i need to know....

Question
hello kelly!!
i got the answer and thankz!!now i have another question.it is that i don't know how long it has been scince the baby hamsters have been born.that is not too good!!but i can tell you what happenned to one of them which is really sad.they are all in the nest and one of their hands got stuck in the cotton bedding!!but i think that when i bought the bedding,it had(probably by mistake)a string in it,and the hand got stuck.here is what i did.well,i saw him in the morning and his hand was stuck in the bedding and i thought that it was just holding on,so i went to school and when i came back i saw that it was still stuck!so i went and looked and his hand was purple!!then i got worried!!so i ripped the piece of bedding off and then i got the sciccors and i had to cut it off!!i was afraid that i might get his hand or somthing like that,so i had no choice!!i got it off and i was so lucky,acually it was so lucky!!i thought about it,and i think, it has only been about a week and i had to touch it and the mother did not harm it in any shape or form so that is some info you can use to answer other peoples questions.thanks alot!!

         -lea-  

Answer
Hi Lea,

First, you need to immediately remove the cotton bedding.  This material, called "Bed Fluff," is extremely dangerous, especially to young hamsters.  In adult hamster, the bed fluff can get stuck in the hamster's pouch.  In baby hamsters, the cotton fibers can very easily become wrapped around a part of the baby (like what happened with your baby hamster).  If you want to give the hamsters extra bedding (besides their Aspen or Carefresh bedding - Pine and Cedar are dangerous), you can tear strips of unprinted, unscented toilet paper and put them in the cage.

Since you don't know when the babies were born, you can pay attention to their development to determine approximately how old they are.  For instance, when the babies are covered in short fur, they are likely around 9-10 days old.  When their eyes open, they are likely around 14-16 days old.

I noticed what you said in your comment on the website about my not giving you much detail, and I apologize.  I usually try to be detailed in my answering process; however, I had a death in the family, but I did not want to leave your question unanswered.

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

Kelly