hamster had babies is now sleeping away from them

Question
We recently bought a grey bear Syrian hamster. Turns out she was pregnant.  She had 7 babies yesterday.  Today, she was in another corner of her cage going potty, I saw that one of her babies was dead.  So I discreetly removed it.
Mamma went back to her babies for a short while but now I see she has gone into a little wood cave & she has left the babies on their own in a corner half covered.  

Is this normal?  Do Mom hamsters usually take time away from newborns this early?

Do you think by removing the dead baby I've done something terribly wrong?
I don't want her to reject them or anything.
Have you seen this before?

worried...

Answer
Hi Heather,

It is not normal for female hamster to leave her babies for long periods of time at their young age. She will leave the nest for short periods of time (to go potty , get food or drink)then go right back to the nest. I would suggest removing the little wood cave and anything else in the cage (wheel etc.). Also start feeding her hard boiled egg and diced carrots. This will give her the extra protein she needs to help raise the babies. In the removing of the dead baby hamster, was the nest touched at all? If so, this could be the cause of her staying out of the nest. The mother will generally take care of any babies that have died by eating them. I would try putting her in the nest or by it without touching it. Try to incourage her to go in. The babies don't have much of a chance to survive at this early age without the mother.
If you have anymore questions please write again.
Thank you for your question and best of luck to you!