BREEDING SYRIAN HAMSTERS
Since Syrians are solitary animals, breeding is more difficult than with dwarfs, who
cohabitate. Hamsters can be sexually mature as early as 28 days old. However,
the female should not be bred
until she is between three and four
months of age. (Males should be
the same age before their first
encounter with a female.) If she is
too young the result is generally a
small litter, poor quality pups and a
difficult time for the female. An
older female bred for the first time
may experience extreme difficulties
at birth, occasionally resulting in
death for the mother.
Females can only mate during oestrus (when in heat or in season), which occurs
every four days. Putting a male and female together when the female is not in
heat could result in a fight. Females have been known to seriously injure or even
kill a male if there is no intervention. (If squabbling does begin, separate them
immediately and try again the next evening.)
Because hamsters are nocturnal animals, mating should be done in the early
evening. (In the wild, they normally mate after sundown.) Generally speaking, a
female in heat will be more active and will "freeze" (body pressed to floor and tail
up) when her back is stroked. Never put the male in the female's cage - there is
likely to be a fight even if she is in heat. It is best to place the male in a separate
container with a small amount of bedding in the bottom and then introduce the
female. If she is in heat, she will freeze, he will mount, dismount and wash himself
several times. They should be allowed at least 20 minutes - unless one of them
shows signs of loosing interest. (Be aware that there are probably as many
different methods of breeding Syrian hamsters as there are hamster breeders, but
this has have been proven to be the safest and most successful method for most
breeders.)
The Syrian has one of the shortest gestation periods (length of pregnancy) of all
animals - between 15 and 17 days. Normally, she will begin to show signs of
"bulging" on about the ninth or tenth day. By the time she is near delivery, she will
look like she is carrying fully packed saddlebags! Her environment should be
stress-free throughout her pregnancy and for at least the first ten days after the
litter is born.
PUPS!
The newborn pups don't have any fur, their eyes are
closed, and they're still cute.They can't see, or hear, but
they can already smell and move themselves around by
theirfront feet. If one does stray from the nest the mother
will scoop him up and return him, don't worry, hamster
mom's know what they're doing. Resist the temptation to
pick them up. The mom won't like this and it could even
cause her to abandon, or even worse, eat the babies.
Just watch them and wait around two weeks before
handling them.
At two weeks the puppies will have a soft fur coat and will be running around
raising havoc in the cage. Around three weeks they'll begin leaving their mother
for longer periods of time to explore and look for food on their own. They'll hardly
ever fight, and will begin to burrow and hoard food. Yep they're hamsters all right!
At three to four weeks old a baby Syrian hamster is ready to go live on his own. If
left with brothers and sisters a Syrian hamster will fight them viciously. So never
leave them in mixed sex groups.
But you've already found them good homes long ago, right?
Read our section on for a more detailed report.
