Page:The Golden Hamster Manual.djvu/47

 young caused by richness of pellet foods. Richness of the pellets must be balanced by green foods, which should be fed daily to unweaned young if pellets are in the pen. Some handlers prefer to feed larger cubes of animal food to mothers with pre-sight young, then small pellets from 15th day littler age onward. Unweaned young eat less large cube food. From the 15th day the likelihood of constipation decreases.

Hamsters are fond of certain freshly cut, unwilted lawn and field grasses. Try available green grass, freshly cut, to see whether they eat even small amounts at first. Grass that they will eat may be fed as a green food. However, its moisture may be too low to serve as the only green food in supplemental feedings to pre-sight young. See Chap. 50 for advice on supplemental feedings.

Diet without water as such is not advised, except in experimental procedures. Low moisture dehydrates the body, lowers both grade and number of young, and is unprofitable in general.

Hamsters need enough food to maintain food stores, or small piles of food near nests, at all times.

A tablespoon, or other long-handled spoon, is found to be especially suited to use in placing food in hamster pens if that food be grains, forcing feed mixture, small pellets, etc. Larger pieces of vegetables, large pellets and other food which may not pass through floor in self-cleaning area may be dropped upon that wire portion of the floor just inside the door.

Further data on feeds and feeding may be had by consulting the book, “Raising Hamsters for Science,” 1940, by the author of this Manual.

For most rapid growth of weaned young, the author’s forcing feed mixture given in Chap. 50 may be fed with green foods daily, with occasional addition of other food for variety.

It is observed that of all mammals in domestication, both in fertility and maternal instinct the Mesocricetus Hamster females rank highest. Similarly, in fertility and amiability as sires, the males take first prize. A well-established hamstery needs 1 male to each 3 to 9 females, depending upon the breeding method followed and the number of persons helping with hamster matings. The sexual cycle of the female is approximately 4 days, a highly frequent mating instinct. Barrenness is rare. After mating, she is too busy raising families to care to be fondled by human hands, and may well be handled by use of an empty No. 2½ tin can. Female breeders are kept in their individual pens.

For experimental breeding and pet raising, females may be mated from approximately 40 days. If one desires to raise and sell standard quality stock, the males should be at least 14 to 15 weeks old, and the females should be at least 8 weeks of age, or older, for the first matings. To produce either highly superior or exhibition stock, females should be 3 to 3½ months at first matings. The sexual life of hamsters is polygamous.

Directed by preferences and purposes of individual caretakers and owners, three different breeding methods are used.

Pair Mating: The female to be bred is placed in a