If you have a baby hamster, whether purchased or bred, caring for them is not easy. Even if the baby hamster is with its mother, you should pay close attention to it to make sure the mother hamster is taking good care of it and not hurting it. Without a mother, hamsters raised by humans have little chance of survival, even if you put a lot of effort into caring for them. However, there are ways to increase the chances of a baby hamster surviving, with or without the mother.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Preparing for the Pregnant Mothers Labor Process
Step 1. Review the hamster parent's risk factors
Hamsters reach sexual maturity at 6 weeks of age although it is not recommended to let hamsters mate at this age. Female hamsters should be at least 8-10 weeks old, and male hamsters 10-12 weeks old. Once the hamster reaches 12 months of age, it should not be reproduced as the health risks increase.
Hamsters are 18-24 months long
Step 2. Look for birth signs
Hamster pregnancy is very short and lasts only 15-18 days. When you know your mother hamster is about to give birth, look for some signs that she is preparing for birth:
- Nervous
- Nest building
- Excessive self-deprecating behavior
- Eat more than usual
Step 3. Make sure the cage is ready for delivery
When you see signs that the mother is about to give birth, make sure the baby hamsters have a suitable cage for their birth. The cage should be cleaned and prepared before birth, but not too close to the time of delivery. It is very important not to disturb the mother during the few days leading up to delivery as this will increase the mother's tendency to prey on her own young.
- A few days before giving birth, put her in a clean, undisturbed cage. If you don't know for sure how long it will take for her to give birth, isolate the mother when you notice her belly bulging.
- Remove the toys from the cage. Mother hamsters can injure or kill their babies if a toy gets in their way.
- Don't use cotton wool or other materials that can dangle on the floor of the cage, as they can entangle the baby hamster. Also, avoid straw as the sharp edges can injure it. Safer alternatives include aspen, shredded paper, Carefresh, or wood grain powder.
- Provide material to make a nest for the mother, namely something warm so that the mother can dig it. Suggested materials are plain tissue paper, toilet paper, or kitchen tissue.
- From 2 to 10 days before birth, do not change anything from inside the cage and do not hold the mother.
Step 4. Make sure the nest is created
When the mother is ready to give birth, she will make a nest. So you don't have to add a house or move the baby to a separate location. In fact, disturbing the nest after birth can be disastrous. Hamsters are known for their cannibalism, and stressing the mother can harm the babies. This risk is especially high during the first week of birth, and for first-time mothers.
Method 2 of 3: Caring for Baby Hamsters That Have a Mother
Step 1. Don't meddle too much for the first week
After the baby is born, continue to refill water bottles and food bowls for a week, but don't disturb the mother and the baby hamsters. Keep the hamsters isolated from human traffic and noise as much as possible. Keep curious children, loud TV and radio noises, and noisy dogs or cats out of the room.
- Do not handle baby hamsters until they are 14 days old.
- During this time, do not clean the cage.
- Keep the room temperature around 21 degrees C.
Step 2. Understand how baby hamsters develop
Baby hamsters are born very fragile, hairless, deaf, blind, and only half developed limbs. However, baby hamsters grow and develop quickly. In the process, keep the following criteria in mind to ensure a healthy and normal baby hamster development:
- 5-15 days: eyes and ears will open
- 7 days: hamster starts crawling
- 7-10 days: hamster is already interested in solid food
- 10 days: hair starts to grow
- 10-20 days: hamster can start drinking from a water bottle
Step 3. Let the mother care for the babies
Newborn baby hamsters have a good chance of survival if they have a strong instinct to care for their mother. Your job is just to keep an eye on it and let it do its job. If you disturb the mother, she will attack the chicks so stay away. If your hamster is being looked after by its mother, it's best if you don't handle it too often.
Step 4. Make sure the mother hamster is eating well
In the first few weeks, when the baby hamster gets all its nutrients from the mother, it is very important to make sure the mother is well fed and healthy. You can choose fresh foods such as timothy grass, carrots, and other foods, but you can still feed him hamster food.
Foods made from pellets that are very suitable for mice are preferable to food mixes (muesli) for hamsters. This is because hamsters can be picky eaters and eat only the good stuff from muesli, ignoring less tasty but nutritious foods
Step 5. Provide food and water for the children
At about 7-10 days old, baby hamsters will be ready to eat and drink from sources other than the mother. Do not put a bowl of water in the cage, as the baby hamster could drown. Place a water bottle 1-2 cm above the base. This bottle is in addition to the hamster mother bottle that is placed in the usual place. The baby bottle will be too low for the mother hamster to reach. The baby hamster will start eating its mother's food little by little when it is ready. Once your baby hamster starts eating solid food, make sure there is plenty of it available for later.
Step 6. Separate hamsters by sex when the time comes
Syrian hamsters should be separated by sex when they are 3-4 weeks old because they have started fighting. You can safely keep pygmy hamsters together, but you'll need to separate them by sex if you don't want any to mate. This should be done within 48 hours after weaning which can be done around 21-28 days after birth.
Puberty begins about 2-18 days after weaning. Hamsters are ready to reproduce at this time
Method 3 of 3: Caring for Baby Hamsters Without a Mother
Step 1. Understand the risks
Stories of success in raising hamsters without mothers are almost unheard of. Newborn hamsters are not fully developed and need proper and balanced nutrition. Hamster mother's milk is the best source of food for her needs. Man-made substitute formulas will not help the organs and bones to grow healthily like a hamster's milk.
Don't feel guilty if the baby dies. The chances of success are never good, but at least you tried
Step 2. Be careful when using a surrogate parent
Although natural hamster milk is the best source of nutrients for the growth of baby hamsters, hamsters are not very suitable as a substitute for other mothers. Even if you have a nursing hamster without its own babies, there's a good chance it will eat the strange baby you put with it. A female hamster that is not breastfeeding will not have the milk that a baby hamster needs.
Step 3. Change the hamster's milk as much as possible
Lactol, a milk substitute made for dogs, is the milk most similar to hamster milk. Baby hamsters should be fed strictly 24 hours a day until they can eat solid food. Fortunately, hamsters start to get attracted to solid food quickly, in about 7-10 days. Once he starts eating solids, you can reduce feedings to every three hours.
Step 4. Use a bottle of eye drops to feed the baby hamster
Suck a little Lactol into the bottle, then press until there is a drop of milk on the tip of the dropper. Hold it and put it in the baby hamster's mouth. Hopefully he starts sucking it up, or at least licking the milk off the tip of the pipette.
- Do not force milk into the baby hamster's mouth. Because of their small size, a small amount of fluid could flood his lungs and he would drown or develop pneumonia.
- This is one of the main reasons baby hamsters without mothers are so difficult to care for.
Step 5. Set the room temperature for the baby hamsters
Hamsters are born hairless so until they are 10 days old, these babies cannot regulate their own body temperature. Keep his body temperature to around 21 degrees Celsius by using a heater or keeping the room at 21 degrees Celsius.
- Baby hamsters will feel comfortable in temperatures up to 26 degrees Celsius. Above it, it will start to overheat.
- When the baby hamsters are in the nest, partially cover the nest with a mat to keep them warm.
Warning
- If you disturb the mother and the newborns, she will eat the babies as a defense mechanism. Stay away for about a week early.
- If in doubt, confirm with a trusted breeder to reduce the risk.
