syrian killing her babies

Question
my syrian hamster gave birth to 9 pups 10 days ago for the first few days she took care of them great but then one day she killed one so i thought it could be ill but in the past coulpe of days shes killing one a day and now theres only 3 left, i cant understand why as i have not desturbed her and they were all healthy and active and shes almost 10 months and very healthy and as the best of food and care.please help?

Answer
Hi Cathy.

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles with your momma Syrian hamster and her litter.  Breeding any animal, unfortunately, has as many sorrows as it does joys.

There are many reasons why hamsters (Syrian and otherwise) commit infantacide and sometimes cannabilism with their litters.  One is inexperience on the mother's part.  Sometimes there just seems to be no other reason for it other than the fact that it was mom's first litter, she was probably very stressed, and she may have just felt as though she did have the resources need to raise a litter.

Another is that there may have been something wrong with the babies that we could not discern.  If the babies were born with deformities or irregularities, the mother will eat them so that she does not "waste resources" on trying to raise a pup that may not surivive past weaning despite her efforts, or raise a pup that will contribute bad genes to the gene pool.

The other three main reasons why hamsters will eat their young I list here simply for informational purposes, you've already told me these are not the case:  The cage is overcrowded and/or extremely dirty, she's not being fed regularly or properly, or she's stressed by frequent outside activity in or around her nest (this activity may or may not be human - she could also be stressed if a family cat stares at her all day long or if a dog keeps nosing around the cage).

I know that a good first time to breed Syrian hamsters is between four and six months of age.  I'm thinking perhaps ten months might have been too old for a first breeding, but my real forte is the dwarves and so I'm not entirely sure about Syrians.  I could be wrong there.

My best advice to you is to let the mother rest at least a month from breeding, and try her again (if possible with a different male, just to make sure she isn't killing them because of an inherited genetic defect).  If she commits infantacide on the second litter, I would retire her from your breeding program.

If you want more information on how to pick quality stock to breed your hamsters from, I urge you to join the group Hamsters In Focus and The Internet Hamster Association of North America.

This is comprised of quite a few show breeders who have a lot of experience in the field of breeding Syrian hamsters to type.  They can help you pick an appropriate male for your female and with determining good traits and how to ensure they get passed on to your litters.

The IHANA can be found at:
http://groups.msn.com/InternetHamsterAssoc/home1.msnw

Hamsters In Focus is here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hamstersinfocus/