Buyer Beware

Membership in IHANA requires adherence to the Code of Hamster Care and Breeder's Code, but the fact is that there is no way to guarantee that individuals claiming membership are in compliance or are responsible breeders. Anyone purchasing hamsters needs to do their own research and judge for themselves if a particular person is a responsible breeder.

The following points, condensed from a detailed article on the California Hamster Association (CHA) website, can help you evaluate a breeder. (Full CHA article here)

Good Breeders Do:

• Focus on producing healthy animals with great temperaments.
• Handle their pups once they are old enough.
• Feed complete and wholesome diets.
• Have considerable knowledge about the species and lines they breed.
• Know the background of their animals and are a good source of information on the longevity and likely health problems in a particular line.
• Place great importance on care, health, temperament, and eventual placement.
• Breed to improve on the animals they already have.
• Have familiarity with and breed towards BHA or NHC standards.
• Have specific goals and objectives for their breeding program as a whole as well as for specific litters, and they will be happy to discuss them with you.
• Know the proper names for colors, patterns, and coat types.
• Question you as a potential buyer to understand if you are getting an animal that is right for you and you know how to care for it properly.

Good Breeders Do NOT:

• Breed animals simply because they can make money selling the more unusual and "rare" colors.
• Breed because they enjoy producing huge numbers of babies.
• Use the nicknames created as a marketing tool such as "black bear" and "calico". (See The Good, the Bad and the Ugly page about such names)
• Consider breeding an animal if its health or temperament is in question.

Hamstery Visits

Some breeders will not allow you to visit the hamstery. This alone does not mean that they should be suspected of being poor breeders. However, if you are invited to visit, here are some questions to keep in mind:

• Is the odor overpowering or nauseating? Does it smell strongly of ammonia or make your eyes water?
• Do the animals look healthy and come out to see what is going on?
• Do they act like they are familiar with being handled regularly?
• Does the breeder handle them without fear?
• Do they have food and water readily available?
• If this is a Syrian hamstery, are the animals all in separate cages?

Many articles on these subjects and more can be found on the CHA Newsletter page. Now that you have the tools to evaluate a breeder, browse the IHANA Breeders List (this list is still under construction).

Go to the Breeder's List

(this list is still under construction)