Breeding Cages

There are no specific type of cage requirements for breeding hamsters in. The only golden rule is that it must be kept free from human intervention. The exception being your self for feeding and watering purposes only. The cage should be left where it will not be disturbed too much.

The female will be quite happy to rear her young pups in the cage she is using now. But as the pup's get to the stage where they can start to walk about this is about 8-9 days they are still very small and can quite easily fit through the bars of a normal cage leading them to be deprive of the mother and possible injury.

It would be wise to make sure she is put in the breeding bin cage as soon as possible after mating, this will give her time to familiarize her self with her new environment and prepare to construct the nest, and her food store. If she is put in too late after the mating and too close to the birth, because this is unfamiliar territory to her there is a possibility that she may cannibalize or abandon the litter.

If the cage she is using now is a wired cage then it may be worth considering to make a home made breeding bin cage.
Here are some ideas of what you could use. With a few basic tools and a bit of imagination you can construct a bin cage quickly and very cheap.

Starting with a storage bin in Fig. 1
(Fig: 2) Theses can be purchased quite cheap at your local hardware store.
(Fig 3) Cut out the top for ventilation.
(Fig 4) The water bottle can be fixed to the outside of the cage with a small hole the same size as the nozzle drilled through the side of the bin cage. Holding the water bottle in place with a small loop of wire fixed to the outer lip of the cage.
(Fig 5) The wire mesh can be held in place with a 2 small loops of copper wire, one on each side of the mesh.
(Fig 6) The bin cage complete ready for use.

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