Hamster Babies
Tips for Caring for Hamster Babies
While there is not much difference in caring for hamster babies versus adults, you will find some differences. If you raise hamsters, it is important to know the proper care so you will have a cute, healthy, and loving pet. Most people do not think of hamsters as being cuddly pets but in actuality, they are and in fact, when raising hamster babies, the way you treat them will help determine their personality and behavior as adults.
For starters, the official name of hamster babies is pups. When born, the babies are extremely tiny, pink, they have no hair, and their eyes are closed. Obviously, when first born, hamsters are not much to look at and until they are a few weeks old, they will stick very closely to the mother. The most important thing to remember is that you should never handle hamster babies for a minimum of two weeks, which could cause the mother to turn against them. When the mother smells human scent, she might think that the babies are foreign and not her little ones so avoid picking them up or even touching them at all cost.
Sadly, some mothers will eat the hamster babies, which might be just one, or all of them. As humans, we find this difficult to handle but we need to remember that they are acting as nature made them so if a mother does not accept her pups, you cannot do anything about it. After all, when they are so tiny, caring for them would be impossible in that they need very special care of the mom.
The hamster babies will remain huddled in a close group after being born and to keep them safe, the mother will often pick them up and move them to a new location within the cage from time to time. For this reason, once you know your mother hamster is getting close to giving birth, you want to provide her with a clean cage, extra bedding, and even a private box where she can take them to reduce stress, if needed.
Once the hamster babies are about two weeks old and if the mother does not seem overly protective or stressed, you could at that time start to hold them but only for a minute in that their skin is still very sensitive. You would also want to clean the cage again to make sure mother and pups have clean, soft bedding and fresh food and water.
Just as with humans, hamster babies will nurse off the mother so providing her with a nutritional diet, special snacks, and clean water daily is essential. Then around two weeks old, most of the pups will begin to learn how to drink from the water bottle in the cage so make sure the nozzle is lowered enough so they can reach it. To ensure the babies have adequate hydration, place a few slices of fresh cucumber in a bowl daily but never set a bowl of water in the cage, which could accidentally drown the babies if they were to fall in.
Finally, around three weeks of age, you would begin to move the hamster babies from the mother, putting them in a different cage. It is important to watch for fighting and if you see any, you may need to separate the babies from one another too. Additionally, if you find that one or more of the hamster babies becomes stressed from being taken from the mother, allow those to stay with her for a few more days or another week.