Any advice about cleaning the hamster cage after having babies?

Question

I've just bought two female hamsters approx. 2 1/2 weeks ago. Four days after bringing them home, the first one had 7 babies. Just last week the other one had a litter of 11. The mothers are in separate cages. The oldest litter is two weeks old today. I've left the cage cleaning because I heard you should for the safety of the babies. Now I need to clean it. I'm afraid of disturbing the nest. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I had to look this up as I breed mice, not hamsters. Unfortunately their gestation and weaning periods are different.

Anyways, between 12-14 days the pup's eyes should now be open and this is the time that the cage should be cleaned (so you timed it pretty well, good job!). I'm assuming that the site says this because it is now safe to clean it without worrying too much about the babies.

Personally I would get a cardboard box or critterkeeper or whatever to put the mum and her pups in all together while you clean the cage. The faster you can do this the better I would say, just so they aren't seperated too long. I would put some of their old bedding in the box too. I would also leave just a tiny bit of their old bedding in their cage, scattered on top of the new stuff just to avoid a completely new environment.

It should go over fairly well, I don't think you have much to worry about. As for the other litter, just wait until they're about 14 days before cleaning their cage too.

The pups should be seperated into same-sex groups between 21-28 days to avoid them trying to breed at too young an age. Remember that hamsters are solitary, too, so they should be housed individually as soon as you can after weaning (although the females can probably stay with their mum an extra couple days).

You said your mums are in different cages, I don't know if that's only because of their litters or if you were keeping them like that originally. Either way, make sure they continue to be kept apart, they should only be housed one per cage.

Good luck and congrats on the pups! :D

Answer 2

at about 2 wks when their eyes are open, u can clean just the area thats wet rather than the whole cage. just scoop & replace. do the whole cage after they are about a mth. at about 4-6 wks they will be need to separated by sex as suggested earlier or u will have even more babies! at about 3mths they will all need separate cages or they will fight & kill. NO BLEACH, watered down vinegar & baking soda, & rinse WELL. once u touch them, touch them all so they smell the same.