Babies...how many to expect

Question
QUESTION: Hi!  We just bought a hampster from the pet store last week and when we came home today, we found that she had babies.  I saw that there was one dead one in there (I removed it before my daughter saw it) and 2 live ones.  Is this all I should expect?  How many babies does a hampster usually have at one time?  Is it possible that she's not done having them yet?

ANSWER: When my hamster gave birth (it was planned), I would peep in every few hours to get a baby head count. When I went to bed that night she had given birth to 3. The next morning the head count was 5, and that would end up being it. 24 hours after the first baby is born, it's usually safe to say momma ham is all done giving birth. Hamster's can have up to 16 babies, but small litters of 5-8 are common as well.

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QUESTION: OK...well...thanks for the first response!  I appreciate it!  We had a problem though.  When I woke up this morning, I found that the momma had only had those three...but she was dead.  I don't know how this happened.  I think that maybe she had complications while trying to give birth to others.  Does this sound like a possibility?  ALSO...one of the babies is still alive.  Do you think that there's any way it can survive without mom?  I have it in a towel right now to keep it warm.  I don't know what else to do though.  Any suggestions?

Answer
Baby hamsters under 8-10 days old are very, very difficult to keep alive without a surrogate mother around. It isn't entirely impossible though. Here is a terrific page about raising orphans, with the best info in the bottom half.

http://www.hamsterific.com/orphans.cfm