BREEDING

Read Before you Breed!

You must be willing and prepared to breed. Before you just decide to breed hamsters you should know litters can be up to 12 pups. You will need homes for these before you breed. Pet stores usually aren't just willing to take your baby hamsters in. You need to have multiple cages and a lot of supplies. 
Breeding is different for different species of hamster; for example Syrian hamsters can have litters of up to 12 pups, but dwarf hamsters can have litters of only up to 8. When you introduce the two hamsters, they will not mate immediately. You will have to gradually introduce them to each other. If you see the female try to push the male on it back with its front nose, then you need to immediately separate those two. That means that the female does not want to mate and is not ready. When the female is ready, it will stand still, ears up and erect. Once the male puts his paw on her back, that means mating is about to begin. After the mating with Syrians has happened, you should separate those hamsters immediately to stop injury of the babies. With dwarfs, the male can be kept in the cage to help raise the litter.

Syrian Breeding

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Syrian males can start breed at 10-12 weeks old and Syrian females can start at 15-20 weeks old. It will take 16-18 days for the hamsters to give birth. Those babies can be weaned at the age of 3-4 weeks old. They will weigh on average 1/10 oz. 

Dwarf Breeding

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Dwarf hamsters can start to breed whenever they feel like it; there is no age for them. It will take 18-21 day for them to give birth. These babies are also able to be weaned at the age of 3-4 weeks. The litter size for these guys is usually 4 but can get up to 8.