The ethics of breeding & keeping hairless Hamsters

Intro

In this blog, I’m going to be explaining why breeding hairless hamsters is an unethical practice and needs to stop. You shouldn’t seek out hairless hamsters from breeders/pet shops! If you are to take on a hairless hamster, you must know what you are doing and you should rescue one.

What is a hairless hamster?

Photo Credit: Habit

Hairless and partially hairless is a genetic mutation not a species of hamster. The hairless hamster has no protective coat of fur and are whisker-less, though some may have short, curly, white whiskers that are shed when they mature. It has been established that breeding these hamsters is unethical, due to them being physically handicapped. But what makes them truly unethical to breed?

Fur Deficiency

The longevity of affected animals is drastically reduced.

Ashen

The skin appears wrinkled and dry and seems quite sensitive to irritation.

Hairlessness

Naked hamsters which reach weaning age are viable, though they have a reduced body weight, and are more sensitive to environmental factors than normal hamsters. Both male and female homozygotes are fertile though the few females that have produced young have been unable to rear them, due to not lactating properly.

Required Care

Photo Credit

Due to not having any fur on their body, hairless hamsters can not regulate their own body temperature. They need assistance with keeping themselves warm and they need more protein in their diet to help them regulate their temperature better. They also have specific care requirements, slightly different to normal hamsters, to make sure they don’t injure themselves and can keep themselves warm.

I recommend not keeping hairless hamsters in a wire cage. Should a wire cage accidentally come apart, or the hamster falls, they are at more risk of injury. They should be kept in a bin cage or tank above the minimum recommended size (80x50cm aka 620sq inches). Without fur, they are more prone to injury and us owners need to go to all lengths to make sure there is nothing that could harm the hairless hamster.

Hairless hamsters should only be kept on paper based bedding. Aspen and anything sharp could scratch their exposed skin.

As for items in the enclosure, plastic toys and hides should not be kept in the enclosure. If they were to chew the plastic items, they would be at more risk of injuring themselves.

Why is it unethical to breed them?

Hairless hamsters have such a short lifespan, all due to a genetic mutation causing them to be hairless. If a female hairless hamster gives birth to pups, she will not be able to lactate and the pups will most likely not live very long. Buying them from a breeder or pet shop only continues the cycle. More pups will be born that won’t live very long and it will continue, as long as people are paying for them.

The ONLY time it is ok to own a hairless hamster is if you have rescued one from an abusive/neglectful situation, they have been abandoned or you have adopted one from a shelter/rescue. However, knowingly purchasing a hairless hamster from a breeder or pet shop is absolutely unacceptable and extremely unethical.

An example of somebody who unethically sourced a hairless hamster is Pickles Pets and Tarantula Kat. They both purchased hairless hamsters from a breeder and ed videos to YouTube. People were not happy at all and, as a result, Pickles hasn’t posted for several months. The reason that this is so bad is, not only did they purchase a hairless hamster from a breeder, but they ed a video to the internet for millions to see and this may lead some to think that this is ok to do.

Link to video

Conclusion

Do not go out of your way to buy a hairless hamster, only rescue one and make sure you know all of its specific care requirements. Thank you for reading, if you have any questions please comment them below and I’ll be sure to answer them ASAP!

Special shoutout to one of our curators Habit, she is absolutely the best person to go to when it comes to hairless hamsters as she has one herself!