How to Breed Black Bear and Teddy Bear Hamsters

Breeding hamsters is a simple and enjoyable process.

Breeding your own hamsters can be a way of making money from selling the babies, or simply a way of ensuring you have more hamsters. The average litter of hamsters is eight puppies, meaning that you may soon have more hamsters than you can deal with. In order to breed black bear or teddy bear hamsters, you will need to know a little about their behavior. The process of breeding them is simple, and can be replicated around six times during the life of a female.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Male hamster
• Female hamster
• 2 hamster cages

1. Buy a male and a female hamster, ideally aged around 6 weeks. This is when they are first able to successfully mate, and will allow them to become used to their new surroundings before they begin the process. Place them in separate cages.

2. Use a cup to pick the female up out of her cage and place her in with the male. Do not touch the female with your hand as this will hinder the process. Do not place the male in the female's cage, as she will become territorial.

3. Observe their behavior. Although they may fight, this is natural. If the female is prepared to mate, she will arch her back and invite the male to breed. While this is taking place, clean the female's cage, as you will not be able to do this during pregnancy. The process will take around 20 minutes, at which point you can use the cup to place the female back in her cage.

4. Provide the female with high protein food, such as milk soaked bread and nuts, for 12 days. Lower her water bottle so that any babies can reach it. If nothing has occurred after two weeks, repeat Step 3. If the babies are born, do not touch them for the first 16 days of their lives, as this may cause the mother to reject them. After this point, you can separate the males and females.

References

• Animal-World: Hamsters