Weak mother hamster?

Question
Hi. My dwarf hamster gave birth on dec 21st. Now the mother seems too sleepy. I fed her hardboiled egg, some veggies, but she seems too sleepy all the time! I am worried that she may abandon her pups completely.. Sometimes she sleeps near the nest, sometimes she sleeps on the house on the 2nd floor, but I dont see her nursing the babies anymore as she has during the 1st 3 days. I give her tissue for the bedding but sometimes she chews on them and then falls asleep. The father is the one making the babies warm by covering them with tissue and bedding.
Is this normal for the mother? (being weak and all from nursing the past few days??)
How often is she supposed to leave the babies and her nest?
What should I do?

Thanks! Im so worried.

Answer
Hi,
thank you for your question.
It does sound like the mother is sick or extremely stressed by giving birth. She shouldn't leave the nest at all, only for short trips to the toilet and for food. I suspect that she will abandon her babies completely sooner or later and I recommend handfeeding them now at least every two hours (three/four at night). You can put them back into the nest between feedings, but there is the risk that the mother will eat them, so it's probably better to take nest and babies out of the cage and hold them warm with a hot water-bottle (make sure it doesn't get too hot).
Here's a good website on handraising orphaned rodents (I think I already gave you that link, but I'm not sure):
http://www.afrma.org/rminfo8.htm
It's not easy and it takes a lot of time, but it's definitely worth a try and it will make things easier for the mother. I really recommend seperating the parents now because the mother is probably already pregnant again and since she is already that stressed this time, she shouldn't be used for breeding any more. I also think that you should visit a vet with her to rule out any medical problems.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and the babies!
Jennifer