Baby hamsters death

Question
My hamster had a litter of 9 pups exactly three weeks ago. Everything was going fine and all the pups were healthy. Two of the pups were killed by the mother so i was down to 7 and when i got to the cage this morning 4 more were dead! The first two had obvisouly been killed or attacked by the mother and the other pups because you it was pretty gruesome in the cage. These last 4 babies however had no signs off struggle or fights. They were all stiff and looked like they had had a heart attack of something. I dont think thats the case as all 4 died on one night. I did use knew hamster bedding when i changed the cage a week ago but thats the only thing that i had done differently. Any ideas what could have caused these 4 mysterious deaths?

Answer
Hi Don

I'm really sorry to hear about your pups.  

I honestly don't know why they died - sometimes there is no logical explanation and unless there is a post mortem you'll never know.  

If the mum gets stressed she can turn on her babies or neglect them which can leave them dead - they are totally reliant on her in the early days and if they are pushed out of the nest they can die from hypothermia really quickly.

What sort of size were the babies who died?  Were they small?  Can you examine the mum?  One thing I thought of is that she is having problems feeding them or has mastitis.  Mastitis  is an infection of the mammary glands and usually happens around 7-10 days after giving birth.  Because it is so painful for her she can cannibalize her babies or she just refuses to nurse them so they die of starvation. I suggest you have a look at her - sometimes there is blood instead of milk, or the area is swollen and sore.  If you think there is a problem you can apply a warm compress to the affected area, which will allow any infected discharge to come out.  If you think this is the problem she will need to see a vet as soon as possible who can prescribe antibiotics.  Once she's on antibiotics, however, she can't feed her babies any more and therefore needs separating from them.

If there appears to be no logical reason as to why her babies died, if you feel the remaining ones are at risk, then I would be tempted to remove them from the mum.  Any time after 3-3 1/2 weeks is OK - it is a bit young, but they should survive.  If you buy a packet of human powdered baby food (creamy porridge oats is a favorite with hamsters).  Mix some with water (don't use milk as this causes diarrhea), and give them a lid of this morning and night.  They can have this now anyway while they are with mum, and she will enjoy it too.  It will give her extra nutrients to build her strength up.  They can all have this daily for a couple of weeks along with their usual food.  This will fatten them up a lot - so you don't want them to have it long term, but in the short term it is a fantastic food.  I would definitely take the babies away from her a day or two before the 4 weeks is up, just to be on the safe side.

Good luck with this, hope you get on OK.