My syrian hamster

Question
Hi,I got my Syrian hamster about 5 days ago the woman at the shop said she thinks its a girl.I noticed that my hamster has been scratching the corner of her cage constantly and hiding all her food inside a huge mountain of wood shavings and bedding that she made!she is also extremely chubby, do you think she's pregnant?when I bought her she was alone in her cage though?Thanks

Answer
Hi Nout

Thanks for your question.

It is hard to know whether or not she is pregnant, although she may well be.  When hamsters move to a new cage they do sometimes behave like this as they mark their territory.  Also, some females can be quite large - larger than males.

With hamsters you don't have to wait too long to find out if they are pregnant.  If she is, then she will have a litter within the next 11-13 days as the usual gestation period for a Syrian is 16-18 days.  

If there are babies, don't go near the nest to have a look - you don't want to worry her. If any babies get left out of the nest you will need to gently put them back in the nest, but this is the only time you should go near the nest as an emergency.  At 2 weeks of age the babies will start leaving the nest at which time you can handle them for a few seconds at a time.

If there are babies, you can increase the mum's food by giving her baby food - the babies will eat this too when they are old enough.  Don't overfeed your hamster right now - just give the usual amount as you don't want any unborn babies getting too large for her.

At 4 weeks you must sex the babies and separate the boys.  At 6 weeks they will all need a cage of their own.

If you do end up with babies I suggest you contact the pet shop and tell them - they may be able to provide you with an additional cage, and should re-home the hamsters when they reach 5-6 weeks of age.

If after 13 days there is no sign of a litter it could just be that she is gaining weight because you are feeding her more than she was used to.  If however, there is a definite bulge on her hips and no babies then she should be examined by a vet to check that she doesn't have problems with her ovaries.

I hope this helps.

Regards
Sheila