Hamsters and babies

Question
Hi Katie.  To make a long story short, I rescued a bunch of hamsters that were abandonded and left to die.  There were 6 hamsters in a very tiny cage.  One was a very newborn infant which died w/in 48 hours.  3 large hamsters and 2 smaller ones.  Gender breakdown ~ 1 male adult; 2 female adults; 2 little gray ones, I have NO idea.  Separated the male from everyone else.  I only knew that this one was the male because he was trying to mount the other 2 larger ones.  I now have at least 5 little newborn hamsters that I just noticed today.  I can tell which one is the mother.  ALL are together in a 40 gallon aquarium ~ except for the male which I previously mentioned removing.  As these are not my hamsters and I truly have no intentions of keeping them, how do I go about taking care of them until they are old enough to be moved?  (Prior to rescuing of these hamsters, I do already have 2 of my own hamsters that I have had for a year ... and yes, they are totally separate from the new, rescued ones; so I have a little hamster knowledge.  Please advise how to handle this new group of newborns and the others.  Thanks.  Tracy

Answer


        May I say that it was extrmemely kind of you to rescue these hamsters. With the newborns, take out the other female that isn't the mother. This way the maother and her babies are alone. The mother should take care of the babies mostly by herself. Feed the mother hard boiled egg, to keep up her protein, and let her nurse her babies with no intervention. When the babies are 3 weeks old seperate them male from female. At five weeks they are ready to go to their new homes.

Thanks for writing and best of luck.