my black bear hamster had babies

Question
dear kelly  my hamster had babies today  we didnt know she was pregnant. i went and picked her up and their they were will she eat them?  and my other one who is a male got out of the cage the night before she had them   how can i find him before my dog eats him?this is my first time haveing hamsters so im a little scared about things  please help me  thanks for your time   kristen

Answer
Hi Kristin,

To find the male hamster, place treats (such as plain Cheerios) in a line leading to a box that is turned on its side.  The hamster will find the treats and follow the line, stuffing the food in his pouch, until he reaches the box.  Continue the line of treats halfway into the box to make sure he goes in there.  Then you can catch him.  (If you can safely put the dog outside, you'll need to do that until you find him.) Another piece of advice from petpeoplesplace.com:

A widely used trick is to leave her hamster cage open in the room where she escaped. This should contain her soiled bedding and cage substrate so that it smells of her and should also contain food and treats that she likes. She will probably be hungry and possibly a little stressed so her own cage may represent a safe hiding place. It is therefore possible that if follow this advice, you will wake up one morning to find her asleep in her cage again.  

When you do find your male hamster, you'll need to separate him from the female.  Syrian hamsters are solitary and should not be kept together.  They will eventually begin fighting, sometimes very roughly.  Also, the male hamster would bother the new little ones.  Just get him a new cage to solve this problem.

As for the new mother, leave her alone for a couple of days.  Obviously, you should continue to feed her and give her fresh water every day, but don't pick her up for a few days at least.  Also, do *not* touch the babies.  This will leave your scent on them, and the mother will be much more likely to reject them.  If your hamster is under 4 months old, she will be more likely to cannibalize her pups.  However, if she's older than this, she probably won't as long as you leave her and her pups alone.  After about two weeks, you can handle the babies for a short time.  Also, you need to go ahead and finally clean her cage.  (It probably won't smell too great by now!)  Feeding the mother hamster small amounts of protein such as scrambled or boiled egg, wheatgerm, cheese and tofu will help her recuperate.  Just feed these to her for one to two weeks.

There is more information you need to know.  This site is great for learning more so your young hamsters can grow up strong and healthy.  I haven't told you everything (there is a lot) and this website will greatly supplement what I've said.  Try to read it as soon as you can.

http://www.petwebsite.com/syrianrearing.htm

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

Good luck!

Kelly