Hamsters separation..

Question
Hello..
I have 2 syrian Hamsters a male and a female..14 days ago the female got birth for 2 babies another m & f,,I've read on a site that I should separate the mom from the male once she has her babies because she would be too weak at that time and the male would bother her,,so I did so for 14 days and First I don't know when exactly shall I put him back with the rest of the family..?second,I already did that today but he kept going after the female and the kids and he wanted to mate with her as well as the baby girl!!!besides the big noise at the cage that moment when the rest of the family where trying to eat and he didn't stop doing that so they were all yelling so I got him out again and they stoped...what shall I do now?

Answer
Dear Miro,
thank you for your question.
There's a good chance that the female is pregnant again, hamsters mate only for seconds. You need to keep them seperate for at least 4, better six months and the female should not have more than two or three litters anyway in her entire life. It's very important that you seperate the babies in two weeks because then they will be able to breed. The female can stay with her mother for a bit longer, but the male must live alone, his father would just attack him.
It's not a good idea to put the male into the female's cage, it must be the other way around (females are much more agressive in defending their territory) and you need to watch them all the time because she might fight him directly after mating. Apart from the short time of mating, Syrian (and dwarf) hamsters are strictly solitary and will fight to the death if kept together in one cage unless they are young.

If you really want to breed, I suggest you join the Internet Hamster Association of North America:
http://groups.msn.com/InternetHamsterAssoc/home1.msnw
They have message boards, mailing lists and regional groups.
Other good sites to read are:
http://www.petwebsite.com/hamster_breeding.htm
Excellent website on genetics and breeding as well as hamsters in general
http://www.hamperhams.co.uk/
Genetics and breeding of dwarf hamsters

I really recommend not breeding them unless you are very knowledgeable about genetics and hereditary and even then only if you know beforehand who will take the babies. It's not easy to find a good home for them. The reason why you need to learn about genetics is that certain combinations of colors lead to dead or crippled babies (no eyes, organic problems leading to an early death ect.) There are lots of hamsters in shelters that are looking for homes and even though hamster babies are very cute, please think about all those homeless hamsters before you try to breed your hamsters and perhaps add some more.

I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer