What do i do when my hamster has babys?

Question

I have two white really samll hamsters and they both are taking really good care of the babies. they are only a few days old. i didnt even know that one was preg i thought they were both girls. thay are amazing no fighting or anything. i have never done whis before please help me thank you

Answer 1

Continue taking care of the parents, they can do the rest really. When they get older then you will basically just take care of them the same as you do the 2 older ones.

Answer 2

take care of em like the ur takin care of any other hamster or u can always sell them to a RESPONSIBLE person

Answer 3

The female will give birth during the course of the evening of the 16th day, never before and very rarely later.

The female hamster will deposit one pup about every 10-15 minutes, any where around the cage floor. Once the birth is complete she will gather the pup's together and place them in the nest. Do not be to concerned: She may take some time to recover, and may take an hour or so to recuperate from her exhausting experience. The pups will come to no harm, it may be quite a while before she moves them all to the safety of the nest.

From here on, stay well clear of the nest, don't let curiosity get the better of you. Don't take any risks just to have a peep at the pups. If mother hamster feels threatened in any way at all she may abandon, or cannibalize the litter.

We must consider her natural instincts, her primary focus is on the caring and rearing of her litter. Give her room to go about her business in peace and quiet, caring for that litter. That doesn't mean to say that you cannot go to the cage, talk to her, reassure her, fill the food bowl and water bottle. But leave it at that, don't interfere with the nest or the baby's. If your hamster is a well socialized pet, she knows you, and trusts you, but there are limitations.

If you do see that she has eaten some of the pup's there will be a reason. Sometimes reasons beyond our understanding, it may have been born deformed, may be a runt, or born dead.

It is very rare a hamster will eat her pups because she has to many. As long as there is an abundance of food, bedding and water, there is no reason for her to dispose of any of her litter.

Not much will be seen of mum for about 4-5 days. After this time she may wish too come out for a little run around, by all means let her do so: When returned, she will happily return to her duties of caring for her pups.

Answer 4

you have to make sure you DO NOT TOUCH THE BABIES!!! the parent will kill them. when they are older and have fur you can deside to keep them or give them to a pet store. good luck

Answer 5

They must be Campbells, it is a proven fact that campbell dad hamsters actually help the mother hamster out with her baby caring duties. However one problem is that they can mate again and another litter might not be so healthy for the female, so it is better to separate them if you do not want any future litters.

Make sure you give the mother hamster lots of clean food and water and supplement her protein intake by giving her hard boiled egg whites and little quantities of skimmed milk. Also supplement her regular food with pieces of fresh vegetables like carrots. Throw away any stale food after a day.

Put the cage in an dim lit area where she has the least disturbance from noises and activities since any sudden noise or activity can stress the mother hamster and think she and the babies are in danger.

Put in a roll of unbleached / untreated toilet paper for her to make her nest and bedding for the babies.

Leave the cage undisturbed for 2 weeks (except to change the food and water) after the babies are born since any disturbance can irritate the mother and cause her to hurt her babies. Remember never to touch the babies for two weeks from the day they are born.

Apart from that, leave the mother to take care of her litter without any interference for the next two weeks. She knows what is best for her babies.

You can try to touch them when they are 2 weeks or older provided mamma hamster is unbothered by it. If she looks bothered, refrain from doing so until the pups are three weeks old.

Between 3 weeks - 4 weeks, the pups can be weaned from the mother and can be caged separately. Also s*x the pups and separate the males and females into different cages since they are sexually mature from 5th week onwards.

Answer 6

This sounds so similar to my very first hamster pregnancy, I feel nostalgic! :)

Anyway; this is very crucial; do NOT touch the babies (like a bird, the mom would eat her babies because they smell like a human) ; as long as the mommy is comfortable and isn't stressed out, she will raise the babies all by herself, you can just sit back and watch her take care of them :)

From your description, they sound like Campbells (or however you spell it...), so the daddy will help out with raising the babies, but if you don't separate he and the mommy, she could end up pregnant again, which could really wear her out, resulting in birth complications once she has her next liter.

Once they are old enough to be touched and sexed, you need to seperate the babies by gender (girls can remain with mom, though the boys might be better off in a cage by themselves, without the dad) if you don't, you could have inbred babies (brother + sister) which make the babies weaker, more prone to disease and abnormalities, and all in all, you'd have even more babies to deal with.

Once the litter grows older, you'll of course need more cages (to separate them), but you'll also have to start looking out for people to adopt them; friends and family may be willing, so I seriously advise you to give them to trustworthy people, and if you have to give them to pet stores make it a LAST EFFORT ATTEMPT. Pet stores don't generally handle the hamsters much, and you never know who could end up with them.