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Hamsters, being ‘night owls’ will most easily mate in the evening usually about an hour or so after dusk.
Female hamsters come into season every four days and this is the only time when they will accept the presence of a male hamster. We could tell Bramble was in heat as when we put Spud near her cage she stood still and raised her tail in the classic ‘mating’ pose. Though she did this it is unlikely that she would have accepted Spud onto her territory for the mating as females will fiercely guard their space. A neutral cage was used and Spud placed in before Bramble. No problems were experienced though in case a fight took place we were armed with gloves and a piece of cardboard to separate them and save our fingers. After sniffing and licking each other Spud mated Bramble quickly several times. After about 20 minutes, Bramble started to become restless and move around the cage. At this stage we removed both hamsters. |
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Bramble and Spud mating. |
Four days before giving birth Bramble looks like a very pregnant little hamster. |
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Pick me up! |
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If the mating was successful Bramble would give birth in 16 days, a very short gestation period. So any pups would be due 23.03.07. At this stage there was no real way of telling whether she was expecting so it was just a case of wait and see. We did put a male near her cage again 4 days later to see whether she was on heat again, however she showed no interest at all in the male, making us hopeful that she was indeed pregnant.
Over the last 12 days we ensured that Bramble had a high protein diet, including eggs, cheese, tofu, bread and milk and fresh vegetables. Up until today it has been quite hard to see any difference in her body, however today you can definitely tell she is expecting (she looks like she has swallowed a golf ball). |
