What do I do with my hamster?

Question

I have a female Roborovski hamster and I got another "female" hamster after her sister died of wet tail. Well that hamster wasn't female, and now my hamster is pregnant! I took the male hamster back to the pet store and they gave me a refund, but I have no idea what to do with my hamster! She got pregnant around June12th-15th (I think???), What do I do with the babies? How do I handle them? Help please?

Answer 1

DO NOT disturb their cage for 10 DAYS . around 13 days they will open their eyes but until then they are completely dependent on their mother . Also Pregnant mothers need lots of water and food , and about three to four days before she gives birth be sure to give her a nice clean nest . A sheet or two of unscented toilet paper will be welcomed , and made into a nest .

Plus the mothers like bits of hard boiled egg to munch on for protein and a little fish oil (2 or 3 drops on their  food once a week) .

If any of the younglings stray away during or after birth from the nest , dont touch them the mother will get them back jsut fine . She knows how many she can handle and if she must she will mercifully take out the weak ones first . Don;t stress her by keeping the room quiet and 40 - 50 % humidified .

Hope that helped :D

Answer 2

Okay,first DO NOT touch the babies until they are 2-3 weeks old,if you touch them the mother will eat her babies. Clean her cage VERY well probably tonight. When the babies are 6-8 weeks old and eating on there own,you can either sell them to friend and family or give them to the petstore.I hope this helped!

Answer 3

bring them to a no-kill pet shelter...they will know how to care for them and find them adoptive loving homes.

Answer 4

Step one - ignore the so called rodent breeder who is telling you that they normally have babies 5 days after breeding. Your babies would have been here a week or more ago if that info was correct.

Gestation in a Robo is 23-30 days and you'll probably have 1-9 pups. http://www.hamsterific.com/RoborovskiHam...

http://www.petwebsite.com/hamsters/reari...

Step two - panic and get it over with, so you can get on with the education you're going to need. This was an accident due to a misidentification, so don't beat yourself up over it.

Step three - read and read some more http://www.hamsterific.com/HamsterUniver...

http://www.petwebsite.com/hamsters/breed...

The general rule of thumb is you don't handle baby hamsters until they are fully furred, eyes open and leave nest on their own. Its typically around 2 weeks, but I'm not sure how fast Robos mature - it could be a little earlier or later for them. http://www.petwebsite.com/hamsters/reari... Went and found the info "At 14-16 days of age the eyes open and the babies are covered in fur. It is safe to handle the babies for short periods at this time and so the cage can be cleaned."

Be sure and do a cage cleaning before you expect the pups, because you can't clean it for awhile after they are born.

Check your cage - babies can fit through bars really easily. Many baby hamsters get their heads stuck in bar cages. If you're not using a bin cage, now is a good time to consider one!

Babies - many pet stores will not take babies from individuals. You want to talk to your pet store now and see if they will.You can also llist them on your local classifieds - craigslist.com is one. If you have a large enough cage, you could keep one or more of the female pups to live with mom.

Answer 5

Firstly, I'm sorry to hear about your pet store mix-up. That happens a lot, unfortunately, but I'm glad that you are trying to learn how to take care of the situation.

When the babies are born, you are not to touch the babies or  the mother at all. It is preferable to not handle the mother for a few days before she gives birth. Don't even clean the cage. Keep the cage in a quiet area. Try to feed her a diet that is high in protein. Many people feed the mothers scrambled eggs and milk soaked bread in addition to their normal food. The extra protein is very important in helping the babies grow.

Now, as sad as it is, there is a chance the mother may eat all or some of the young, especially if this were her first pregnancy. This is why it is so important not to touch the babies. If someone touches the babies or if babies are sick, there is a good chance that the mother will eat them. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to stop this, so if you see her eating one of them, do not bother her, it will just upset her more.

If it seems she has abandoned one of them, take a spoon and rub it in the bedding so that it smells familiar to the mother. Then use the spoon to move the baby back into the nest. Hopefully she will then realize it is hers and take care of it.

At about 10 days they may start trying to come out and move around. You still should not touch them. They are still babies and the mother will kill them if she is scared.

As soon as the babies eyes are open you can then handle them. This can happen anywhere from 14 days and on. Make sure you rub your hands in the bedding before you touch them, again to make sure they smell familiar to mom. At this point you can clean the cage.

At the age of 4 weeks, you MUST separate the males from the females. Otherwise any of the sisters, or even the mother can get pregnant again. You do not necessarily need to separate all of the babies. Dwarf hamsters can be social if they've been raised together, so I would recommend keeping them in same s*x pairs unless you notice fighting.

If you need anymore help, this website may be useful:

http://www.advice-on-pet-care-and-pet-pr...

Good luck, and feel free to contact me if you need any extra help!

Answer 6

be very careful go  get the lube   ky is slipery but its ok  insert them gentle  at first then   but check a**s for hook worms later

Answer 7

hamsters usualy have their babies within 5 days after mateing, so its not likely their pregnant.