housing hammys

Question
i have a male and female hamster and they have just had 4 babiies and i dont want to have to re home them when they are old enough, so i wanted to know if i can keep the mother and daughter(s) together and the father and son(s)they are Chinese Hamsters

Answer
Hi Heidi

It is fine to keep Chinese hamsters together.  The only problem you may have is that if dad is still in with mum they may have mated again already!  They tend to mate the same day the female gives birth and therefore a second litter could already be on the way!

If dad is still in with the female, is there any way you can temporarily divide the cage?  If so, it would be good to do this - you might be able to create a wall of chicken wire or similar - as long as they can smell each other but don't have access to one another.  Make sure they both have food and water. The female section should be a lot larger than the males as she will need room for her babies. This way if any of her babies are males, they may be able to live with dad as they will recognize his scent. Also, make sure that any 'wall' you create is safe for the babies - they can get through tiny areas and can get caught up so

If you have separated them, or if you can't divide the cage (if it is too small etc.) then you might find you have problems with introducing the boys to dad.  Although they are blood related, the fact is that the dad won't recognise any.  The babies need to be sexed and the boys separated out at 4 weeks of age (check and double check their sexes as they can become sexually active from this age and you don't want to find you've mis-sexed one).  If dad has been taken out of the cage already, then when the boys are 4 weeks old you might want to try them togteher and see what happens - if you decide to do this you should put some of dad's bedding in with the boys and vice versa for a day or two - this will get them used to each other.  Alternatively you could just swap the hamsters over (i.e. put the boys in dads cage and vice versa).  Don't actually try introducing them in either cage.  They must be introduced in neutral territory that has no dominant scent.  Watch them all the time.  There might be some squabbling but make sure there is no fighting etc.  If all is well you can put the boys and dad together - but at the first sign of fighting separate out the culprit.  

There is never any guarantee that hamsters will get on.  Sometimes they are fine for months, or even a year or more, and then suddenly they start fighting.  It is important that at the first sign of serious fighting or bullying/constant chasing of one, or if one sleeps away from the others that you look at separating them.  Once separated however, you can't reintroduce them.

If there is a second litter, then this does complicate things a bit.  The females can live with mum (again, providing they don't fight) but it might be impossible to introduce the males to the others.  You might also find that keeping just two together in a cage is better than trying to have more.  The important thing is that the cage must be large enough, with lots of areas for them to sleep and play in, and plenty of food.  If the cage is small with little to do there is more chance of squabbling.

I hope this helps you.

Regards
Sheila