Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves.
—Emily Brontë (1818–1848)
4. Be sure to keep a pregnant or nursing hamster away from any noise. Do not handle them too often. Remember not to touch any of the babies until they are weaned. Separate the males and females soon after weaning to prevent them from breeding.
Andrew Martin Jr. is a pet enthusiast and publisher. He owns and maintains Hamster Care Answers, a resource for hamster breeding and hamster care.