Help, my hamster just gave birth.?

Question

My roborovski hamster just gave birth to 6 pups, they're 5 days old now. All 5 pups are on the second floor with her but she put 1 on the first floor and has totally forgotten about it!

Yesterday, she placed it on the first floor as well, but brought it up, now it's on the first floor again. I don't know what to do. I know I can't touch it but it is really pitiful.

Should I just leave it?

Answer 1

Because you definetly can't touch the babies you sshould leave it, she will come get it if its healthy, but it might be sick and she trying to... get rid of it, if it seems healthy, but cold and she doesn't get it after a day or so, pick it up with a spoon.

Answer 2

The hamster will normally give birth during their typical waking hours - evening, night or early hours of the morning. She will be fairly active right up until she gives birth, and when she finally does give birth. She will sit, and crouch as she gives birth to each baby - and there'll be roughly a 5 - 10 minute interval between each baby until she has finished. Do not disturb a birthing mother at all.

          Her pups will be born naked, blind and also deaf. You may be able to see the eyes underneath the skin, and you should be able to identify paws and a tail. They do have teeth at birth which enables them to suckle from their mother.

          Also make sure you provide water for the babies.Most babies die of thrist becuase they are too small to reach the Hamster water bottle.Make sure you provide the mother with clean bedding,no drafts,no direct sunlight,and no other pets.(unless the father is there,but that depends if they should be there by their speices see:breeding)

         Mothers who eat their babies it may because she was exposed to some irritants, or maybe becuase the babies were undernourished.If the mother kills the babies but does not eat them it could because she is poorly nourished, or lacking a mineral or vitamin.But some mothers however seem to eat their babies with no explanation at all.

  The babies should be separated when they stop nurseing their mother,this is so they do not breed too young.

During the first 2-3 weeks of raising the babies, you should try not to disturb the nest. Do not clean the cage for at least the first 2 weeks. Disturbing the nest or touching the babies can encourage the mother to kill some or all of her litter. You may not be able to see the babies, as the mother will keep them warm at all times, and cover them up while she is away from the nest. You may e able to hear them though - suckling or squeaking. When the babies start to experiment away from the nest, mum will happily collect the scamperers!

          The babies will grow at a fairly rapid rate. Around 5-7 days you will see the pigment of the colour of the fur, and the fur will start to sprout shortly afterwards. At around 10 days the babies will be able to hear, and will have a growing coat of fur. The eyes will open at around 14 days, they will have a full coat of fur and you can start to think about handling them carefully, and for short periods of time whilst you clean the cage.

          After around 21 days, the babies can be weaned from the mother, as they will no longer need her milk - although they may want to keep suckling. Shortly after they have been weaned, they need to be separated into two cages (one for each s*x) where they can live for another 2-3 weeks before they will need an individual cage per hamster.

  The process of converting the baby hamsters from their mothers milk to an adult's hamster diet id known as weaning,and is usually completed by the time they are 4 weeks old at the latest.By this time the mother will be tired of the babies and may even start to attack her babies,and at this time they should be removed from their cage and all sister females put into one cage,and all brother males put in another cage.

Answer 3

Awww! Congratulations! I mean on having all the pups not the problem.

The mother is probably leaving it there because it is weak or she can't look after so many. If you want to hand rear it then i suggest you move it to its own cage and start to feed it bread soaked in milk off a tablespoon and water from an eye dropper and remember to keep them warm.

P.S. Don't keep putting it at the top if their mother wants it down because it could aggravate her and you wouldn't want that straight after birth trust me!

Answer 4

The mother knows how to look after her babies. DO NOT touch the baby because you could harm it severely. If the mother decides to kill or eat it, let her. Seperate the other babies from the mother when they start to run around by themselves and when they have fur.

Answer 5

it mite be too weak for the litter so she prolly is just killing it, or she cant produce enough milk for all of the hamsters. if you really feel bad get an eye dropper with warm milk formula from the petstore or warm cows milk and feed it to it.. if you see agressio nand u still want to save it then take it out and try to raise it urself... it may not work but its worth a try

Answer 6

Be careful..  I brough home a preggers hamster once and it had 6 babies bit he ate 4 of them.  Keep a watchful eye on that scoundrel.