Sudden death of moma hamster and her babies.?

Question
I had bought a hamster from a pet store (pretty sure it was a dwarf hamster but not100%). She was very agressive so i decided i was going to give her away and got two friendly dwarf hamsters the next day. Well that night the pet store hamster had 4 babies. I called the pet store asked what to do. they said to leave her be don't clean the cage or mess with her until the babies start eating food on their own. so i do as directed. *By the way the pet store hamster and the two dwarf hamster were in seperate cages* Everything was going just fine.kept all the hamsters fed and plenty of water. when the babies turned two weeks they started eating food. That day I noticed one of the babies was being lethargic and was laying around alot and not wanting to move unless necessary so i decided to keep an eye on it. with in the next hour it had passed away Well it was a baby and i though something inside may not have been right so i didn't think much of it. the next day I was getting ready for a one night camping trip and noticed the moma hamster was acting the same as the baby that died the day before, but was breathing hard and not moving unless to bite me when i tried to put her in my hand. and she was drinking alot of water. I told my mother to keep an eye on her that night.*at this point the other babies show no signs of sickness* the next day I come home. I check on the moma and discover that not only did the moma die but so did her other 3 babies as well =(... Do You have any ideas why? My other two dwarf hamsters are totally fine. no problems What so ever. I just want to know if i did something wrong? or if it was genetic or something i couldnt have prevented.?

Answer
Hi Taylor

thanks for your question.  I'm really sorry to read your story - how sad.

It is difficult to know why mom and babies died.  If the mum died, then the babies would die too as they are so dependent on her in these early days.

There are a couple of things that come to mind that could have caused the death of the first baby, and then mum.  One illness that can be devasting is wet tail - but you would usually see a lot of soft poo/diarrhoea.  Hamsters can get this if they are stressed, and a lot of hamsters who are bred in large breeding centres don't get handled at all.  They are then shipped to pet shops, and then moved to a new home.  During this time the whole experience can become stressful and they can get sick. Wet tail can travel through a litter very fast.  Even if they didn't have the illness first of all, it is highly contagious to other hamsters and they could have picked this up from somewhere.  Immediate treatment is required to rehydrate the hamsters if there is any chance of them surviving.  However, babies are vulnerable, so is a young mum as she would have used a lot of her energy having the litter.

Another illness is aspergillosis.  Fungal spores can collect on uneaten food, damp bedding, wet areas of the cage.  If a hamster breathes these in they can become very sick and the prognosis is usually very bad.  Symptoms are often lethargy, collapse, difficulty breathing. What type of cage were they in?  Dwarf hamsters are often best in tanks, however make sure there aren't any plastic houses etc. in the tank where they could store food which could become damp.  All my hamsters have natural houses/toys - i.e. wooden ones, coconut shells etc.

I'm glad your other hamsters are OK.  I would be tempted to check their cage and make sure it is in dry part of the house (not near any rooms that attract condensation - i.e kitchen or bathroom.  If they have plastic houses/toys perhaps it would be a good idea to swap these with something natural.

If there is any sign at all of lethargy, or especially diarrhoea (assume it is wet tail.  You can get a hamster tested but by the time the test results come back it is usually too late so begin treatment immediately#, give some rehydration fluids - you can buy a packet of oral rehydration powder from the chemist - mix according to the instructions and then put this in the water bottle and also give some with a dropper.  Also, get a probiotic - you can get this from a vet, or on-line - Avipro is one of the types.  If you can't get this you can always give acidophilus which is sold in capsule form on health shops - again put some in the drinking water and give a little via a dropper.  Do not give any fresh vegetables for a week until there is some improvement then slowly reintroduce #avoid giving lettuce as this can cause diarrhoea). Also give a bland diet -raw porridge oats, bread, dry hamster mix until the diarrhoea stops.

If there is any sign of respiratory distress - i.e. the hamster lying on their side to breath and clearly struggling, immediately get them to the vet for antibiotics.  They may help, but as I said earlier, aspergillosis is very hard to treat.

I'm sorry I can't give you a definite reason why the hamsters died.  However, I hope the above information is helpful for you to identify if there are any problems with your other hamsters.

Regards
Sheila