bredding

Question
i have had my male and female have babies before, but it was very unexpected. But i do know alot about the breeding process and what to do with the babies.

Last night i let them mate again, and today when i went to see her she bit me, and wouldn't come out of her house for anything except food. she collect a lot of soft bedding from her cage and a lot of food, and took it into the house. Do you think it's possible she can tell shes pregnant already?

Answer
Hi Katy

You don't say what type of hamsters these are - if they are Syrians, you can do a test mating.  As hamsters come into season every 4 days you need to try this 4 days running (ideally in the evening - you could try early evening, and then again a couple of hours later). If you place the female on top of the male's cage and let them sniff each other through the bars.  Scratch the female's back and if she raises her tail and stiffens, then she is not pregnant as this is a sign she is in season.  If she doesn't react at all or is aggressive then there is a strong possibility she is.  

I honestly don't know if you can get the same reaction from dwarf hamsters as I haven't actually bred them.  

I think it unlikely she would know she was pregnant for a few days, and many hamsters don't really start showing any signs of pregnancy until they are a week away from producing a litter.  Sometimes they are pregnant, but re-absorb the litter - in which case, if you think she is pregnant, you should wait the full term just to be certain (16-18 days for a Syrian and 18-21 days for a dwarf) and if there is no litter, you could re-mate.

Good luck with this.
Regards