okay this is what happened. i saw that the female hamster was fat so i knew she was probably pregnant. i decided to clean her cage bfore the babies came. (her cage has this sawdust stuff in the bottom where her nest is) i picked her up, and put her in her running ball. right then i baby popped out. i freaked out and w/ out touching the baby put her back in the cage. will she kill the babies? i cant see the babies cuz there is that saw dust stuff. i dont know if they r dead or not. please help me. when can i begin holding the babies at short ammt. of time? p.s. they are miniture/ dwarf hamsters!
2006-10-05 12:08:46 · 16 answers · asked by dani k 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
my only question isnt just if they will die, the other stuff i want to know too
2006-10-05 12:12:33 · update #1
how long months/ days/ weeks until i can hold the babies
2006-10-05 12:16:08 · update #2
they should not die, leave her be for a few days. be sure to give her extra protein so she does not eat her babies. (wet or dry dog or cat food, or pieces of cooked beef.) in a couple days to can move her off her babies and count them. i would clean the cage within a week if its dirty.
2006-10-05 12:16:25 · answer #1 · answered by jen_284 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've been through this. Well, during a time, I was really exicited because the mother hamster had 8 babies. After a little while, there was too much noise in the house that the mother had been startled and ate her babies. 2 of the babies died. After about 2 months later, I found 5-6 babies in the cage and they had a little fur. So currently I'm trying to keep the house quiet. Now, the food supply and water is okay. The hamsters can survive for a bit.But the reason why the babies at dying and the mother is eating them is because the house may be too loud and the babies are not getting proper care. DO NOT TOUCH THE BABIES. If you touch the babies, they will get the human scent and the mother will kill the babies. So I suggest you wait until the mother gets more babies. Good luck!
2016-03-18 05:17:14 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow. First of all CONGRATS!
The baby might. I am sorry. My hamster had a litter before, it was a really nice experience. You are not sapose to touch the pup until it is at least 14 days old. The mother might canabalize it becuse she may not know it's hers becuase your scent is on it. Was that the only baby? Usually there are 5-7...keep an eye out for the mother. Try not to disturb athe nest. Kepp the volume low around the cage and good luck!
Please listen to this!
It's not the mother's fault if she canabalizes them, she would have no way in the world to tell her it is her own baby. It's not bad parenting so please listen! The baby has your scent on it, she has no clue it's hers!!! Hamsters can't recognize what the hamster looks like, hamsters are nearly blind. The mother may not accept it and trow it out of her nest. You can try to feed the baby yourself, baby formula. But ever hour you would be up feeding it. There was this site once and a person did that...I will give it to you once I find it.
2006-10-06 11:12:24 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hamsters are notorious for eating their litters... but a good mom will be a good mom no matter what. In other words, if she is going to kill them it is not because yuo touched the babies. You actually have a better chance of socializing the babies if you start handling them when their eyes start opening. Some tips I can give you for certain:
-Poke around the nest area, and see if the babies are still there.
-give mom some cotton balls to make a nest with to keep them warm
-Do not clean the cage for a week or so; it won't kill them, and cage cleaning is actually more stressful than handling! The babies will have a better chance. You can scoop wet litter out of the corner where she pees, but do not change all of it.
-buy a mineral block for mom, give her some fresh vegetables, and give her a tsp of fresh strawberry (they like the flavor best) yogurt every now and then
-Make sure she has plenty of fresh water and don't disturb her too much during the day time
Good luck, and let me knwo how it turns out!
2006-10-05 15:47:41 · answer #4 · answered by Hauntedfox 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ok don't panic my sister had a hamster and didn't realize she was pregnant until she saw one of the babies roll down the ladder in her cage!!!, honey(the hamster) picked her up and took her back to the house. Don't worry about not being able to see them we couldn't either, the mother will know what to do with her babies, if one does die i think the mother may eat it!! i know it sounds horrible but that's what we were told by someone who breeds hamsters regularly. Make sure your hamster has plenty of food and water so she has plenty of energy and milk to feed the babies, and try to put them near her bed so she can access it easily. Don't handle the babies for a while, maybe a few weeks, if you put your scent on the hamsters the mother may reject them. hope all this info helps
2006-10-06 09:41:30 · answer #5 · answered by Sky 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Leave her alone. And put a cap full of "DANNON ONLY" plain yogurt in there. You should be able to hear a squeak occ. unless she just has one or two. A piece of fresh carrot at the entrance to her nest will start to entice her out. when she feels safe enough a little activity a little distance from her nest might make her come out to catch the intruder. While she does this take a pencil and gently move the nesting some. You should be able to see if there are any more pups. Dwarfs are famous for excepting other hammys babies so I hope you just gave her new baby back to her.
My sister and I had ours so tame they let us help with babies.
Hope she's OK for you. They really are fun!!!
2006-10-05 13:02:06 · answer #6 · answered by Debbie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately sometimes rodents kill and eat their young if they get scared. Mice, rats, hamsters, even rabbits! Basically any of these animals that have a short gestation period.
That's why I had guinea pigs cuz they have a 9 week gestation period and the babies do not look like little pink erasers and the mother does not eat them.
Leave everything alone for a few days. If the babies are alive you will see them nursing.
2006-10-05 12:12:41 · answer #7 · answered by WendyD1999 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
u shouldn't hold or touch the babies at all. don't get near them. the mother hamster might kill one or something like that, but u have a male inside get him out. and u need to think about what ur doing with those baby hamsters. when the babies get older u could hold them....i would say about 4 months.
2006-10-05 12:38:43 · answer #8 · answered by Sketch 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ok so my hamster had babies recently and some will die naturelly but if u dont touch them they should be fine she shouldnt kill the babies if she does kill one or two its normal but if she tries to kill all of them inky baite them u should be able to hoold the babys at around 4 weeks Beware: the MOm might bight to protect the Babys so dont try picking the mom up (IT HURTS)
2006-10-05 12:17:57 · answer #9 · answered by K 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
EWW!!
I would have freaked too!
Unfortunately, you need to wait and see. Put the mama and babies and in a very quiet area and leave her alone. She may have been freaked out herself and not notice your smell.
2006-10-05 12:16:29 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋