what if a mother has her babies in a wheel? Do i move them without touching them?

Question
I have 2 syrian female hamsters,they just had babies. One however, had her babies in a plastic wheel attached to the cage. Should i take the mother out and carefully move the babies with out touching them? Or are they ok? The wheel has little slit like openings around it i am afraid that a baby could get injured..what should i do?
A.K

Answer
Hi A.K.,

You'll definitely need to move the babies.  A wheel doesn't exactly make the ideal nesting place :)  You'll need to be very careful and place the mother outside of the cage briefly, to avoid upsetting her.  If you can move them without touching them, that would be great.  But, if you need to touch them to move them, take some bedding from the cage and rub it all over your hands, to get the scent of the mother on your hands and to disguise your smell.  Then carefully move the babies as quickly and gently as possible.  And, go ahead and remove the wheel from that cage, and your other Syrian's cage.  The wheel can pose a danger to the babies.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask :)

Kelly