Newborn hamster question??

Question

Please answer as clearly as u can...

see, im a first time hamster owner. my teddy bear hamster of 6 months just gave birth to 7 pups this afternoon and i dont know what to do! some pups were buried with shavings so i moved them.. It was too late until i found out i shouldnt habe touched the babies. she already ate 2. dont worry i separated the father already my only problem is how to feed the hamsters since i read that they should not be disturbed?? i also read that mothers are usually very protective of their pups and become aggressive, but my teddy bear is totally fine whenever i check on her every once in a while. is this normal? and oh i didnt mention that the pups are half syrian half teddy bear. will they live? I DO HOPE SO! :(

Answer 1

awwwww... you shouldnt have moved them! never touch them again- but dont worry- when the mom eats them she knows what she's doing.

here are some tips- feed the mom high protein stuff like hard boiled egg and salt free cheese.

put a box around the cage so the newborns cant escape.

dont bother the mom for two weeks.

BTW. teddy bear is just a long haired version of a syrian, so chill. and the mom might just be chilling out. they dont always have to be aggresive.

Answer 2

i do not have a hamster myself.... but most of my friends do. it was a good thing that  you separated the father from the rest of the family. try slipping food from a corner of the cage the farthest corner from the female hamster if you think she might be aggrieve or else feed they when they are a sleep so they find the food when they wake up ... that way would also prevent you  from getting bitten by your female hamster.

hope you have something to work with

regards

SwtyGrl....

P.S good luck with your hamster family.

Answer 3

btw- a syrian hamster is also known as teddy bear hamster...0_o. just so you know. :)

Teddy bear is just a fancy name for long-haired syrian hamster. They are the same thing ).

Answer 4

Do not touch the babies anymore! Touching them can change their scent and cause the mother to eat them. Now that you had already touched them, just hope and pray that she does not do anything to the rest of the pups. Also leave the cage alone for the next 2 weeks. Do not go often to check on them. Leave the mother alone to take care of her babies with no interference from you or any of the other people in the house.

The only time you should go near the cage is to change the hamster's food and water, that too very carefully without disturbing the mother. Disturbing mother hamster makes her get stressed out and she can harm the babies that way.

Slowly shift the cage to an area that is dim and peaceful with no harsh sounds or disturbances so that the mother is not disturbed in her baby caring duties for the next 2 weeks.

Good that you separated the father already. You need not feed the baby hamsters anything. The mother hamster will take care of everything. As for the mother hamster, put lots of protein in her food like bits of hard boiled egg, unsalted cheese or skimmed milk. Also keep the food dish filled with her normal commercial feed mix at all times.Put vitamin drops in her drinking water so that she feels healthy enough to take care of her young ones.

As I mentioned, the mother hamster will take care of her young completely and the important things for you to do is to ensure she has nutritious food and make sure that she is not disturbed in any way.

Teddy bears are also syrian hamsters only so there is nothing like half teddy bear and half syrian. If the pups are weak, the mother will kill them herselves and ensure that only healthy pups survive and there is nothing you can do to control it.

And yeah, mothers can be aggressive when pups are around. If you check on her too often, she might not show her aggression to you but she might show it on her pups, so resist the urge to go and check on her and her babies too often.

Once the babies are four weeks old, you will have to separate them into males and females and put them separately, otherwise they can mate among themselves and it can be bad for their health. Also do not let the mother get pregnant again for the next one month for her to regain her health.