hamster litter

Question
QUESTION: My hamster unexpectedly gave birth on my hand!  I thought she was just
sleeping and then I felt something cold and wet, so I checked her stomach
and there was a little knot coming out!  I freaked and put her right back in
her nest, where she sleeps.  I think she gave birth to a couple more, but ate
them all... =(

Anyway, I noticed that she seems to have some sort of eye infection (it won't
open and she keeps on scratching it).  So I took her out and cleaned her eye
with a wet cotton bud.  I noticed that her stomach is still bulgy...  Is there any
chance that she could still be pregnant???  I mean I read somewhere that if
she eats her young, she might have a big litter and could've eaten some
because she's due for more...?  What am I supposed to expect here?  And if
she is still pregnant, when is she going to give birth again?

ANSWER: Hi Marie,

How old is your hamster?

How long have you had her?

Does she live on her own?

Do you have any other hamsters and has she been in contact with any of them?

When did she give bith on your hand?

Tammy x

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: She's about 3 months old, I'v had her for 2 months.  No she doesn't live on
her own.  The story is, I thought I bought another female hamster but it turns
out it was a male.  I got a cage divider and put the male on the other side.  I
have another hamster that is a Syrian - I let them roam around on my floor
freely, thought their cages are far apart.

She gave birth on my hand yesterday.  She's in the cage again - sleeping all
day and night, only waking up for food and water...  She's got a new nest...

ANSWER: Hi again Marie,

First of all Syrian hamsters are strictly solitary and should never be housed together or allowed to play together - it not only stresses them out and causes them to be more supceptible to illness, it also could end up with one or more of the hamsters dead, because they are very territorial and will end up fighting!!

Please keep them all separate from now on!

Also, please leave breeding to the pofessionals - there are so many things which you need to know before even thinking about breeding - some colours cannot be bred together because the babies could be born with missing limbs, eyes or be deaf etc.  They can also have any number of serious health conditions.

Hamsters cannot be bred if they are too young or two old, they cannot be bred if they came from a pet shop and they cannot be bred if they came from the same litter!

I have never head of a hamster giving bith on someones hand, and i believe that this shows how stresses out she is and also that is way to young to have a litter of babies to look after.

Young mothers or mothers who feel stessed will often abandon their litter or destroy their litter.

Syrian hamsters can have upto 20 babies in one litter so she could still be pregnant and due to have more babies!

Please leave her alone in her cage for the next two weeks - without disturbing her at all except to give her fresh food and water, after this time you can then see if she has any babies (if she hasnt eaten them!).

Also, she can still be pregnant up to 18 days after she has last been with the male, so keep a close eye on her and keep her in a very quiet place!!

If she does have any babies then they must be split into same sex groups by the time they are 3.5 weeks old because they are capable of breeding at that age and you will end up with many more babies!!

They also must be separated into single cages by the time they are 7 or 8 weeks old, or as soon as they start fighting!!

Please do not allow the hamsters to be toghether again.

Please let me know how you get on and just ask if you need any more info.

Kind Regards,

Tammy x

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: They're dwarf hamsters...

Answer
Sorry, must have got confused because of your first question!

So do you mean you let the Syian and the dwarfs roam around together??

If you do then please do not do it anymore - the syrian will end up killing the dwarfs!!

Please keep all of your hamsters in separate cages and dont even let them play together.

Dwarfs hamsters take around 21 days to have their babies - you still must separate them at 4 weeks to stop them producing more babies, but they can be kept in single sex groups if they dont stat fighting.

Kind Regards,

Tammy