Syrian hamsters need to be housed singley ...each female and male has it's own cage...you need to add the male when the time is right...or she will kick his butt and or kill him...if she let's him breed....they breed for a few hours to a day? not sure...then he has to come out...she then drops kids in a couple weeks..(24 days? 28)...then she takes care of kids for 3 weeks...you pull...raise kids in grow out containers and start it all over again....
a friend used 5 gallon buckets....rows stacked 3 high pyramid style.....potatoe for water and lab block for food.....that's it......(well, bedding )......lab block and potatoes.....he had like 500 ...maybe 400 girls and 100 males.....it is work....it was his full time job....( his brother had mice and Chinese and Russian hamsters in other rooms )....he retired....
....so...Syrian hamsters are fatty....real fatty....they also will have your animal hooked on eating them maybe...they may not go back to mice or rats when you need them to....maybe...maybe not...some snakes eat anything....
...oh...they smell like hamsters....grab a huge female hamster when she is in heat- and mad...tell me how bad it stinks ! ( really)....nasty....
.......and they bite....a lot....
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........JY
