Hamsters

[amon]

What kind of hamsters are these? Can I breed them for food for my lizards?

If yes, how should I make the set-up different from my mice and rats?

Thanks

[aaramire]

Those are chinese dwarf hamsters, and I wouldnt recommend using and hamsters for feeders, they can be vicious and bite your reptiles. Plus I am not sure if they reproduce as rapidly as mice or rats.... I could be wrong though.

[littleindiangirl]

You can try to breed them, if you have a snake that isn't picky like a ball python. I know any snake besides my balls will eat whatever warm blooded creature in with them.

I would set them up just like ASF rats. Wheel, hides, things to chew and destroy with food and water just like for ASF's.

I don't know how well hamsters breed, but I have this idea from somewhere that they are cannibolistic, but I may just be thinking of mice.

[Bettacreek]

You could try it, but, they have small litters, and cannibalism is high in dwarves. Plus the fact that they're nastly little buggers. I've had problems with dangling dwarves when I tried to play with friends' dwarves, they bite and don't let go half of the time. One plus to hamsters is that they cannot jump (they hop, and very poorly) so if there is no risk of knocking cages over, you don't need any type of top. The dwarves are very prolific, if conditions are perfect. They breed like mice, but you have a better chance of litter survival if you leave females with the colony. The males will actually help raise the litters, and will breed the females right after birth (thank god you're not a rodent). They don't get very big though, and you might worry about any junk in their cheeks when feeding to a snake. If you want to try it, I'd set up a male with however many females that you can (no more than say 5) and basically leave them alone, let them do their thing. If I remember correctly, the gestation is around 21 days, and weaning takes about the same amount of time.

[amon]

Thanks for all your inputs. I've got a 1.2 setup for now, lets see how it goes.

Thanks again.