baby hamsters (14 days old)

Question
Hi, we bought a syrian hamster a month ago and she unexpectedly had babies 2 weeks to the day after we had her. unfortunately the mum developed wet tail and died when they were 10 days old, so we've been hand rearing since then. we still have 3 healthy looking babies but no sign of their eyes opening. When should their eyes open and is there anything we should be doing to help? we are grooming them by brushing with a soft toothbrush after feeding, I wondered if I should be getly cleaning their faces with damp cotton wool too, to simulate the mother grooming?

Answer
Hi Catherine,

At 14-16 days the babies eyes should start to open. If they are not open by the 18 day I would suggest using a Q-tip and dip it in luke warm water and very gently wipe it over the babies eyes. Also at this point the babies should be eating the smaller pieces of the hamster mix, hard boiled egg, and diced up carrots for protein. This is important in their development. At three weeks of age the males and females need to be seperated into different cages to prevent mating at this early age.

Thank you for your question and I commend you on your efforts to saving the babies! Best of luck to you!