New mommy hamster/babies

Question
My 13 yr old sons Golden Hamster just gave birth to 10 babies this morning. I noticed her stuffing the babies (almost all!) in her cheek pouches. She seemed to be re-arranging the bedding around alot when she did this. Is this normal? She isnt going to eat them is she? Thanks!

Answer
Some females do this for 2 reasons, hiding the baby from an external threat, and for rearranging. This causes no harm to the babies unless she leaves them in there for an extended period of time. 10 babies can be overwhelming, and if she is rather young she may choose to eat her babies to make it easier for her. Don't be alarmed if she does this, but to minimize this threat, simply leave her in a quiet, low traffic area of the house, like a guest room. Also do not clean the cage until the babies are 2 weeks old, this helps guard against her eating them as well.