My Syrian Hamster Had the babies...

Question
QUESTION: Now what??  I have read two books on the hamsters but I am much more comfortable getting advise from people who have had their first hand experience. My female Syrian has had her litter. I believe there are about 10-15 pups. I have supplied the milk and baby cereal. I have not disturbed anything in the cage. I know not to for at least a couple of weeks. What I was hoping to have answered is a sort of time line. IE.. When am I allowed to handle them? When do I seperate them? When are they okay to give away to hopeful hamster owners? Anything along those lines would be great. Thank you so much!!

ANSWER: Congratulations on having your litter!

first of all - one thing I want to check with you - regarding the milk - the milk designed for cats is better than giving cows milk.  this is because cows milk can be indigestible and can cause diarrhea, so if you want to give any milk I suggest you swap this just in case.

Time line for raising pups:

First of all, I tend not to clean out the cage until the pups are around 2 weeks old or slightly older.  If the wood chippings start to smell, scoop out any soiled areas, and just replace these, rather than change everything as the mum can get spooked by this. When the pups are 3 weeks old you will probably need to clean them out daily - I don't disinfect when I've got pups - just throw everything out, rinse the cage and set it up again.  If the bedding is clean, you can put a little of this back just so they recognise their own scent.

Drop food near the nest for the mum so that she can reach it and doesn't have to leave the nest too often, although she may well decide she needs a break every now and then.

When the pups are one week old, gently open the nest up - this is best done if you can entice the mum away for a few seconds - and drop some raw porridge oats, seeds, breadcrumbs etc. into the nest.  The babies will start feeding on solids around this time.

when they are two weeks old they will begin to leave the nest.  The mum will be a bit stressed when this happens and she usually runs around dragging her pups back into the nest by their legs.  This is perfectly normal.  If necessary I assist in returning any strays, but if you do handle any it is vital you gently place your hands on the others - this way your scent will be on all of them.  Remember to make a fuss of the mum so she doesn't get left out.

As soon as the pups are leaving the nest - this is the time I start handling them.  They will shoot out of your hands so it is important to handle them at a low level over their cage.  I would suggest only handling them for a few minutes at a time - little and often seems to be best.  As each day passes you can increase handling time.  They will be able to eat the baby food at this stage, along with fresh vegetables (avoid lettuce as it can cause diarrhea). Make sure the water bottle is at a height they can reach or build up the wood chippings to it.  You might need to place a second bottle in the cage for a week or two.

When the pups are 3 weeks old as you've got such a large litter, I would suggest you transfer the pups into a carry case - then handle them one at a time. This way you know you've handled them all the same, rather than only picking up the same one each time.  

Try to fit as many wheels in the cage (not the ones with spokes or drainage slits as they can get caught up in these).

At 4 weeks (I usually separate the day before the 4 weeks is due), sex and separate.  The boys go into one cage,the girls can stay with the mum.  If the mum is exhausted from feeding such a large litter, at this time you can take her away from them - it is a case of seeing how she is.  If she is tired, her daughters might start picking on her and hassling her, in which case get her into her own cage as she's done her job.  At 5 1/2 - 6 weeks the pups can be rehomed.  At 6 weeks they will need their own cages anyway as they will start fighting.

I hope this helps you - hope everything goes well with the litter.

Regards


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

QUESTION: My 13 Syrian pups are now 3 weeks old. I understand with a litter that size there are bound to be some "runts of the litter". For me its 2. I am really concerned about these two because they have little sores on their mouths. The handling of them after the first two weeks has been minimal.  I would like to know what I can do, if anything, to help my little ones. I don't want to lose any of them. I am really attached to them all. Please help if you can. Thanks.

Answer
Hi

Human baby food is the best way to fatten up hamster babies and give them extra nutrients.  If you buy the powdered variety - creamy porridge oats or similar - mix with water - not milk as this is indigestible and can cause diarrhea.  They can have some of this every day - you could try different varieties.  Do the runts look normal, apart from the sores?  Are they walking OK, and eating?

If so, runts normally do OK in the end - they just need a bit of extra attention.  Depending on their sex - you could leave them with mum and take the others away at 4 weeks - this way they'll get a bit of extra nourishment for a couple of weeks.  Obviously if they are male - they won't mate with mum as they are so small, but if they are one of each sex, then you must be careful that they don't mate with each other - in which case I would advise just keeping the girl with the mum.

Hope you get on OK - please let me know.

Regards