female winter white suddenly aggressive to male?

Question
QUESTION: hi ive been trying to breed hamsters, ive been researching for a year and have a healthy female and male, we started introducing using all the common techniques, it was all going really well and she was even cleaning the male ,except the occasional scuffle where she turned the male on to his back ive read this is normal and shows shes just not in heat. Today i put them together again and she went for him full on and they had to be seperated me getting a bite in the progress. What has caused her sudden aggresssion?, im 99% sure shes not pregnant weve always watched them together , any ideas? should we give up? and now another day later ive tried handling the female and she seems hostile to me, any ideas?

ANSWER: Hi Jack,

Many hamsters which are sold as "Winter Whites", are not "Winter Whites" at all - they could be Russian Campbells or a hybrid crossed between a Russian Campbells and a Winter White.

Unless you got your hamsters from professional breeders then there is no sure way of knowing what species they really are.

If you go them from a petshop then you should not be breeding from them at all - pet shop hamsters have many genetic problems and are usually bred from hamsters who are related to each other - which only adds to many of the problems - petshop hamsters also have very shortend lifespans too.

Also, if you go them both from the same place, then they are probably related and could be full brother nad sister from the same litter!  Therefore they should not be allowed to breed!

Dwarf hamsters are only social in the fact that they are more social that the striclty solitary Syrian hamster, but this does not mean they will always get on in pairs or groups - hamsters which have been badly bred or which are from pet shops always tend to be less social than they should be and usually end up having to live alone once they reach maturity at the age of 3 or 4 months.

Also, the age of the hamsters has a lot to do with wether they will accept a cage mate.

Please let me know where you got you hamsters from and also how old they are.

Kind Regards,

Tammy

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i got them both from a breeder but he assures me there, not related, any ideas why she would suddenly turn on them?

Answer
If you got them from a breeder then you have every right to go back to him and ask him for advice - especially as he sold you an unrelated pair, which you obviously wanted to breed!

Why did you have to introduce them to each other??

They should have already been introduced by him if he was selling you a breeding pair - so he could have seen if there were any poblems before they went to the new owners.

If they have been bred correctly then there really shouldnt be any reason why they are not getting on - unless of course you just have one of the odd ones which prefer to be alone!!

The general rule of thumb with hamster owners and breeders is that if they have drawn blood then things will only get worse and they should be split up.

Kind Regards,

Tammy