My Hamster Just Gave Birth! What Should I Do? How?

This is dedicated to the countless clueless people that open threads just to ask about and waste time by waiting for other experienced people to reply. While waiting, anything could go wrong.


The Ultimate Rule

Now, the ultimate first and foremost thing you should do is DO NOT TOUCH THE BABIES!

Why?

Because the mother might eat them, that's why.

Now you may ask 'Why would the mother eat them?'

When hamster babies are born, known as pups, they have no scent and the mother recognizes it as her own because of her instincts. If you touch it, they will smell like something else and she will not recognize it as her offspring, but rather as something that's not supposed to be there, or she might mistake it as another female's pup. Being defensive that it may harm her babies, she will attack it and eat it up, brains, limbs organs and all.

If you are using a cage and a pup drops out, don't panic. Use the tissue from the cage or get a piece of tissue, rub it on the bedding, and pick the pup up and put in in the cage. You don't have to open the nest. The mother will hear the squeaks and come, or she will notice it later when she walk around.

Cannibalism is not uncommon for hamsters as it is a form of protection. Though you may have followed the first rule, it doesn't mean all the pups will 100% survive.

If the environment is stressful (Lots of noise, in a busy area, too bright etc), the nutritional requirements are not enough, or even if the mom is just not a good mom, you may lose from one to all your pups.


The First Rule

- Give her as much food as she wants and supplements.

Oh, does that mean give her what she likes? Can I give her only kuaci?

No. Kuaci aka sunflower seeds are not good if she takes a lot. It's empty fats and not enough for her to raise a healthy bunch of babies. Giving only kuaci is like you living on french fries. BUT, this doesn't mean you shouldn't feed her kuaci at all. Give her small amounts as sunflower seeds have Vitamin E and carbs, but very fattening.

Then what can I feed her?

First off, are you feeding her a good basic diet? No cheap brands please. They not balanced at all and they're cheap because they're very low in quality, meaning very low in nutrition.

Good basic brands are :-

-Harry Hamster
-Prestige
-Sluis
-Xtra Vital
-Hoppel-Mobbel

These brands can be found in any retail petshops.

Supplements are fresh fruits, vegetables, hard boiled egg white, wheatgerm, organic grains such as amaranth, raw peanuts, buckwheat, flaxseeds etc. Mealworms and crickets are great high protein treats to give to a nursing mom.

But if you find crickets or mealies too yucky, you can try giving some dog food. Wait! Don't rush to the Supermarket just yet! Be sure to use GOOD brands such as California Natural, Nutro, Orijen, Royal Canin etc. Remember! Don't use any brands that contain avocado, garlic or onions in them because these ingredients may be harmful to them. No citrus fruits like pineapple and oranges too, it may upset their tummies very badly.

The list of safe food to be fed to hamsters is posted in the Hamster Diet.


The Second Rule

- Please resist to stare or poke at them and don't change the bedding even if it stinks bad.

This will cause the mother to stress and the risk of losing the pups are higher. If you really want to have a peep, wait at least for a week to 10 days after they are born. Use something long and blunt, like the end part of a pencil, rub it in the bedding, then gently pry the bedding to have a look.


'But it smells really bad, is there anyway I can change the bedding?'

- It's not very recommended, but if flooding occurs from a leaking bottle or the bedding is so disgusting until it turns yellow or something, then you can try this method.

1. Take the mother out and put her in a temporary container.
2. Use a spoon and scoop the babies from underneath along with lots of the nest bedding. Put in a separate container.
3. Wash the tray or tank, then put the new bedding.
4. Dig a spot at the corner at where the nest was, put the babies there with the old bedding. Scoop them, don't touch them.
5. Return the mother to the cage/tank.

Once the pups are a few days old, they'll start to wander around and nibble everything. They will open their eyes at 10 days old and you can start to touch them a little. But please do not overdo it as they are only babies. Do not attempt to grab them either as they will panic and you might drop them. Scoop them up with both your hands, cup them inside and go to a wide soft surface like your bed. Let them roam around your bed and you can stroke them a little bit. Do be careful! Because they are not used to you holding them and will not sit still. They'll look like little peanuts and at this age and wobble when they walk which is very cute.

Play sessions should not take more than a few minutes per pup.

Around 12 to 14 days they will start to nibble on solid food, giving them some fresh fruits, veggies or a piece of dog kibble is good for them as they can eat a little on their own.

When do I separate them from their mom?

Now, once they reach 21 days of age, it's okay to separate them but best to keep them with the mother till 28 days so that they can learn more surviving skills from the mother.
Once you've separated them, you should sex them and put all the males in one tank and all the females in another tank.

But if your female seems to be struggling with nursing them and becoming skinny, you can separate them at 18 days, but feed them a little puppy and/or kitten replacement milk you can find in pet stores. Soaking some wholewheat bread into the milk make it easier and cleaner to feed the pups.


Reasons to why most or all the babies do not survive or disappear.

1) The mom feels that she does not have enough nutrition to suckle so many babies. She will kill the weakest one first.
2) The mom feels scared or threatened, so her instinct tells her to cull the babies so that she will have the nutrition and get away in order to be able to have another batch of babies in the near future instead of just leaving the babies to the predator/threat. In the wild, if she thinks that the predator is so darn near and gonna eat her any minute, she'll make a run for it. Leaving the babies without a choice. But as pets, they don't have that option.

3) The baby is sick/injured and/or dying. She will instinctively kill it so that it hasn't a chance to pass whatever that made it sick if it's an infectious disease, and/or eat it to regain lost nutrition.

NOTE: If the baby dies, most hamster mothers WILL eat their babies because if she just leaves it, the stench of rotting flesh will attract unwanted company.

4) She's not a good mom or she's too young to be bred. Though most hamsters are good mothers, there are bound to be a few that will not suckle their babies and probably just step on them a lot. This will need extra attention to spot so that the unattended pups can be given to a foster mother. Do not confuse this behaviour when seen in the first few hours after birth. It's normal, especially for first time moms, to ignore their pups for the first few hours. Just leave them be and they will usually know what to do.