HelloAt what age can hamsters...

Question
Hello

At what age can hamsters be bred?

How long are they pregnant?

How long do they live? Do breeding females live shorter lives then other hamsters do?

How do you breed them? Can the male and the female be keep in the same cage?

Answer
Hi,
Syrian hamsters live up to three years, but more often then not they die at two. Constant breeding of course shortens the lifespan of the female, it's very exhausting for such a small animal to constantly give birth to 4-10 babies and raise them.

The male and female can not be kept in one cage, they will fight to the death. Female hamsters are fertile every four days. Then the female must be placed in the cage of the male (otherwise she'd chase and attack him, females are far more territorial) and you must watch them all the time and seperate them when they fight.

The pregnancy takes about 20-24 days and the offsping are able to breed with four weeks and should be seperated with three weeks or you'll end up with another 30, 40 hamsters.
Hamsters should not be bred unless they are older than four months, younger animals often cannot give enough milk and they might kill their babies or die themselves from exhaustion or during the birth.

Before you breed your hamsters, you should learn about genetics. That's very important because you cannot just put two hamsters together, you'll end up with stillbirths or malformed offspring in short time. It's best to join a hamster society, the members there can give you tips and recommend good literature. I don't know where you live but you'll find some societies here:
http://dir.yahoo.com/Science/Biology/Zoology/Animals__Insects__and_Pets/Mammals/...

Breeding hamsters should be taken seriously. There are a lot of unwanted hamsters around, the animal shelters and pet shops are full of them and you shouldn't produce any more. If you can make sure that every hamster you breed will go to a good home, it can be a nice hobby. But please don't just buy two hamsters and go ahead without any planning.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer