Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Preparing for birth
• Part 2 of 3: Caring for hamsters for the first two weeks
• Part 3 of 3: Caring for hamsters after the first two weeks
• Tips
• Warnings
• Necessities

Hamsters are born blind, deaf, and naked, and they need good care from the start to survive. If your favorite hamster has become pregnant, you must first learn how to care for the mother hamster and her babies. By giving the right care from pregnancy to weaning, you can ensure that your hamster's babies survive and have a safe home.

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Part 1 of 3: Preparing for birth

1. Know when your hamster is pregnant. While your female hamster will gain weight when pregnant, that does not necessarily mean pregnancy. Other indications of pregnancy include nesting, possible food gathering, and signs of aggression as pregnancy continues.
2. Understand the life cycle of a hamster. Hamsters become sexually active early in life, with some hamsters becoming pregnant as early as four weeks. However, it is recommended that you don't start breeding your hamsters until they are five to six months old.
   • The gestation period in hamsters varies considerably per species. Syrian hamsters generally carry 16 days, while many dwarf breeds are 18-21 days pregnant. Roborovski hamsters have a gestation period of up to 30 days.
   • Sexually mature females will want to mate every four days.
   • A few days before your hamster gives birth, her stomach will swell very big. But this can also be a sign of a serious condition. Swollen bellies can indicate the presence of a tumor, impending heart failure, liver cysts or, in rare cases, Cushing. If your hamster's tummy is swollen, it is best to have her examined to determine if she is pregnant or if something more serious is going on.
3. Clean the cage. It is important that your hamster gives birth in a clean environment. To make sure this is the case, you should clean your hamster's cage two weeks after your hamster becomes pregnant (or when you have calculated that your hamster is pregnant), and provide an additional fresh carpet.
   • The mother will not like being disturbed as it gets closer to her due date. You will therefore not be able to clean the cage later during pregnancy. Cleaning two to three days before her "due date" may upset the female hamster in such a way that she will reject the babies when they are born. The best thing to do is to clean the cage as soon as you notice she is pregnant.
   • After cleaning the cage during pregnancy, you cannot clean the cage until 14 days after birth.
4. Adjust your hamster's diet. Pregnant hamsters need a diet high in protein and fat. Look for a hamster food that contains eighteen to twenty percent protein and seven to nine percent fat. You can also provide your mother hamster with milk-rich food to provide additional calcium and improve lactation.
   • Offer your pregnant hamster nutritious treats such as carrots, nuts, hard-boiled eggs, cheese and vegetables. Also put extra food in her cage. She will collect her food for her babies (and will eat more than usual herself). Make sure that she cannot hide perishable food. This will mold in her storage. It is best to give her plenty of dry food and perishable foods as a treat so that she is more likely to eat it all instead of storing it.
5. Remove the hamster wheel and other toys from her cage. This is important to prevent the babies from accidentally being injured or dying once they are born.
6. Get the father hamster out of the cage if you haven't already. Female hamsters can act aggressively towards males when they don't want to mate.
   • Some avid hamster owners argue that dwarf hamster actually help fathers raise the litter. Consult with a veterinarian or hamster specialist if you are considering leaving the father in the hutch.
7. Offer your pregnant hamster soft nesting material. One of your hamster's first reactions when she becomes pregnant may be to build a nest where she can give birth. You can help with this process by giving her toilet paper pieces to tear into pieces and use in her nest.
   • Clean, unscented toilet paper works best as a nesting material. It feels soft and is very absorbent. And your hamster can easily tear it into pieces and arrange it in her nest.
   • Avoid long or heavy materials that could entangle or choke the baby hamsters.
8. Provide new owners for the babies. You only need to do this if you do not intend to keep the babies yourself after they are born. If you are having a hard time finding friends who want one or two babies, consider posting an ad on Marktplaats.nl. You can also check if schools in the area are interested. Hamsters make great class pets.
   • Only breed hamsters if you can find a home for them or keep them yourself.
9. Know what to expect at birth. The birth process usually takes place over one or two hours, with an interval of fifteen to thirty minutes between births. Give her space and do not disturb her during and after birth.

Part 2 of 3: Caring for hamsters for the first two weeks

1. Do not disturb the nest. You should leave the mother alone for two days prior to delivery. She will be stressed and may even become aggressive to protect the nest from suspected threats or intrusion, so it is better to leave her alone. Even after she has given birth, she can become very aroused - disturb her as little as possible to avoid abandoning or in some cases even killing her babies.
2. Do not hold the babies in your hands for at least two weeks. You don't want to disturb the nest and leave your scent on the baby hamsters. The mother can then abandon or kill them. Also, the mother hamster can become very aggressive if you try to grab her babies and attack your hand.
   • If for some reason you do have to move a baby, use a spoon. This way you can ensure that your scent does not get on the baby. You probably won't have to do this - even if you see a baby stray from the nest, mom hamster will soon retrieve it.
3. Do not clean the cage for the first two weeks. While it may seem strange not to clean your hamster's cage, it really benefits the babies if you don't get close to the nest. For the first two weeks after the babies are born, do not let cleaning of the cage pass you by.
   • If you notice that there is a very wet spot in the cage, you can only clean there, but be absolutely sure that it does not disturb the nest.
   • Keep the room temperature around 21 degrees Celsius.
4. Provide plenty of water and food for the small hamsters. Check the cage at least twice a day to make sure there is enough food and water for your hamsters. When the babies are one week old you can start spreading some food around the sides of the cage. The mother hamster will collect food for her babies, but the little ones will explore and grab some food on their own.
   • Make sure to feed the mother and baby hamsters foods with high levels of protein and fat.
   • Do not use a water bowl. Young hamsters can drown if they fall in the box. Instead, use a shallow dish.
   • Make sure the water bottle hangs low enough for the young hamsters to reach it, which can usually happen after the first 10 to 20 days.
5. Take care of the babies when the mother dies. Sometimes baby hamsters become orphans due to birth complications. When the hamsters are twelve to fourteen days old, they will survive much easier. Place a heating pad under the cage on the lowest setting to compensate for the lack of body heat from the mother's absence. Shred toilet paper and make a nest for the babies yourself. Make sure the babies have good food to ensure they are getting enough nutrients. The water bottle should also be hung lower at their height.
   • When hamsters are born, they appear hairless and blind. Don't be alarmed, this is what all hamsters look like at birth.
   • During the first week, the hamsters will gain weight, begin to coat, and their auditory canals will develop. They will also start to crawl and by the middle of the second week they will start foraging on their own.
   • Use Lactol, a milk replacer for animals, to feed the baby hamsters with a dropper. Lactol can be obtained at most pet stores and otherwise from the vet. If you can't find Lactol, try baby powder milk. Squeeze a drop from the dropper and touch the baby hamster's mouth with it. Then don't squeeze the dropper anymore, rather let the baby hamster suck it and lick the milk out.
   • Keep in mind that baby hamsters are not yet able to regulate their body temperature on their own. Therefore, keep the room at 21 degrees Celsius, or use a heating pad on a low setting if necessary.
6. Find a foster mother if the orphans are less than 12 days old. Wipe off all remains of the birth and nest so that the new mother will not recognize them by the scent as babies from another nest. For the same reason, it may be wise to wear rubber gloves during this process.
   • Gently wrap the baby hamsters in a clean terry cloth towel and gently rub the towel to stimulate blood circulation (and therefore heat). Find a foster mother with babies a few days older or younger than your baby hamsters. Use some nesting material from the foster mother's nest to wrap the babies. The purpose of this is to make them smell exactly like the foster mother's own babies. Distract the new mother with a treat and put the babies in the nest with the other hamsters. Keep the mother away for as long as possible to allow the babies to wriggle around the nest and absorb the scent even better.
   • Pay close attention to the foster mother. If she feels that there is something wrong or different with the babies, she can kill them.
   • It can be difficult to find a feeding female hamster when you need her. Prepare that you will likely have to hand-raise the young hamsters yourself.

Part 3 of 3: Caring for hamsters after the first two weeks

1. If the babies are over two weeks old, clean the cage. Meanwhile, the mother hamster will be less protective and will allow you to come into the hutch and clean up the mess from the past two weeks. Clean the cage as you always have, but when you're done, put a few new sheets of unscented toilet paper in the cage if she wants to build a new nest.
2. Start handling the babies when they are two weeks old. Holding babies at such a young age will get them used to human contact. The mother hamster will also not mind at this stage in their development if the babies smell like you. Keep in mind that baby hamsters can move very quickly, so take precautions when handling them.
3. Wean the babies when they are four weeks old. Baby hamsters will continue to drink from their mother until they are about 26 days old. Then the babies have to be weaned.
4. Keep the males separate from the females. You will need to check the gender of your baby hamsters and keep the boys and girls hamsters apart in their own separate cages. They should be kept in cages separate from their mother, who will lose interest in their care by then.
   • About 40 days after birth, this litter of hamsters will be able to mate and breed. It is important that you separate them before this happens.
   • Syrian hamsters are solitary animals and should be kept separate in their own cage after about six to seven weeks. These types of hamsters often have a strong territorial drive and will become aggressive if they feel their territory is under threat.
   • Dwarf hamsters can live peacefully with sex mates in pairs and groups. Dwarf hamsters will often "romp" with each other from the moment they open their eyes. This is normal behavior, but after about twelve weeks you may notice that there is real fighting. When you see that, you will have to separate the fighters in separate cages. If it occurs in a group, you must separate the hamster that is being bullied in its own cage.
   • If you don't separate them, they could mate with each other, leaving you with a large number of inbred hamster babies within weeks.
5. Take care of your hamsters in the same way that you would take care of any adult hamster. By five weeks old, your baby hamsters will have grown into adult hamsters.Play with them, feed them and love them as you would any adult hamster.

Tips

• If you notice that the babies are not learning how to use the water bottle quickly enough, put celery (get the long fibers off) or cucumber (remove the middle seed molding) in the cage. These foods will provide the babies with enough moisture.
• A hamster's cage must be at least 2300 cm² in size. It must be even greater for a mother with babies. If you think your hamster gave birth in a cage that is too small, move them to a new cage after two weeks.
• Check the prospective new owners before letting your hamsters go. The last thing you want is for them to be fed on a hose or neglected.
• Feeding hamsters need more food. Also, give them some extra protein-rich foods, such as boiled egg, tofu, or bread soaked in milk.
• Make sure to check the sex of the baby hamsters at different times in their lives, until they are four weeks old, to make sure you are not mistaken about their gender.

Warnings

• If you are surprised with your hamster's litter from the pet store, take extra precautions. Chances are that the mother hamster is too young for a litter.
• Some mother hamsters are too young and inexperienced to care for their litter. Be prepared to find a foster mom for your baby hamsters.
• If you touch the babies before they are two weeks old, your scent will get on them and confuse the mother. She can then leave or kill them.

Necessities

• Hamster cage of at least 2300 cm²
• Lots of hamster food, and fresh food
• Extra water bottles, for when the babies start using the water bottles
• Extra hamster mills, for when the babies can use them
• Lots of bedding, before the hamsters are two weeks old (many cages will have to be cleaned)
• Extra hamster houses (you can add these before they are two weeks old, it will give the mother a sense of security)
• Empty toilet paper rolls (perfect hamster toys)