[WillowTheWhisp]

That was how we started breeding them Carl - by accident. We had one winter white and one which was a cross between a Roborovski and a Campbells but we thought both were male until one had babies. We didn't realise until the nesting fluff moved when the hamsters weren't near it.

Then we assumed that the one which didn't seem to have maternal instincts must be the male and the one trying to encourage them to eat solids must be the female so we put the 'male' in with another guy and she had more babies!

Both litters did really well and we ended up flooded out with the things but we did have some very interesting 'mongrels' of all colours and varieties. My favourite hamster of all time was a weird little brown haired chap we called Bruno. He looked like a punk. His fur just stuck straight up in peaks all over his body. He was great fun, very friendly. We got quite into hamster breeding after that, helped and assisted by our neighbour who'd bred the originals.

I miss them but don't think I could cope with any more at the mo because it was always me had to clean them out and it was a major operation.