Hamsters do often have large litters, unlike gerbils, so that would be a plus. (On the other hand gerbils are nice because they don't smell much.) But, you can't house a male and female together like you can mice, rats and gerbils. The females are very territorial. You have to put the female in the male's cage, and watch to see if they mate. If they don't do it fairly soon, the female is not in estrus, so you need to put her back in her cage and try again the next day. And so on, until she is receptive to the male (he is always ready!).



If you leave them together, there is a good chance they will fight, so after they are together (mating) for about a half hour, then put her back in her cage. It is also a good idea to have a pair of heavy gloves ready in case they do start fighting.



I think gestation is about 3 weeks. As far as feeding them, once they are much over 4 weeks, I would recommmend pre-killing them, or your snake might be in danger of a bad bite.



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Kent

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