Baby hamsters are hairless and blind, and you may be tempted to reach in and pet or hold them. Doing so, however, puts their lives in danger. A mother's relation to her children is dictated largely - almost exclusively - by scent. If you touch the babies, you leave your scent on them. Depending on the species, hamsters may be cannibalistic because they're territorial. For example, Syrian hamsters can be aggressive toward other hamsters and, in some cases, they'll kill and eat the other hamster in the cage. Mother hamsters whose pups are stillborn or die after birth have also been known to eat their babies.
Although you have probably seen them at least once already, it's important that you don't move things around to have a look at the babies. Chances are that the mother is keeping them somewhere safe such as a concealed corner or a small house if she has one.
If the mother sees you trying to find her offspring, she may take this as a threat, no matter how much she trusts you.Hamsters are very territorial creatures and, after all, you are a lot bigger than she is. Even if you have a very strong bond with your hamster, don't go looking for the babies. You'll be able to hear their cries when you're nearby. It's very important that the hamsters' cage is somewhere quiet after she's had the babies. Sudden or loud noises can cause her to panic, which can result in her killing and eating the babies. This may seem harsh, but the survival instincts tell the mother that danger is nearby, and she has to sacrifice her offspring for the nest’s overall safety.Put the hamster in a quiet room that isn't used much, or ideally, a spare room where there is little to no noise.
You don't have any control over noises outside the house such as the weather, motorcycles, or sirens, but make sure that small children don't make noises in the room, the cage isn't knocked or moved, and you don't go in there to vacuum. Yes, definitely house them separately.
Hamsters shouldn’t live together unless they’ve been together since birth and they’re the same sex. Never have males and females together because they will breed too quickly and possibly fight.Since the baby is eating real food, it doesn’t need its mother anymore and should be living alone. Unlike humans or other animals such as dogs, families don’t stay together in their cages. I don’t know what sex the baby is, but it would eventually fight or breed with one of its parents. Please do keep them separated always from now on. Just like humans, some hamsters just don’t have motherly instincts.
Either that, or she doesn’t have the resources to take care of them. Does she live in a secure, warm, and quiet environment?
Is her cage big enough? Does she have enough food and water? These are the questions to consider.Please read the article for more details on caring for a female hamster and its pups. If you’re doing everything right and she’s still abandoning them every time, then it’s probably time to stop breeding your hamsters.
Sounds like a shock! You should complain to the pet store first, and maybe they’ll take the babies once they’re old enough. If not, put an ad on Craigslist so you can give them away.The mother hasn’t been in the cage for long, so she hasn’t had time to build a nest.
She is probably panicking and stressed about the situation as well. Unfortunately she may kill some of her pups, but hopefully, this won’t happen.
![Hamster eats her babies Hamster eats her babies](/uploads/1/2/5/3/125381347/419128651.jpg)
For now, give her lots of tissue paper, extra food, and keep her cage in a warm and quiet place. Hopefully, she will be able to build a nest, gather her babies together, and nurse them until they’re big enough to survive on their own. I can’t guarantee that they’ll be welcomed in her nest because they will smell different to her pups. However, the five babies would die without their mother anyway.
If you want to move them, use a warm spoon to transfer the pups. Do not touch them with your fingers.
I don’t know if the mother will take care of them, and there’s a chance she will kill all of her babies, not just the orphans but her own as well. Please consult your vet or a professional if you’re unsure. As time is of the essence, please research how to take care of orphaned hamster babies. Put the father in a different cage. Clean the mother’s cage thoroughly since you won’t be able to clean it for two weeks after the pups are born.
Give her food with protein such as cooked eggwhite and cheese. Give her soft, unscented tissue paper to make a warm nest. If the mother’s cage is more than one floor, remove access to the upper floors so the babies don’t fall off and die.In about two weeks you may notice her belly is bigger and she might become aggressive. Put her in a quiet room and keep an eye on her. Be sure to give her fresh water and food every day. Ideally, she should have a small house or shelter when she can hide. After the babies are born, please follow the steps of this article.
I’m so sorry that happened to you. Does the mother have a dark place to hide? Is she in a calm and quiet room? The best thing you can do is to leave the mother with lots of tissue paper, water, and food and make sure she is in a stress-free environment. Disturb her as little as possible.It is possible that she killed some of her pups because she’s worried that there isn’t enough food, or that she can’t take care of them all. However, you said they died, so it might just be that they didn’t survive.
Dispose of the bodies of you haven’t already.As you’ll find in the article, try to keep the hamsters in a quiet room, and don’t disturb them. The mother will generally know what to do. If the mother is very young, she may not be able to take care of them, unfortunately. Your baby hamsters are already a week and a half old, so they only need a couple more days until they're safe to touch without the risk of the mother culling them.
If they've been OK so far, I'd wait until they're two weeks old and then move them to the bottom floor of the cage. Try and take bits of the nest with you if possible, things like tissue paper or bedding that is in their nest so they can recognize the smell. The mother hamster is likely frightened because you only bought her a few weeks ago, correct? So she isn't used to you yet, either. I'd say you're quite lucky the babies are fine so far. If you're truly worried about their welfare right at this moment, then use a warm spoon to move the babies (but don't touch them and make sure the spoon is not cold). However, if they've survived this long, they should be all right until the two-week mark.
The mother probably thinks that's a safe place for her litter which is why she gave birth to them there. If you go messing with the nest, she might panic and become stressed. Is there a bottom floor of the cage with bedding? If so, that's the best place for them.
![Why Do Hamsters Eat Their Babies Why Do Hamsters Eat Their Babies](/uploads/1/2/5/3/125381347/943877352.jpg)
At this point, I strongly recommend leaving them be until they're two weeks old, but move them with a warm, clean spoon if you're really worried. Question:Before reading these rules I didn’t know what to do so I moved the father hamster out of the cage and the mother went into panic mode so I put him back in and put her and her babies in a quieter and darker cage. They both go crazy when separated so I put them back to their original cage together and now I've seemed to have caused mayhem. She’s not in with them now and hasn't been back in with the babies in about 15 minutes. I don’t know what to do. Can you help and tell me what I need to do?
Since you bought her on the 17th, that means she's at least ten days pregnant now. Do you know if she was in a cage with a male before you bought her? A teddy bear hamster's gestation period (pregnancy) lasts about 16 days, so she should be ready to give birth any day now. Be sure to follow the steps of the article and give her plenty of food and tissue paper. As for biting her cage, is her new home big enough? Do you let her out for exercise often enough?
Does she have a wheel? A cage that is too small with not enough stimuli can be bad for a hamster and make her want to escape.Give her chew toys to keep her teeth busy. If her belly is very big and round, she's pregnant.
Keep in mind hamsters do also make nests and stockpile food even if they aren't pregnant. There’s not much point putting a blanket over the cage because hamsters are nocturnal anyway and it might cut off ventilation.Make sure there is no noise in the room, don’t keep checking up on them because that’s just going to stress out the mother. What kind of room is she in? The living room, someone’s bedroom? Ideally, keep them out of rooms that have TV screens or noise.Keep your kids out of there too.
Your hamster needs peace and quiet now for a few weeks.Change her food and water once a day, but other than that leave her alone otherwise she may take your presence as a threat. I put a blanket over the cage i just go to check every now and then to make sure everything is okay and she has food I hope she doesn’t do that to any I took the dad out he’s out of the cage everything seems fine I got them from a local pet store and was told they were both female we’ve only had then a few months they were some they said had came in the store and they were re selling them that why they were different Colors did not expect this I really hope I did not make her to upset and she kills them! So I should just leave her alone with just check in for water and food and they should be fine?. First of all: STOP going near the cage. Approach it very quietly and only to change the water and food. Give her extra food.
Are there other hamsters in the cage, such as the father or other adults? If you're lucky, you didn't disturb the mother enough for her to cull her pups.Ten is a lot of babies to handle, and the mother might cull a few of them anyway, but this doesn't necessarily mean it's your fault, don't worry. She might feel that she needs to get rid of some of them for the overall good of the litter.Two weeks from the day you noticed the babes, check again.
In the meantime, don't bother the mother and only change the food and water very quietly. Don't clean the cage.I hope the little ones make it!. My hamster had babies i am not to sure when my daughter was in urgent care the past week so we were only home to give all the pets a quick feed and run back we’re finally home I go to clean the cage and see that she’s had babies 10 of them I continued to clean the cage it didn’t bother her put her back took buddy out and then left her she’s made a new nest she has them all under her feeding them and stuff but I’m seriously worried cause everything’s i red says it’s a big no no and i will not be able to sleep tonight unless I’m certain she won’t eat them or something crazy can anyone help me. For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: Show Details NecessaryHubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam.
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Sometimes, it makes sense for critters across the animal kingdom to chow down on their own young.Thanks to for sponsoring this video.If you enjoyed this video, you might want to check out this one by Jesse Agar: Why kill a baby?