My male hamster want to mate with my female hamster

Question
QUESTION: Male : Blitz
Female : GalGal

This morning i saw blitz want to mate with galgal he is in the position ... but i think that galgal dun want ... cause she squeek and she seem to bite or make the bottom part of blitz ... and blitz like sort of smelling her bottom part ...

Can tell me what happening and why ?

ANSWER: Hi Anders

Female hamsters come into season every 4 days.  On the day they are in season they will mate with the male, however, on the other three days they can be aggressive and quite violent towards the male.  What type of hamsters are these - I'm assuming they are dwarf.  If they are Syrian, they need to be kept separately as they are solitary animals.  If they are dwarf hamsters - is the intention to mate them?  If so, be careful, because the day she produces a litter she will mate again and you could find yourself overrun with hamsters.

Regards

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QUESTION: My is winter white ... this morning i saw galgal bottom part got white liquid ... i assume is sperm from blitz right ??

So wad should i do or feed galgal ??
ANSWER: Hi Anders

It could be this, however, usually females wash themselves thoroughly after mating.  If this discharge is still there, and is smelly, then she needs to go to a vet to check it isn't some form of infection.

If you think she is pregnant - don't overfeed her - only give her the normal amount of hamster food.  Once the babies are born you can give her some human baby food (ideally the powdered variety which you mix with water) to help boost her vitamin and mineral levels.  Remember to get the male out before she gives birth or separate him off in the cage, otherwise she will become pregnant again.  If you forget to get the male out, you should assume that she is pregnant again, and therefore don't give her human baby food.  If she eats too much before giving birth this can cause the unborn litter to be too large and can cause complications during labor.

Regards

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QUESTION: but i though that we should let the male take care of the litter too right ???
ANSWER: Hi

Dwarf males can be very good with the litter, however if you leave the male in with the litter, he will mate again with the mother the day she gives birth - if he is unsuccessful at that time they will mate 4 days later.  It really depends how many hamsters you want.  The babies have to stay with their mum for 3 1/2 - 4 weeks before they can be separated as she will feed them.  However, if you take the dad out of the cage a day or two before the female gives birth, then you may not be able to introduce him to the boys when they are separated from the mum when they are 4 weeks old.  The only way you might be able to do this is if you can split the cage in two somehow.  I don't know what type/how big the cage is - if it has different levels that can separated out, or if you can fence off half the cage - providing both halves have a water bottle and food supply. This way they will know his scent, but he'll be separated out so that he can't mate with the female.  It is quite a complicated thing to do - but in the long term it would be better for him to live with the boys - otherwise you're going to end up with 3 cages - one for mum and the girls, one for the boys and one for the dad. Remember that the hamsters will all become sexually active at 4 weeks, therefore they must be sexed and separated just before that - around 3 1/2 - 4 weeks old.

Hope this helps.
Regards



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QUESTION: so u mean i must take the male hamster out ??? then wait till the litter wean then put the male in ??? can i on the day if the litter is born then take the male out ???
ANSWER: Males are good with the litter, but it is up to you how many hamsters you want.

I'm not sure what type of hamster you've got, but:

Winter Whites - gestation period is 18-21 days - litter size up to 10.  Campbells - gestation period 18-21 days, litter around 4.  Robos - gestation period usually 21 days - average litter 3-5.  All three species will mate/attempt to mate again on the day the litter is born - some males will be attempting to mate while the female is actually giving birth.  She is at her most fertile then and is mroe than likely to conceive.

Sometimes if the female gets pregnant immediately and produces a second litter while she is still feeding her first litter, she can become aggressive towards the first litter, in which case they would need separating from her.

If you want to avoid any more litters - you must remove the male the day before she produces her litter.  As said before, however, if you completely separate him from the litter you may not be able to introduce him to the boys when they have been weaned.  

Another way round this, if you don't mind having three or four cages of hamsters is to leave him in with the female.  She will then produce a litter, they will then mate again, then as soon as the babies from the first litter are 17 days old (Campbells/Winter Whites)  or 20 days (Robos), sex them and remove the dad and the boys and they can have a cage together.  Leave the girls until the second litter is born, then if there is fighting you will have to separate them into their own cage.  At 3 1/2 - 4 weeks you need to sex the second litter and let the girls stay with the mum and separate out the boys.  

Regards

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QUESTION: so if i remove the male , when then can i put him back to the cage

I at home got 3 big cage already

1 is for campbells
2 is for roborovskis
3 is for winter white

dun tell me i need to have four or five ??
ANSWER: If you remove the male, then put him back - they will mate again and you will end up with another litter - the female comes into season every 4 days - therefore it is only a matter of time before she is pregnant again.    Also, if you don't separate out the boys and girls when they are 3 1/2 - 4 weeks old they will mate too so you could end up with loads of hamsters.

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QUESTION: can i know if the liter on the day is born , i remove the male then the following day i put him back can ??
ANSWER: If you remove the male the day the litter is born and then return him the next day - you will have to remove him every 4th day thereafter as she will come into season then.  Also, unless you are watchig them every second, you may not know that she has gone into labour and by the time you realise this, they may have already mated.  What is going to happen to the litter?  Are you keeping them together in a colony, or are you splitting them out?  If you keep them together, then whilst Winter Whites tend to have a dominant female who mates, sometimes others can mate too, so you could end up with loads more.

I think you need to decide what you want to achieve - is the plan to have loads of hamsters, or if not, then you need to sex and separate the babies, and keep the mum and dad separate too.

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QUESTION: i just want to know what to do when the litter is born ... i want to know when to remove the male hamster

Answer
Anders

to summarise the above emails:  if you leave the male in with the female (assuming she is pregnant already) they will mate on the day she gives birth.  If you do not want a second litter you must remove him before she gives birth, therefore any time between day of conception and day 17.

When her litter is 3 1/2 - 4 weeks old, you need to separate out the males, as they become sexually active any time after 4 weeks.  So, unless you want more litters they must be separated.

My friend's rescue received a cage with 14 winter white adults yesterday - this started as two, but they were male and female and subsequently mated and produced a couple of litters.  Four of the females in this cage have also just produced a litter each, therefore in fact there were almost 40 hamsters in the cage.  They breed quickly, and will continue breeding.  Unless you are planning on breeding for a pet shop or similar, then I suggest you remove the male as soon as possible otherwise you could find yourself over-run.  Also, it is not fair on the female to keep mating and producing litters.  If she keeps having litters her health, and the health of her newborns will be affected.

In previous emails I mentioned that the female comes into season every 4 days - this isn't necessarily according to our idea of a day - i.e. their day could start at 3am, or at 7pm.  Therefore it is always difficult to know exactly when she is in season - this is only a rough guide - which is why it is impossible to know when it is safe for a male to be near her if you decide to take the male out and then put him back.  

If you are sure she is pregnant, then I would take the male out as soon as possible - definitely before she produces a litter.

Regards