Nursing 7 day old dwarf hamsters?

Question

We have a litter of 7 dwarf hamsters, 7 days old. It appears mother is about to die, and has abandoned the nest. (She was a great mom to her other 2 litters). We've fed the babies twice using enflac baby formula and a syringe. No luck finding a "wet nurse" so far. Anybody know of any better "milk substitutes" we can use to nurse the babies with? I doubt the chances of our sucess, but we have to try!

Thanks,
KJ

Answer 1

Yes, but so far my breeder friend and I have had no success. There is something at the pet store called KMR (kitten milk replacement). It is powdered and this mixed with a certain ratio of cream was the recipe that we found on the internet. None of the litters that we have given it to so far have lived though, and it is extremely hard to seregate hamster babies because the milk of every animal varies. Whatever you do, though, do not give them anything that comes from a cow. Skim, whole, 1%, or 2%, it doesn't matter. IT WILL KILL THEM BECAUSE OF A VAST DIFFERENCE OF PROTEINS AND ENZYMES. Also, all dairy milk is pasterized, removing anything really beneficial to them.
If you have any more questions about how to mix the milk, go to this website:
http://www.hamsterific.com/orphans.cfm

Hope this helps

Answer 2

Don't use any milk intended for humans, it's not good for them. Instead use kitten formula and feed it with a syringe or dropper. They need to be fed every 4-5 hours. You can also put food in there for them to start eating and lower the water bottle so they can reach it or put a platform with ramp for them if the bottle can't be lowered. We have used a ceramic food dish turned upside down with litter piled up to the top for the ramp. A dwarf baby begins eating and drinking around 5-9 days old. Vitamins can also be given to the babies at half amount for the older ones. I think they have a good chance, now the runt may not make it, but you may be surprised. We lost a Syrian mom that had 9-nine day old babies even with an adoptive mom we lost 5, the other 4 are huge and healthy at 16 months old. They were raised by a Russian dwarf with a litter 5-eight day old babies, she tried nursing 14 babies alone-all of hers lived. I don't know how a Syrian mom would take to dwarf babies however, we had one mom with only 1-10 day old baby and she snubbed the babies (dwarf also)

Answer 3

The milk of mammals differs depending on what species it is. Note that baby formula is not for dogs; Esbilac milk replacement is. Same with hamsters. Please call a veterinarian to obtain a proper answer to your question. Also ask how often they must be fed. The wrong ingredients or ratio of ingredients could kill them.

Answer 4

i do no longer recognize if the older toddlers can harm the greater youthful ones yet i recognize that hamsters, even youthful ones are territorial (they guard their territory) so i'd examine to make beneficial there's no battling between the toddlers then properly escort the older ones away

Answer 5

warm up skimmed milk it works.

awwweee poor babies:(

all my hammy babies died!
and the mommy too!:( i sitll have the daddy!

Answer 6

try milk from cats