how old do baby hamster need to be to rehome

Question
QUESTION: Our hamster had babies about 3 weeks ago. Their eyes are open and they are eating well, we are still giving them water several times a day with an eyedropper since they haven't quite got the concept of the water bottle yet. I was wondering how old they should be before we give them to other homes?

ANSWER: Hi Jenna,

they can be taken from their mom from about 4 weeks but must be kept all together.

They can be given to their new homes at about 6 or 7 weeks - you may have to wait until about 8 weeks to make sure you can sex them correctly.

It is best not to feed them water by hand - their mothers milk will give them all the moisture they need and when they do need water they will find it themselves.

By feeding them water by hand you could be preventing them from finding it themselves - they may become reliant on you to give them water.

It is best to let them find the water bottle themself - maybe put a shallow dish of water below the water bottle so that when that runs out they will still look in the same place for water and eventually find the water bottle.

Kind Regards,

Tammy

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

QUESTION: At about 2.5 weeks old the mother started being aggressive with the babies, we called petsmart and they told us to seperate the babies from the mother, so they havent been with their mother for about a week now. The babies are doing great and growing fast, there are 3 males and 1 female, the  males like to pick on the female and one of them started fighting with the other 3 and making them cry, so last night we put that one in its own cage. I wanted to see if he wasn't as mean today so I put one of the other males in with him, and they started fighting. All their eyes are open and they are running fast and getting around real well, is there any chance that we could give them away sooner?

ANSWER: Hi Jenna,

Are they Syrians?

Regards,

Tammy

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

QUESTION: they are long haired teddy bears

Answer
Hi Jenna,

your hamsters are Long Haired Syrian Hamsters - 'Teddy Bear' Hamster is just a name the pet shop give them to make them seel for more money.

Syrian Hamsters can only be kept on their own after they are two months old because if they are kept with another the will fight until one is eventually dead.

As the one Male is already living on his own then i dont suppose it would hurt to rehome him now but you will have to tell the new owners that he is still very young.

They should stay with their same sex siblings up until 2 months old as it aids their natural development.

Kind Regards,

Tammy