Hamsters are born deaf, blind and hairless and need proper care to survive. If your hamster is pregnant, you will need to learn how to take care of her and her puppies. By following the right advice, from pregnancy to weaning, you can ensure the survival of the little rodents and help them find a safe home.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Preparing for Childbirth
Step 1. Learn to recognize a hamster that is expecting puppies
Even if a female hamster gains weight when she is pregnant, this single factor does not necessarily indicate pregnancy. Other possible indications include building a den, accumulating food, and signs of aggression as the gestation period progresses.
Step 2. Learn about the hamster life cycle
These rodents reach sexual maturity in a short time and some of them can reproduce after as little as four weeks. However, it is usually advised that breeders avoid breeding hamsters until they are five or six months of age.
- The gestation period of hamsters varies greatly according to their species. Golden hamsters have gestations of 16 days, while many dwarf species of 18-21 days. The gestation of Roborovski hamsters can last up to a maximum of 30 days.
- Breeding females go into heat every four days.
- A few days before giving birth, the mother's abdomen will grow a lot. However, this can also be a symptom of more serious health problems. Swelling of the abdomen may indicate the presence of a tumor, impending cardiac arrest, liver cysts, or, in rare cases, Cushing's disease. If your hamster's belly is swollen, you should have it examined by a vet to rule out any health problems.
Step 3. Clean the cage
It is important that the hamster gives birth in a clean environment. For this, you should clean the cage two weeks after the pregnancy begins (or when you become aware of the situation) and add an extra layer of fresh litter.
- Be aware that since the mother will not want to be disturbed in the pre-delivery period, you may not be able to clean the cage a second time before birth. Cleaning the cage in the 2-3 days before giving birth could upset the mother to the point of refusing the litter. The best option is therefore to clean it as soon as you become aware of the pregnancy.
- Do not clean the cage again until 14 days after giving birth.
Step 4. Change your diet
Hamsters who are about to become mothers need a lot of protein and fat. Try to find specific foods that contain 18-20% protein and 7-9% fat. You may also want to supplement with dairy products to provide extra calcium and encourage breastfeeding.
Offer the pregnant mother nutritious treats, such as carrots, nuts, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, and vegetables. You should also put more food than usual in her cage, as she will start piling it up for her pups (and eat more than usual). But beware of foods that can rot, as they could ruin your entire food supply. Better to give the hamster plenty of dry foods and reserve perishable foods for the role of morsels, to increase the likelihood of eating them right away rather than putting them aside
Step 5. Remove the training wheel and other toys from the cage
It is important to prevent injury or accidental death of newborn puppies.
Step 6. If you have not already done so, remove the father from the cage
Female hamsters may be aggressive towards males when they don't want a mate.
Some enthusiasts claim that the fathers of dwarf hamsters are very helpful in raising the litter. Consult a vet or a hamster expert if you want to try leaving the father in the cage
Step 7. Provide the pregnant mother with soft building materials
One of the first reactions to hamster pregnancy is to build a soft nest to give birth to. You can help the animal with this by providing it with pieces of toilet paper that it can tear off and use for the nest.
- Handkerchiefs or toilet paper are the most suitable materials for the nest. They are very soft and absorbent and the mother will be able to tear them and arrange them however she likes.
- Avoid materials with long fibers or those that are too heavy, which could strangle or crush the puppies.
Step 8. Make houses for the puppies
You will only have to do this if you are not going to keep them. If you can't find friends who want to get a puppy or two, try posting an ad on Craigslist. You could also ask teachers at local schools, why hamsters are great pets to keep in the classroom.
Never breed hamsters if you can't find a home for the puppies or look after them
Step 9. Learn what to expect during childbirth
Calving usually occurs in an hour or two, and the interval between each puppy is about 15-30 minutes. Give the mother all the space she needs and do not disturb her during or after delivery.
Part 2 of 3: Caring for Hamsters During the First Two Weeks of Life
Step 1. Do not disturb the nest
For about two days before giving birth, leave the mother alone. She will be stressed and may become aggressive to protect the nest from threats and intrusions, so leave her alone. She can also become very agitated after giving birth - you should disturb her as little as possible or she may abandon her puppies and, in extreme cases, even kill them.
Step 2. Do not pick up puppies for at least two weeks
You will not have to disturb the nest and leave your scent on the newborn hamsters, or the mother may abandon or kill them. The mother may also become very aggressive and attack you if you attempt to pick up a puppy.
If you need to move a puppy for some reason, use a spoon. This way you can be sure that you don't transfer your scent to the baby. You will rarely be forced to do this - even if a pup escapes from the nest, the mother would recover it in a short time
Step 3. Do not clean the cage for two weeks after giving birth
While this may sound strange to you, it is in the puppies' best interest not to interfere with the nest.
- If you have noticed that the cage is really dirty in some places, you may want to clean it only there, but being very careful not to disturb the nest.
- Keep the room temperature around 21 ° C.
Step 4. Feed the puppies plenty of food and water
You should check the cage at least twice a day to make sure they have sufficient nutrition. When the babies have reached their first week of life, you can start spreading food along the sides and ground of the cage. The mother will go out to collect food for them, but some of them will start exploring and doing it for themselves.
- Make sure the mother's and the puppies' diets are high in protein and fat.
- Avoid putting water in a bowl, as puppies could drown if they fall into it. Instead, use a flat plate.
- You will need to make sure that the water bottle is low enough for the puppies to reach to drink; it typically happens about 10-20 days after birth.
Step 5. Take care of the puppies if the mother has passed away
In some cases, hamsters can be orphaned due to complications during childbirth. If hamsters reach 12-14 days of age, they are much more likely to survive. Place an electric blanket on the lowest setting under the cage, to make up for the mother's lack of body heat. Tear off pieces of toilet paper and make a nest for the puppies yourself. Make sure they have enough nutrition and place the drinking trough within their reach.
- When hamsters are born they are hairless and blind. Don't worry, as this is the normal appearance of these puppies.
- Over the course of the first week, hamster puppies will gain weight, develop fur, and acquire a sense of hearing. They will start crawling and foraging for food in the middle of the second week of life.
- Use an animal milk replacer to feed hamsters with a dropper. You can find them in almost any pet store. If you can't get a similar product, try using formula infant formula. Squeeze a few drops onto your finger and wet the puppy's mouth. Do not squeeze the dropper into the hamster's mouth; rather let him suck and lick the milk himself.
- Remember that newborn hamsters cannot regulate their body temperature. Keep the room temperature at 21 ° C, or use an electric blanket on the lowest heat setting if needed.
Step 6. Find a surrogate mother for orphaned puppies under 12 days old
Remove all nest and calving debris from hamsters so that the mother does not know by smell that they are coming from another litter. For this reason, you should wear rubber gloves during the operation.
- Gently wrap the puppies in a terry towel and rub them to stimulate circulation and keep them warm. Find a surrogate mother who has babies that are a few days smaller or larger than yours. Take some nesting material from the surrogate mother and wrap it around your pups. Your goal is to make sure they smell the same as the surrogate mother's children. Distract the mother with a treat and then place the pups in the nest with the others. Keep it away as much as possible to give the puppies a chance to absorb the smell of the nest.
- Keep an eye on the surrogate mother. If it senses something is wrong, it could kill the new puppies.
- It may be difficult to find a female hamster ready to breastfeed in times of need. Be prepared for the possibility of having to raise the young on your own.
Part 3 of 3: Caring for Hamsters after the First Two Weeks of Life
Step 1. Clean the cage when the babies are two weeks old
At this point, the mother will be less protective and allow you to clean the cage. Perform maintenance normally, but put a few pieces of toilet paper in the cage when finished; the mother may decide to build another nest.
Step 2. Start picking up puppies after two weeks
If you start at this young age, they will quickly get used to human contact. The mother will have no problem if she recognizes your scent on her children at this stage of development. But remember that hamster puppies can move very quickly, so be careful when keeping one.
Step 3. Wean the puppies when they are four weeks old
The little hamsters will continue to be nursed until 26 days of age. Afterward, the mother should wean them.
Step 4. Separate the males from the females
You will need to check the sex of your puppies, divide the males from the females and keep them in two separate cages. You shouldn't keep them together with their mother, who will have lost interest in their breeding by this point.
- Approximately 40 days after giving birth, the litter will be able to reproduce. It is important to separate the different sexes before this can happen.
- Golden hamsters are solitary animals and you should place them in separate cages after six to seven weeks. These rodents have a tendency to be very territorial and can become aggressive if something threatens their space.
- Dwarf hamsters can live in same-sex pairs and colonies quite peacefully. These rodents will often "fight" by starting as soon as they wake up. This is normal behavior, but after about 12 weeks of life you may start to notice real fights. In this case, you should separate the responsible hamsters and keep them in separate cages. If this happens in a colony, you should put the abused hamster in a separate cage.
- Warning: if you do not separate them they could start to mate with each other, leaving you - within a few weeks - with a lot of puppies to take care of.
Step 5. Take care of the hamsters as you would any other adult specimen
After five weeks of life, the puppies will have grown into adults. Play with them, feed them and love them as you normally would.
Advice
- If you find that the little ones are not learning to use the drinking trough quickly enough, put celery (remove the filaments) or cucumber (without the seed part) in the cage. They are moisturizing foods.
- A hamster cage should measure at least 0.2 square meters. It can also be larger to accommodate the mother and cubs. If you think mom gave birth in a cage that is too small, move them all to a new one after two weeks.
- Make sure you know where your hamsters are going to live. The last thing you need is for them to be eaten by a snake.
- Nursing mothers need more nourishment. Add protein-rich foods like cooked eggs or bread soaked in milk.
- Be sure to find out the gender of the puppies at different times, but within four weeks to be really sure.
Warnings
- If the hamster you bought at the store gives birth by surprise, take more precautions than usual because the babies may be premature.
- Some mothers are too young and inexperienced to care for babies. Get ready to find a nurse.
- If you touch the young before they are two weeks old, your scent will remain on them and confuse the mother, who could then kill them.
