Please help with hamsters

[cloud9busta]

Hi, I'm new to this site, but after I saw that my hamster had babies, I wasn't sure what to do and this site helped a lot. But I do have one question that I couldn't find the answer to anywhere out there. I read that you have to take the daddy out of the cage and I did that but I was wondering how long I have to keep him out. When the babies were born, he was the one gathering them and taking them to the nest and covering them so they would be warm. It took the mommy about 10 hours before she even went near them. Now Daddy is in his own cage and is so sad. I don't like to see him this way, so if anyone can tell me how long to keep him out, I would appreciate it. Thank you!

What kind of hamsters are they? If they are of the dwarf variety,(Russian, Chinese) you can actually leave them together and the Daddy will help take care of them and not eat them. If they are the "normal" size,(Golden, Teddy Bear, Black Bear) they actually prefer to live alone. The female will often kill the male if she isn't ready to breed. The only problem with keeping the dwarf pair together is more babies and inbreeding if you don't take them out by 8 weeks of age. You can separate the males from the females at 3 weeks of age and put the male babies in with Daddy and leave the little girls in with Mama. Or, if you find homes for them, keep just one baby of each sex so Mama and Daddy will have a companion. If you put the male back in with the female, you need to wait until the litter is weaned. (3 weeks).

Wow, great info mzdolittle.. thank you

Good luck cloud9busta!.