Hamsters had babies!

[Leeanne]

What an exciting day for my two dwarf hamsters (roborovskii), they have just become proud parents of babies.. I don't know how many they are parents of but we'll see soon when they start venturing.

I have read so many sites online about baby hamster care because I've been expecting this since I saw them humping (I had no idea of their sex when I bought them). I went down to the pet store today too and they said just give lots more food and water and leave them be.

What I'm not too sure on though is the behaviour of mummy and if she's looking after them right. She gave birth to them around 10 hours ago, and stayed in the nest for around 9 hours, this was her usual time for sleeping, and now its come to her usual time of play, she is out with her little daddy hamster and they are playing on wheels like no babys even exist, I've not seen her go back to the nest to check on them, she is just cleaning herself etc, I can hear them crying in the nest sometimes. I guess I'm a little worried she might neglect them.

I'd love to hear from people who have had litters of hamster babies and any experience on how long mummy leaves them for usually. I'm such a softy, I won't interfere at all but I think it will make me feel a little more comfortable knowing if their behaviour is right/normal. :)

[emroul]

Well, when I was younger my hamster had babies (I too did not know the sexes). I was told to remove the dad hamster because he may make a meal out of his babies, so I would do that ASAP. Also, I wouldn't know why the female would not be caring for her babies, but I'm sure her instincts will tell her when to care for them. Maybe the father being in the same cage is giving her mixed ideas. Try that and see how it goes. Good luck, and congrats! :)

Jennifer

[Jenny]

Congratulations ( and welcome to Petlovers)! Chances are she'll go back and take care of them. I had a mouse who had babies and she came out of the house they were in and stayed out for a long time, I was so worried they'd be dead by the time she went back. Eventually she went back in though, and they were absolutely fine.

[Leeanne]

Thanks Jenny :)

The panic is over now, she did go back to see them a lot and she is actually being such a good little mum, always running back to nurse and make sure they are covered properly, one of the babies surprised me a lot last night by getting out of the nest and going for an adventure round the cage, he went under some sawdust and mummy kept running over him and not noticing so I ended up getting a spoon to put him back near the nest so he didn't get too cold or trampled :p
Had to take their see-saw out temporarily too because he was nearly crushed under that, thankfully no more adventurers today (yet!)

Im leaving daddy in emroul because dwarf hamsters are ok and as far as I know daddy won't eat them it'll be mum who does that.. I really hope she doesn't though.

When I saw theyd had babies the mummy and daddy were actually humping already which I know is bad in case she has litters in succession but I'm going to leave him in there for now and take him out when the babies are old enough to be taken out and put him with the boys.

This website has helped me loads! Does anyone have any websites about their hamsters on here? I'd love to see some!

[Jenny]

Glad to hear she's being a good mommy! Though the dad likely won't eat the babies, unless you want lots more baby hamsters you'll want to take him out soon. I don't know how different it is with mice, but I took the male out just a few days after the babies were born and even that was too late- the female had 7 more babies once the first bunch was weaned!

[mzdolittle]

The hamsters can mate within an hour of the birth of the last baby. I don't know how friendly your parents are, but I used to breed Russian dwarves for a pet shop. My parents were very friendly, so, starting on the second day, I would put my hand in the nest and just touch each baby with one finger two or three times a day. I didn't actually pick them up until around the 8th or 9th day. Their eyes open around the 10th day. When they were in the flea stage, I was actually able to hold them without them trying to jump out of my hand because they were already used to me. After their eyes opened, my boyfriend, son and his girlfriend all held them at least once a day. The important thing to remember if you are doing this, is that everyone who handles them must touch each baby so no one of them smells different from the others. These were all adults, though, I wouldn't let any small kids handle them yet. Everyone who bought my hamster babies were surprised at how tame they were. Of course, you can't do this if your parents aren't super friendly. This method also worked with my Teddy Bear hamster and my rats and mice that I bred.

[Leeanne]

Aw that sounds so lovely.
The mum is extremely friendly, she comes onto my hand when I put it in the pen and she still has been doing this several times a day since the babies have come along, she has moved the nest a couple of times and sometimes forgot about a baby, I thought she might have maybe purposely left them behind but when I have gotten her attention and put my finger near the baby she has come over and picked it up and put it in the nest.
One of them despite not being able to see yet came out for an adventure and was wriggling all over the pen for about 10 mins which is huge so I used a spoon to put him back before he got cold because this was really early.
I can't wait until they come out and play on all the toys, I know how much the mum and dad make me smile when they are both on the wheel together so I can only imagine what these will be like when they are a little older. There are about 9/10 babies I think! :O

[Love Bird B]

Congrats on your cute hamster babies. They sound wonderful. :p

[Leeanne]

Thanks Love Bird :)
I've found this whole thing amazing, its so great the way she just knows how to look after them and has done such a good job, I love them so much!

[Leeanne]

http://www.spysa.com/babysleeping.jpg http://www.spysa.com/babyhamster.bmp

Got a couple of little pictures of them from my phone now :)
Theyve opened their eyes and started adventuring out a little and we've been holding a few of them and stroking them all every day. They're so wonderful.

[Brittney]

Aww... that reminds me of when mine had babies. Mine had three babies although one disappeared. I'm really not sure what happened to him. Mine moved the nest a lot. The babies were always wandering away and she'd run and bring them back only to find another gone. No more babies for her though.