Babies

Question
Hi Sheila, I want to ask how can I prevent my female hamster from eating
her two newborn young?

Answer
Hi Sim

The main reason why a female will kill her newborn is if she is afraid, if there isn't enough food, or if there is something wrong either with the babies or with the mum.  Therefore it is important to try and prevent this from happening.  Obviously, you don't really have any control over the health of mum or her babies.  However, you can help with the other two reasons.  Firstly, I advise that you don't go near the nest for a couple of weeks.  I never handle any new born hamsters until they reach 2 weeks and have started to leave the nest.  At this time it is fairly safe to handle them, but make a fuss of mum too.  Also, don't keep them away from mum for more than a few minutes.  Another thing that helps reduce their stress levels is not to clean the cage out - leave it until the babies are 2 - 3 weeks old.  If there are any areas of the cage that need cleaning, just clean those areas but don't clean the whole cage.  When you do come to clean them out I tend not to disinfect the cage but instead just empty out the soiled bedding and return anything that is OK.  This means that their scent is still in the cage and they will feel less threatened.  When the babies are 3 -4 weeks old you will need to clean them out every couple of days.

Don't forget that at 4 weeks you will need to sex the babies and remove any males.  If there is a female she can stay with mum.  Are these dwarf hamsters or Syrians?  If they are dwarf it is OK to keep them in single sexed cages.  If they are Syrians at 4 weeks they need sexing and boys separated, and at 6 weeks they need a cage of their own.  They cannot live together.

Another thing that you can do to help her is make sure she had plenty of food.  I drop a handful of dry mix close to the nest daily.  In addition, it is important to give a small amount of fresh vegetable daily (but avoid lettuce as this can cause diarrhoea).  I also give mine baby food - I usually buy a packet of the powdered 'creamy porridge oats' and mix a little with water and give this too.  Mum can have this once a day, and when the babies leave the nest they will eat it too if you put it in a low enough dish.  Also make sure she has water close by.  When the babies leave the nest they will need access to water and therefore you might need to add a second bottle at a lower level.

Hopefully this will help prevent her from killing her newborn.

Good luck with this.

Regards
Sheila