baby teddys newborns

Question
hello heather, i have just bought a teddy hampster on friday nov 9/07. on wed. nov 14/07 my daughter when to check on her hampster and found that she has had babbies, now i am not sure how many she has had but i know it is more than two.  what i need to know is how warm should the room be or can i wrap a blanket around the cage as the cage is in our spare bedroom.  also when the babbies are ready to drink on there own, do i just add another water bottle to the cage and make it low they can get a drink from it.  this is all new to me so any info you can pass on would be a great help

thank you

george l.
lethbridge, alberta

Answer
My female recently gave birth as well, but it was planned. The mother hamster will care for her babies very well, so you won't need to change much. You can help her make a cozy nest by riping tissues into strips, she will enjoy the soft bedding material. For the first 2 weeks, they will drink their mothers  milk, and she will lay on them frequently. If she is to leave the nest, she will usually cover them with bedding, my female just left hers out most of the time. Around 2 weeks they will have hair and will explore the cage and begin trying to eat solid food. They will need a water bottle in the cage low enough for them to reach, if you can't make it reach down, just pile some bedding around it and make sure it's always reachable. Don't disturb the mother or clean the cage for the first 2 weeks, or she may be tempted to eat her young in defense, and sadly many hamster mothers do resort to this. By 4-5 weeks the babies will need homes lined up, as they may begin to fight or attempt to breed. Each pup will need a separate cage in time, but after week 3 they need to be in boy/girl cages. This page has some helpful pointers too

http://members.aol.com/honeybee4289/hamsterbabies.html