mother and daughter hamsters

Question
Dear Kelly,
   my hamster may have a litter of pups. If I decide to keep one can I keep a female with its mother? Could I keep a male with its father? And before the pups are born, if the mother and father don't get along, should I have a backup cage to put the father in to prevent a fight, death of a pup or second litter?

Answer
Hi Shelby,

I'm terribly sorry that I'm just now answering your question.  The answer section of Allexperts has been down for maintenance.

As for your question - It depends on what breed of hamster you have.  If you have dwarf hamsters, it's fine to keep a daughter with her mother.  Same goes for the son and the father.  In fact, you can even keep 2 children with their same-sex parent.

With dwarf hamsters, both parents take care of the young.  I've never heard of a case where a male attacks one of his young, so you shouldn't have any problems.  You will need to go ahead and get another cage, though.  Once the pups are 3 weeks old, they're fully weaned.  At that time, they should go in a separate cage from the mother and father.  After 2-3 more weeks, then they're ready to be separated by sex.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Kelly