Dwarf hamster gestation period?

Question

i know its from 18 - 21 days but is the mating day count as a day i heard its from mating to birth is this true? and they mated in the afternoon

Answer 1

Hi.

Yes, the mating day counts. That means that after 18-21 days, most likely in the afternoon too, you will become a parent:D.

You should do some research on the breeding process of dwarf hamsters because the are some important steps to follow.

-Sometimes the pregnancy isn't visible until a couple of days before the mating but you can see this by observing her behavior. It's very likely that she is more aggressive towards the male, the other hamsters in the cage or even towards you.

1. You have to be more careful when handling her

2. The babies are born at 10 minutes one from other and the female is usually awake between each birth. make sure that is quiet in the room that you keep your hamster because if she hears something that scares her, she will probably eat her pups:( .

3. Don't be worried if the female eats the placentas. Some of them do it because it is an important source of protein.

4. Normally you will see blood spots on the bedding - that's normal and is cause by the passing of  to the placenta. But you have to make sure that the female doesn't suffer from severe blooding - in this case you have to go to the vet immediately.

5. The pups are blind, deaf and very small, weighting about 3 grams.

6. The babies have teeth which allows them to suck on the milk. Their skin is transparent so don't be scared if you can see the milk in their tummy. That is normal.

  

7. You should not disturb her nest or the babies for the next 2 weeks or she will most likely reject her babies.

8. Both the female and the pups need high proteins food now.

9.At the age of 3 weeks you an take them away from their mother and separate them by s*x.

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TIP: If you want to avoid another gestation, get the male out of the cage because they will most likely mate again.

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If you need to find out more about hamsters you can find it at http://www.HamsterBungalow.com, a brand new site dedicated to all hamster lovers. If you don't find what you are looking for on my site, be patient. I'm just starting to roll the wheel - just like my hamsters :)! Come back weekly as I will post fresh information that I hope will be of help to you!

Good luck!

P.S.: I really hope everything will be ok! Please let me know if you need more help.