My husband and I woke up one morning to both of our cats chasing something around our apartment in a frenzy. What they were chasing was a fat dwarf hamster, which I still have no idea how the thing got into our apartment (we live in a complex with 27 other apartments, so Im thinking one got lose from somewhere). I felt bad for the little guy, and I didnt want my husband to feed "him" to one of our snakes, so I bought a hamster cage and food and decided to keep "him" as a pet.
Things went great for about 2 weeks. The hamster is very friendly, and I practically held "him" all day every day. I guess I should mention that I have no experience at all with hamsters, as I have never had one before.
I woke up this morning and heard squeeking noises from the hamster cage. When I looked into the cage, all I saw was the hamster but still heard the noises. When I checked the last time the bedding in the bottom of the cage was moving!! My hamster had babies, and I have no idea what to do!!!
2007-03-09 01:20:26 · 11 answers · asked by FLN 1 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
The mother will take care of them for awhile,,,,we called a pet store and they took the babies off our hands after they were weaned!!
And on the flip side...hampsters have a 2 year life span...They don't recommend keeping the babies with the mother after a while...
2007-03-09 01:30:12 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Congrats! Make sure the litter you're using is either aspen, Care Fresh or Critter Care. Never use pine or cedar they are harmful to all small animals. Are you sure she's a dwarf and not a young Syrian since you said you've had no prior experience with hamster? When you found her she was already a week pregnant, they carry for 18-21 days for dwarfs and 16 days for Syrians. The only thing extra I would do is add some vitamins into her diet. For the babies mom will know what to do. Leave them alone until their eyes open and don't clean the cage until that time. Mom will be protective of them so use caution in taking them all out. Use either gloves or rub the dirty litter on your hands to mask the smell of your hands. We use a small plastic reptile box with vents to contain while cleaning the cage. Use only water, no bleach or soap, they can harm the babies lungs.. They are also great for the rare vet trip. Now don't be too upset if mom eats any, she may be a first time mom and they've been known to eat the sick or weak ones. We had one that birthed 5 and only one survived two days later. She may not have been mature enough to raise that many also. They will begin to sniff out food in about 5-7 days as their eyes begin to open, now's the time to lower the water bottle to their height or put a second in there for the babies. We have a rescued mom and litter right now, we added the extra bottle and put an extra food dish as well. At 3-4 weeks they will begin to wean from mom. By 6 weeks you have to separate mom and girls from the boys. The girls usually are alright with mom. When we used to breed, we did it that way. At 6 weeks they can go to new homes, but I always wait until 8 weeks to allow for more growth and personal handling by us. Lots of people say that pet stores will take them, but not always, they have their own suppliers. I had one say they'd take all I had at the time (15), but they got a shippment and took none. I ended up keeping all of then myself. I already had the cages from prior years of breeding. I no longer breed, but instead rescue them and other small animals for the last 1 1/2 years.
2007-03-11 10:34:40 · answer #2 · answered by wolfinator25840 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
We raised hamster babies before Syrian not dwarf but they'd most likely be similar. It was difficult, the mom didn't like certain babies and would thought them out, the runts passed away and I'd say it was a cross between sad and happy. Suzie did most the work but we'd help out by moving the babies into the nest if they were kicked out. At one time they had mites because Suzie was from the pet shop. We took the bottom of the cage into the bathroom and moved each baby, changed the bedding and used qtips and water to get the mites off. It was worth it for most of the group was wonderful, like all hamsters they could be nippy at times but still wonderful.
2007-03-09 02:54:52 · answer #3 · answered by Mystical Majesty 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
How fun! My dwarves had babies, it was fun but they just kept coming and coming! As soon as possible, separate the males from females in separate cages (girls can get pregnant as early as five weeks!!!) and work on getting them homes... unless you want to keep them all! It can be very hard to tell the difference in dwarves, especially in baby dwarves, but these sites gives good explanations: http://img288.exs.cx/img288/3483/sexingdiagramdwarfcustom4dr.jpg and http://russiandwarfhamsters.tripod.com/hams/id19.html You may also notice that the males butt is a bit more pointed and seems to stick out more beyond the hind legs, where as a female is more rounded in the butt - see if you can see the difference in the illustrations in the sites above to get the idea, that will help.
Good luck and have fun! They are adorable as they grow!
2007-03-09 03:28:09 · answer #4 · answered by gumdrop 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
WHATEVER YOU DO DO NOT TOUCH THE BABIES OR HER! For about 5 weeks or her hamster instincts will tll her that you like them more then her and she will kill/eat the babies! Dont even change the bedding! unless you REALLY REALLY have to. But yeah like evryone else has been saying the mom will take care of them, but make sure there in a warm room. Ok, hope this helped!
2007-03-09 07:09:50 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Congrats! You're a "grandma"! LOL! The momma will take care of them just fine. Keep the tank clean, provide fresh water and food. Be ready to seperate them at 6 weeks of age (or you will have a lot more on your hands!). The boys will breed back to their mother or their sisters, so if you can't tell what sex they are, keep them all seperate until you can find homes for them. (The local Pet store might be willing to take them for you.)
You certainly can touch them as soon as their eyes open. (The smell of a human is NOT strong enough to keep a momma from her baby!)
2007-03-09 02:01:27 · answer #6 · answered by Blue Giants 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The mom will do everything. Just whatever you do most important thing. Don't touch the babies. Just let them be. Also Be aware that hamsters sometimes eat there babys if there sickor weak. So don' tbe alarmed. Good Luck
2007-03-09 01:32:33 · answer #7 · answered by Bucs_Fan 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
that is completely locate to cope with the toddlers at this factor, extraordinarily in the experience that your hamster knows you. in basic terms ensure which you do wash your arms nicely and rub them in the bedding slightly formerly touching her toddlers. i do no longer understand why this individual keeps going around telling human beings they might't touch the toddlers for seven weeks, this is nonsense. that may not even a competent difficulty to do!
2016-09-30 10:37:18 · answer #8 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
nature will take its coarse.... congrats and start looking for homes now so that when they are old enough you can find them homes....smile
here are some links:
http://www.hamsterland.com/default.asp?cat=faq&con=0
http://www.hamsterlove.freewebspace.com/custom4.html
http://www.petwebsite.com/hamsters/hamster_questions.htm
http://forum.exotichobbyist.com/hamsters/messages/2148.html
edit : I agree with blue human interaction is fine.....check out the web pages they are pretty good.....
2007-03-09 01:30:36 · answer #9 · answered by marnibrown1 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
once the babies open their eyes you will need to seperate them into seperate cages or else they will fight
2007-03-09 02:38:27 · answer #10 · answered by squ_ishy07 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋