food for my hamsters

Question
Hi, I have a syrian hamster who is 16 days pregnant. I have been feeding her boiled egg, carrots and milk. Is their anything else i can give her and the pups when they are born that would be beneficial. Thanks very much.

Answer
HI David

Don't overfeed your hamster right now - wait until the babies are born, then start feeding her extra.  You don't want the unborn pups to get too large otherwise it can cause her complications when they are being born. It's OK to give her the usual hamster dry food, along with some fresh vegetables (avoid lettuce as it can cause diarrhea).

Once they are born, you can give her human baby food - the powdered variety is the best (creamy porridge oats or rice designed for young babies is always a favorite with mine).  Mix it with water.  When the pups are a couple of weeks old and leaving the nest to feed, they can eat this too - but remember to put it on a jamjar lid or similar so they can reach it.  Once the pups are born, make sure the mum has plenty of food close by her nest so she doesn't have to leave it unnecessarily.  When the pups are around 1 week old, start dropping tiny pieces of food directly into the nest - raw porridge oats, seeds, breadcrumbs - you can usually just lift the nest off them and drop them in without touching the pups.  If you accidentally touch any, then you need to gently lay your hand on them all so that your scent is on all of them and you haven't singled out just one. At this age their body temperature can drop in a few minutes, therefore close up the nest again quickly.  I don't normally handle pups until they are 2 weeks old, then with some caution as the mum is often a bit nervous of this and also just for a minute or two each time.  As they get bigger I handle them more - by the time they are 3 - 31/2 weeks old I'm handling them a few times a day in order to tame them.  The more you handle them then, the better and by then the mum won't mind at all.  Remember to separate them into single sexed cages at 4 weeks otherwise you'll end up with more - they'll need their own cages from about 6 weeks or if they start fighting before.

Good luck with this