Pup housing

Question
Well, I got these 2 hamsters awhile back (just over a month ago)& one of them got pregnant, these are
my first hamsters so I didn't even know how to sex them (now I do) I didn't even
know she had HAD the pups until I went over to check if she was pregnant and saw
about 6-8 pups under her. She's fairly young and this is her first litter so I
half expected her to eat them all but she seems to be doing pretty well, the
pups are about 5 days old and there's still I think 6 or 7 of them...my concern
is this: the mum had the pups in a little circular tube (part of a crittertrail
system) and there doesn't seem to be enough room for her and the pups, she keeps
gnawing at the plastic and trying to dig through it (she can't of course)...I'm
wondering what to do, leave it or dump them into a larger area...another concern
of mine is that once the pups start moving about, they will fall down the tube
that's connecting the area with the nest to the rest of the system.

Thanks."

Answer
Hi Jessika,

     I would suggest moving the pups out of the tube but this will have to be done very carefully (it is best to remove mum before replacing the pups) and without touching the pups. If you need to, you can use a spoon to help move the pups. I would also suggest blocking off the tubes until the pups are seperated from their mother (which is at 3 weeks of age). That way the mother will not try to put them back in the tube.

Thank you for writing!