orphaned pup.. need advice

Question
Hello. I work at a pet store and one of our hamsters had a litter of 12 pups. Well unfortunately mom died today, and there is one sole survivor, very strong little one! I've never cared for an orphaned hamster before and need a bit of guidance about the basic care for this little one. He/she is approximately 9 days old and is very active, peeing and pooping well, and I've got the cage on a heating pad (on low). I sure could use any advice you could provide. Thanks! Kelly

Answer
Hi Kelly,

Pup's from birth to 8 day's days can be drop fed but is very tedious and time consuming and not always successful.
They need to be fed aprox: every hour, 24 hours a day until they start to eat solids then you can reduce the milk feeds to every 3 hours. The milk to use is Lactol which is specially formulated to match moms natural milk as closely as possible, and is ideal as a milk/feed replacement for orphans. From what you have said this little hamster seems to be doing very well and may already be eating some of the smaller pieces of hamster food. If he/she is then also start giving diced pieces of hard boiled egg and diced carrots, just a few pieces of each a couple times a day. This will give the pup extra protien that he/she needs. Right now the hamsters eyelids should be starting to develop and by 14-16 days should be opened. At 3 weeks of age you can stop with the milk. I would also like to commend you for taking this on, not many people would. You are a special person in my book!
If you have anymore questions please write again.

Thank you for your question and best of luck!