one week old babies

Question
I have 2 approx. one week old baby hamsters (golden I'm told) that I'm trying to hand rear. (mom was either sold or taken away by the vendor at the store with noone knowing babies were there) They've survived 2 days with me so far, and I'm thinking they're about week due to the fact that they already had fur when I got them. My question is, should I put a heat lamp or rock in with them to make sure they are warm enough. They seem to be ok, mostly but I've had some scares, we're holding them frequently for body heat, and feeding regularly with kitten milk. Any other advice would be great, most sites just say that that young its nearly impossible, I'm not willing to give up on them.
Thanks so much

Answer
Hi Kristi

You're doing a fab job.  This is a very difficult situation, however, I have known it to work - in fact I ended up with a hamster who was hand reared and he went onto live a full life. I also nursed a runt - sadly he had too many things wrong and had to be put to sleep after a couple of weeks, but I managed to keep him alive during that time by hand feeding etc.

Body temperature is a number one killer.  You must make sure they are warm - do you have a hot water bottle or heat mat/microwavable beanbag?  If so, you could heat one of these and place it under the cage.  Make sure the area isn't too hot otherwise this will kill them too, so you probably need to wrap this in a towel and keep checking the temperature of the bottom of the cage, as they are probably too small to move away from the heat.  You could try a heat lamp - I've never done this before, but it might work. To be honest, in a situation like this it is worth trying pretty much anything.

With regard to food, the better milk to use is a special formula that you get from the vet.  It is specially designed for orphaned animals and is more digestible than kitten milk.  If your vet will let you have a small amount of this powder, then mix it up with warm water and feed hourly if possible through a pipette - I'm sure this is pretty much what you're doing now.  You can also give them human baby food - if you can get hold of a packet of the powdered variety (creamy porridge oats is always a favorite) - water a small amount down and feed them this.  This contains lots of essential nutrients that help baby hamsters - I always give mine this - from about 10 days old  until they are fully grown, even then occasionally I'll give them some as a treat when they are adults.

Until they are about 2 weeks old they need hourly feeds if possible - after that you can relax slightly.  You can also give them tiny pieces of bread to eat or raw porridge oats and seeds.  By 3 weeks old they will fend for themselves to a certain degree - give them the usual hamster food, including some green vegetables (not lettuce), and continue with the baby food.

If these babies survive you will have a fantastic bond with them and they will be the best pets ever, but it is very much an uphill struggle for the next week.

Good luck with this.  I wish you all the best and hope this ends with a happy ending.  Please let me know how you get on.
Regards