Breeding Considerations (Part VII)

Breeding Considerations

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Breeding Considerations (Part VII)

·                     UPDATE: Simple Breeding Terminologies

·                     Sexing adult hamsters

·                     Sexing hamsters through:

1.                  anogenital distance and;

2.                  posterior features

The Estrous (Breeding) Cycle

·                     Lordosis

·                     UPDATE: What Mothers should eat

·                     UPDATE: What should be removed from the cage

·                     Young hamsters

·                     Baby Syrians Timeline

·                     Sexing pups

·                     UPDATE: Types of Hamster Breeding

o                  In-breeding

o                  Line-breeding

o                  Out-crossing

o                  Out-breeding

·                     UPDATE: Common Breeding Misconceptions

·                     SPECIAL: What to do if your Hamster pups were abandoned

o                  If the little ones are 12 to 14 days old

o                  In the event the pups are 10 days or less

o                  Pups 8 days and younger

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(NOTE: THIS BLOG AND ITS OWNER DO NOT ENCOURAGE IRRESPONSIBLE AND UNETHICAL BREEDING OF HAMSTERS (AND PERHAPS ALL ANIMALS)

SIMPLE BREEDING TERMINOLOGIES:

(by HH's Plushie) (22)

• PUPS are baby hamsters.
• A group of hamster pups is called a LITTER.
• WEANING is when baby animals are put onto solid food. You may see the mom refusing to feed her pups, this is normal during weaning and you need not intervene.
• GESTATION is how long the mother is pregnant: from the time the egg(s) are fertilized to the time of the birth. (For example, in humans this is normally 9 months.)
• CULLING is another term for when a mother animal kills her offspring. In the case of hamsters, this is often due to mom feeling threatened and/or thinking that she cannot raise the pups (e.g. in a large litter she may cull some so the litter is easier to manage). Often, if a hamster culls her pup she will also eat it.

Sexing adult hamsters

The sex of adult hamsters is easy to determine. Males have very large, prominent testicles. In fact, owners unaccustomed to seeing them are often astonished at these anatomic peculiarities. (1)

Sexual identification in hamsters is similar to other rodents, the anogenital distance in the male is greater than in the female.(13)

In adult hamsters, the male has a pronounced posterior bulge due to the testes in the scrotum. The adult female has a more blunt posterior.(13)

Sexing hamsters through anogenital distance and posterior features (13) 

What you'll need for breeding (4)

The Estrous (Breeding) Cycle

The image above shows the regular four day estrous cycle of female hamsters. The rising and falling curve above

the baseline on the graph indicates the period of receptivity to the male, or behavioral estrus. The blue column in day 2 marks the occurrence of a white, stringy, odorous
vaginal discharge. This discharge can be used to predict ovulation and receptivity during the next estrous cycle. Female hamsters can be bred the third night, after the appearance of this discharge. (13)

Male golden hamsters should be first bred when they are 14 weeks old. Females should be first bred when they are 10 weeks old. As the time of copulation approaches, thin, stringy, cobweb-like mucus exits the female’s vulva. The female is then placed into the male’s cage about one hour before dark. The pair must then be carefully observed for mating activity and/or fighting. (1)

Sign that the female is receptive to mating / mounting of the male: Lordosis (13)

Females can be very aggressive to males in this situation and can harm them. The male should be removed at once if there is fighting. Because fighting is so likely, aggressive males are best hand-mated. In these situations, they are better able to defend themselves and ‘hold their ground’. The male should be removed after mating. (1)

WHAT MOTHERS SHOULD EAT:

(by HH's Plushie) (22)

• Good nutrition is important. Most of the time (even without a pregnant or nursing hamster), a lab block and/or seed mix will not just cut it. Fresh food and supplements along with their regular food should be given to all hamsters, not just pregnant and nursing hams!

• Feed the mom protein foods like cooked egg, plain boiled chicken, tofu. Mother hamsters need lots of protein.

• Fresh food like fruits and veggies can be given: sliced carrots, leafy greens, etc. In the Food and Nutrition board there is a sticky on what foods you can feed . Pick a variety of things, if you can, and feed them to the mom.
• Of course, remove all uneaten fresh food after a few hours of it being in the cage. It can attract bad bacteria and pests, which are especially dangerous to a mother and her litter.

• Normally there is a limit on how many sunflower seeds you can give a hamster (usually 3-4 a day or so), because although they contain good oils for hamsters, they are quite fatty. With a pregnant/nursing hamster, this bar can be temporarily lifted. Mothers need the healthy oils from sunflower seeds and millet spray (found in the bird section of your pet store).

Pregnancy lasts only 15-16 days. Before delivery, the female becomes restless and usually discharges a small amount of blood from her vulva. Litters usually range from 5 to 10 pups. The pups are born hairless, with cars and eyes closed. They do, however, have their front teeth (the incisors) at birth. (1)

WHAT SHOULD BE REMOVED IN THE CAGE:

(by HH's Plushie) (22)

• The wheel, as babies can get flung around if they crawl on and the mom crawls on and runs.

• The dad, if you accidentally bought a pair of mis-sexed hamsters, as he can get the mom pregnant again right after the pups are born. This is VERY hard on the mom's body and will weaken her body, possibly leading to an unhealthy litter or even death.

• Any other hamsters.

• Second levels, since the pups can accidentally fall off

• If you are reading this after the pups have been born make sure you remove anything without disturbing the mom and especially her nest. If the nest is underneath the wheel, you'll have to wait for the mom to move her nest. If the dad is in the nest, you'll have to wait for him to get out of the nest. And so on.

Female hamsters with young must be provided with abundant nesting and bedding materials, and plenty of food and water. They must not be disturbed in any way. The young should not be touched or handled until they are at least 7 days old, the nest should not be disturbed, and the cage should not be cleaned during this period. Failure to heed these cautions

(especially with females nursing their first litters) most often results in cannibalism of the young.(1)

Observant owners may note an interesting maternal rearing activity, especially if the female with young is excited or disturbed. She will stuff pups into her cheek pouches and deposit them into the nest a short time later when she believes the danger has passed.

Occasionally, pups suffocate as a result of this activity, especially during lengthy periods of disturbance. (1)

Young hamsters usually begin eating solid food at 10 days of age but are usually weaned at about 3 weeks of age. Solid, pelleted food must be soaked to soften it and be placed on or near floor level of the enclosure for easy access by the weanlings.

What babies should eat (4)

As mentioned above, sipper tubes must be positioned low enough so that the smallest pups can reach them. Some pups will not be strong enough to extract water from sipper tubes, so owners must be vigilant for this potential problem and provide an alternative water source for them. (1)

Baby Syrians Timeline (4)

Hamster pups' growth and development graph. (14) 

Sexing pups

Sexing of hamster pups is somewhat more difficult, but the principle is the same, the animal with the longer anogenital distance is the male. Also notice in this image, that the mammary glands are much more distinct in the female pup, on the left.(13)

Sexing pups (13)

TYPES OF HAMSTER BREEDING

In-breeding

Inbreeding is the mating of very close relatives, for example, father to daughter, half-brother to half-sister, brother to sister, mother to son, etc.

Inbreeding intensifies the faults as well as the strong points, so considerable discretion must be used in the choice of the hamsters. The faults may be to such an extent, that, sometimes, entire litters have to be destroyed in cases where obvious anomalies occur. For this reason, this type of breeding is not recommended to novice breeders. Sometimes, in-breeding is the only option available, for example, in the re-creation of a nearly extinct breed or in breeding programs of newly created breeds.(21)

Example of Inbreeding (20)

Line-breeding

Line breeding is the mating of hamsters having many common ancestors or mating to a slightly removed relative, e.g. granddaughter to grandsire, uncle to niece, etc.

The benefit of line-breeding is the production of more consistent litters.

In order to have a chance to reinforce desired characteristics and eliminate health problems one has to have a thorough knowledge of both pedigrees of both the sire and the dam for at least five generations.(21)

In general, most breeders adhere to a policy of line breeding, whereby they can assure uniformity of quality without risking the inherent dangers of inbreeding.

This technique appears to be the best compromise between inbreeding and the doubts of outcrossing or outbreeding.(21)

Example of tight  line-bred pedigree (20)

Out-crossing

Outcrossing is the mating of two hamsters that are the products of line breeding but of two distinctly separate lines. This is generally considered the breeding of animals with no common ancestors within the first 4 or 5 generations.(21)

Unless the two hamsters involved in an outcross are strongly linebred with a possibility of a certain measure of prepotency, uniformity to the first generation is generally doubtful.(21)

It is generally employed as a long-term proposition to bring certain traits into a line that are otherwise deficient. These traits then need to be intensified by proper line breeding or inbreeding.(21)

Out-breeding

Outbreeding is the mating of two hamsters who not only are the products of two distinctly separate lines, but on top are not the products of line breeding.(21)

Outbreeding is seldom employed since in most breeding programs hamsters that would qualify for outbreeding simply do not exist.(21)

In summary, most successful breeders use some formula involving general line breeding with inbreeding employed when sufficiently outstanding products of their line result and outcrossing only when another line can supply a strong characteristic in which they are lacking.(21)

Common Breeding Misconceptions (20)

In-breeding causes genetic diseases

Breeding closely related animals increases the possibility that any bad genes in a line will show up. It does not 'cause' genetic disease. (20)

Out-crossed hamsters are healthier

This is only partly true. There is a known phenomenon called Hybrid Vigor. Two animals of unrelated strains breed and the offspring is often bigger and grows faster than it's purebred cousins. This method is often used by farmers in order to get their animals to market sooner. But one of the biggest misconceptions of hybrid vigor is that it applies to all animals of mixed heritage. Hybrid Vigor only applies to the animals that are the direct offspring of the crossing of the unrelated strains. In other words if you continue to breed animals of different strains there generally will not be any additional increase in hybrid vigor. If the unrelated strains share common genes for genetic disorders, hybrid vigor will not over ride the risk of the disorder showing up. Out-crossing can also cause problems if widely divergent physical types are mixed due to differences in growth rates and bone and muscle sizes. (20)

SPECIAL: WHAT TO DO IF YOUR HAMSTER PUPS WERE ABANDONED (29) (30)

For Living:

• Aquarium/ enclosure

• Small ceramic bowl

• Heating Pad*

• Recyclable bedding

• A roll of Toilet paper
• General Food Dish

• General hanging Water bottle

• Den/House

• Two large wheels
• Tubes

• Toys

Instructions for use:

The first thing you must do is set up the Nursery Tank for the Pups (29).

1. Place the heating pad (if available) under the tank directly underneath the den or house and set it to “low”.

2. Put the recyclable bedding in the cage.

3. Make a “nest” out of the bedding and toilet  tissue paper (Or use  mom’s nest if it is available) and place it into the ceramic bowl.

4. Place the ceramic bowl in the den or house.  (This will be a baby proof nest that they can not escape from – that way they are together and warm at all times.)

5. Place the wheels, food dish, water bottle, tubing and any toys you may have for them in the tank.

If the little ones are 12 to 14 days old:

(by Hamsterific's Rusty)

They will do fine, with a little extra TLC and plenty of nourishing food. The first step, if Mama has died, is to thoroughly clean the cage. Make sure there is plenty of bedding. Since Mama isn't around to shred the toilet tissue for a nest, roll up the sleeves and have a shredding party! Place the cage in a warm location, with no drafts. If the little ones appear to be a little cold (young pups sometimes have problems maintaining body heat - that's why Mom is generally sleeping with them), place a heating pad, set on low, under the cage. Lower the water bottle so it is easy for them to reach. (As an added precaution, unflavored pedialyte can be placed in the bottle to prevent dehydration.) Fill the food dish with plenty of their normal grain/seed mix, which can be sprinkled with some powdered milk, wheat germ and/or quick oats. For added protein and sustenance, canned dog food (beef or chicken - mashed well with a fork) or boiled egg can be placed in a small saucer (one that comes in toy dish sets works well). Fresh apple will also help with hydration. Although the list of "treats" that the pups would enjoy is astronomical, the primary consideration should be to maintain a well balanced diet that remains similar to what they have been accustomed to during their short life.(30)

In the event the pups are 10 days or less:

(by Hamsterific's Rusty)

Adoption needs to be considered since they still need "mother's milk" to survive and grow into healthy pups. There are as many methods of adopting orphans as there are breeders. The following is a method that has proven to be extremely successful. The pups will undoubtedly be cold when they are discovered. Clean all residues from the nest off the little ones and wrap them in a clean terry towel. Rub them gently to stimulate circulation - generally the gentle rubbing and warmth of ones hands will have them wiggling in no time. It is best to find an adoptive mother that has little ones a day or two older or younger. Again, make sure that all the residue of the orphan's original nest has been removed, take some of the nesting material that is around the adoptive mother and her babies and wrap it around the orphans. Continue holding them and let them wiggle around in the nesting material - the goal is to make them smell just like Mom's other pups. Entice the adoptive mom away from her nest with a special treat. Once she is busy tending to devouring the treat, place the orphans in the nest with the other babies. Make every effort to keep Mom busy for as long as possible and give the orphans time to squirm in and around their new siblings and, hopefully, smell just like them. Go away and don't disturb Mom and the babies. And, although it is tempting, don't look in the nest for at least a week.(30)

Pups 8 days and younger

(by Hamsterific's Alex a.k.a Rebel226)

They have a better chance of survival if you can find a "surrogate" mom. A surrogate mom is a female who has recently given birth and is nursing her own pups. There is a chance that she will accept your abandoned pups as her own but no absolute guarantee. If no surrogate mom is available you can try the following but keep in mind this works best for pups over 8 days old.(30)

You will need a milk replacer or you can also use either baby formula or evaporated milk ( 50% evaporated milk mixed with 50%warm water).(30)

For pups from birth to approximately 12 days old you have to feed them around the clock with an eyedropper. Feed them 3 drops approximately every hour. Once they begin eating solid food in addition to nursing you can drop the amount of milk in the eyedropper to approximately .5-1ml. and now feed them still around the clock but every 2- 3 hours. Continue this schedule until they are 21 days when even pups with a mom stop nursing completely.(30)

An important step that you can't forget is that after each feeding you gotta stimulate each pup to urinate and defecate just like the mom would do. To do this gently rub each pup's genital and anal area with a warm, moist cloth.(30)

Pups lose body heat real fast without the mom to keep them warm so supply extra nesting material in the form of white, unscented toilet paper and place a heating pad under the tank/cage. Keep the temp on a low setting.(30)

Pups also have a tendency to dehydrate rapidly so when you see them start to eat the dry food that is scattered around the tank/cage you can also supply them with a piece of peeled apple to prevent dehydration. Also when the pups are old enough to drink from the hanging water bottle fill it with water and unflavored pedialyte (50%water/50%pedialyte). This will also help prevent dehydration.(30)

***When you feed the pups with the eyedropper be real careful and do it gently never forcing the fluid because it's real easy for a pup to inhale the liquid and once it's in the lungs it can kill the pup.(30)

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