Will a mom hamster eat her babys for space why and how ???

Question

Will a mom hamster eat her babys for space why and how ???

Answer 1

IF you touch the babies she will eat them. SO DO NOT TOUCH!!! Its the scent.  She will eat them, so just leave her alone and don't touch the babies and she shouldnt eat them. She will not eat them for space.

Answer 2

Yes, a hamster will eat her babies for space; I once had an overpopulated cage, and I noticed that day after day, more babies were gone, until there were none left.

If the mother believes that the babies are in some kind of danger, or she thinks that they may not be nourished properly (ie, not enough food in the cage or not enough water), she will eat them, as to give herself more energy, and also, so that her babies won't have to suffer and die. Though from your point of view, if doesn't seem right, in her point of view, its a mercy killing.

Generally this just put the baby in their mouth as if their going to carry it in their pouches, but end up eating them instead. I've also seen babies die from being in the pouch for too long, deprived of oxygen. I've only seen one hamster (daddy) actually attempt to eat a baby hamster, but the baby's mother quickly put a stop to it.

Answer 3

No but to prevent it from happening after the birth transport the father to another empty cage.

Answer 4

Hamsters, like a lot of animals, will eat their young if they feel particularly stressed. If they are overcrowded and/or there isn't enough privacy, that leads to stress, and the mother will eat her young.

Answer 5

She won't eat them for space, but she will eat them for plenty of other reasons. The mommy needs plenty of food and water, and needs to be alone in the cage with her babies. If she's stressed that there's no food or water, then she will eat them. Also, she'll eat the runts or the ones that do not survive. She'll alos stop caring for them if they get the scent of a human on them.

Answer 6

I don't know about for space, but they'll definitely do it. Why? I guess they're hungry. I really don't know. My brother had a hamster once that got hungry four a midnight snack and devoured her entire litter. Creepy.

Answer 7

they will eat them but there are alot of reasons wy she would eat them if they r unhealthy or she was bred to young there r lots of reasons wy she would

Answer 8

Don't know how. But they will eat them if they are sick or if the mother feels like they are threatened by a predator.

Answer 9

They eat them for many reasons. My brothers ate quite a few of hers, she had a rather large litter. I forget how many, but she ate atleast half. I think she was stressed about how many there were. So she ate them for less to take care of. Its a really disturbing sight to see, and think of.

Answer 10

Unfortunately, it’s not at all uncommon to have a mother hamster eat some or all of her litter. There’s no hard and fast reason for why they do this, although some theories exist. For example, first-time mothers may be so shocked by the whole situation that they feel threatened by the new arrivals and simply eat them to remove the threat. Also, first time mothers can produce pups that are undersized or abnormal, thus causing the mother to reject and possibly eat them.

Remember the advice about adding extra protein to the mother’s diet? A good reason for this is that the mother may be craving extra nutrients after giving birth, and if they aren’t provided any other way she’ll eat her young to replenish herself.

You must be extra careful not to handle the young until they are about 14 days old. Doing so before then can cause the mother to reject the pup, causing her to ignore or eat it. Also, pups born outside of the nest area may not be recognized by the mother, again causing the same cannibalistic behavior. (This probaby was not the case though becasue you did not touch your hamster)

It’s also thought that this behavior has something to do with making sure there’s enough food around to feed the number of pups born – the mother will eat enough young to make sure there’s enough food for the survivors. However, we can’t really be sure why. If you happen to see it, know that other than providing a warm and quiet environment for the mother and pups, along with plenty of food, there’s nothing else you can do to ensure the pups’ survival.

Mothers will also do this if they sence that the pup is sick.