shocking brith

Question
QUESTION: in the summer i bought two boy roborovski hamsters which were around six weeks old which the man picked out, i named them tickles and scraggles.that was roughly three months ago.four days ago my friend was in my room and heard high pitched squeaks and told me that it was weird because  that only happens when babies want their moms because she had a baby hamster a few years ago but my hamsters were too old to be making this noise. later the noise started again so i checked to see if one of the hamsters were hurt but when i looked down a tiny little pink sqeaking thing rolled out of the nest as the my hamster came out to see me!!!!I was in complete shock as the wriggly thing got pushed pack in the nest by tickles. everything came into place then why tickles was getting fat and jumpy and why scraggles use to jump on her and show dominant behaviour. I have no idea what to do. ive looked this up and nothing like this has seemed to happen to anyone else...it must have! ive given the mom plenty of water and extra food and bedding but i dont know what to do next. i dont want to split the parents up because they love being together and the dads really nice with the baby but i cant have more little squeakers running around and inbreeding!!! i dont know how to check the sex or anything. and sadly because theres only 1 baby ill either have to separate the baby from the mom if its a boy or separate the baby from the dad if its a girl! please help its really sad they look like such a cute little family but when the time comes what should i do?

ANSWER: Hi Stephanie,

DONT WORRY!! STOP PANICKING!!

Everything will be fine.

Congratulations on the baby!

First of all you dont have to do anything at the moment - everything has already been done and as long as you keep them supplied with plenty of fresh food and water they will all be fine.

It is best not to disturb the cage at all for the next two weeks becuase the parents could get scared and either destroy the baby or abandon it.

On the day a Roborovski gives birth she comes into heat again and is receptive to the male again - so, your female is probably already pregnant again already so will probably have another litter in about 19 or 20 days.  Please dont worry about this, there is nothing you can do about it and none if this is your fault.

Do you know the exact date the baby was born?

If you do then the next litter will be born about 21 days after the first litter was born, so it is best to take the baby and the father out of the cage before the second litter is born.

Please let me know you have got this email and get back to me and i can let you know how to sex the baby and your adults.

Are you in the UK??

Good Luck and please dont worry!

Kind Regards,

Tammy

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

QUESTION: thanks so much for the advice it was really useful, yes i am in the UK.The baby was born on the sixth of December so ill just keep counting. the thing is once i take the dad and baby out will i be able to put them back in what so ever? Also do you have any idea what type of bedding to use for baby hamsters because ive heard that the vegetable cotton wool like material is dangerous for them but im not going to interrupt the nest so im just going to have to hope for the best for this baby.The moms doing well but ive noticed that she's become snappy (obviously) but the parents keep fighting over the food like im not giving them enough but im giving them three times as much food each day and i dont see them eat it anymore just fill up and run to the nest.Are they feeding the baby with it? i know it sounds crazy but hamsters are born with teeth and it's the only thing i can think of why they are both so hungry. By the way the baby is doing well its getting hair and it is squeaking ALOT louder now during the night but its really cute and wiggly.

Answer
Hi Stephanie,

If the female is having another litter then she should have them around 27th December - just so you know when to expect them!

If you take out the father and the baby you might be able to reintroduce the father but you will end up with more babies and it will have to be at a time when there are no babies already with her becuase she might see him as a threat and kill the babies or he could kill the babies himself.

As i am breeder i often introduce different hamsters which havent even met each other before and some of these are fully grown adults too.  And all of these introductions go very well if i follow my own instructions carefully.

When i sell my roborovski babies i always tell new owners that there is a chance that they will start to squabble once they get to maturity at 3 or 4 months old.  I always tell them to contact me and i can talk them through my reintroduction process.

If any of them have drawn blood then i say to separate them and keep them separated, afterall, all hamsters have different personalities and some just like to live on their own.

If they havent drawn blood then i always think it is best to give Roborovskis a second chance to live with another Roborovksi, becuase in my opinion they are the most social breed of hamster.

I tell them to completely wash out the tank / cage with a safe pet disenfectant  and everthing else in the cage too - wheels, food bowls, tunnels, toys etc.  It is best to use a glass tank at this stage - put in a deep layer of sawdust / shavings and two bottles or bowls of water, then scatter plenty of food all over the sawdust.  DONT PUT ANYTHING ELSE IN AT THIS STAGE!!

Put both hamsters in together (if i am introducing a breeding pair i always put the male in for about 2 minutes before the femals because they seem to not be so territorial) and watch them very closely for the next few hours.  If they fetch blood them separate them immediately and keep them separated.  If they wrestle a little that is fine - they are just trying to establish which one is more dominant -  a little squeaking is fine but if one is squeaking alot or one is trying to bite the other one then it is best to split them up.

Usually this method works great for me and for any new owners who call to say their hamsters have been fighting.  Leave them like that for about a week and by that time they should have made a bed out of the shavings and also be using each other to keep warm.

If they are still ok after a week then you can start introducing toys and wheels and tunnels.  When adding things always put two of them in to reduce the chance of fighting - two wheels, two cardboard tubes, two tunnels etc.  I always think it is best not to use food dishes especially if they have already been fighting - just sprinkle penty of food all ove the cage so there are no territory issues.

This method usually works for me so please try it but continue to watch them carefully - just in case - it is best to be safe than sorry.



The father will probably get a little lonely, especially as he has not been on his own before, so probably the best thing to do would be to reintroduce him to one his sons when they are removed from the mother.  This is not as easy as it seems though!  Firstly you need to make sure there is actually a male baby in the litter and you need to make sure 100% that the baby is male because, as you have already found out, you will have more babies if not 100% sure!!  Secondly, you will have to reintroduce them properly and very carefully to make sure they do not fight.

Even if there is not a male baby, or the reintroduction does not go well, please do not worry too much - some Roborovskis are solitary anyway, and all of them will adjust well to living on their own if they have to, as long as they have enough attention from their owners - so it will not be the end of the world, lol!

Just to let you know - With some of my females which i breed, i sometimes let them have two litters straight after another so i leave the male in with her while she brings up her first litter.  I always take the father out a few days before her next litter is due so she doesn't have three litters in row, but this means that when i come to take the first litter away from her she will be left with no babies to look after at all.  This sometimes causes her to worry and run around the cage looking for her babies and can sometimes stress her out and could harm her unborn babies - this could happen to your female so it may be best to do what i do:

I watch her very closely on the day she is due to give birth and leave the first litter in with her until the moment she gives birth to the first baby of the second litter, i then take the first litter away from her and this stops her from worrying about where the first litter has gone - once she gives birth to the second litter she no longer worries about the first litter because she has enough to worry about with the new borns!

It is possible to leave the old litter in with the new litter - apparently they do get on fine but i never do, so i dont know if that is true!


The baby is probably eating by now but he wont be eating mush so they are probably squabbling becuase this is the females first litter and she is probably panicking a bit
and trying to make sure the baby gets enough!

I bet the baby is doing extremely well and being very spoilt because he is the only one!  He will probably be a very healthy and fat baby!!  One of my Roborovskis had seven at one time!  she did an extremely good job raising them all!!


I hope all this makes sense and you understand what i am saying - sorry it's a bit long and complicated - please let me know if you need me to explain anything better!


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

Kind Regards,

Tammy