Syrian Hamster Babies

Question
Hello Katie,

10 Days ago I bailed a female Syrian hamster out of a local humane
shelter, right before she was scheduled to be PTS'd.  Along with her came
14 lovely babies, born that morning.  She has proven to be a wonderful
mother and is taking excellent care of all of the little ones.

I'm fairly novice about Syrian hamster babies and after doing some
on-line research find that I have a couple of questions that I haven't been
able to find answers to elsewhere - I hope that you might be able to
help.

1. At what point can I put a wheel back into the cage for the mother
hamster?

2. At what point should I start providing solid food specifically for
the babies?  (They're already climbing into the food bowl and gumming on
the dry food mix I've provided and they've also been observed sampling
tangerine slices, peeled grapes, lettuce, bread, etc.)

3. What types of food (especially soft/fresh) should I provide for the
babies?

Many thanks!

Laura D and Gaia the Hamster and her Babies  

Answer

1. Don't put the mothers wheel back in her cage, until the babies are gone, they can hurt on it, especailly when they are so little.

2. It is fine, just keep feeding the solid food in there for the mother, when the babies can eat it, they will.

3. Mothers provide all the food the babies need. If you want to feed them treats. Then bread, fruit, and hard boiled egg, will do fine.

Thanks for writing