newborn syrians

[dntworribhappie]

well my girl had babies, i think the litter is about 10 or so...i couldn't count very well. can anyone give me ANY kind of information? it all would be very helpful. the thing i'm worried about is that she was kind of young when she got pregnant, and i hope she doesn't destroy the litter...but any help or tips or advice would be nice. thanks! :p

[LilSnooPydOG]

Here's a little info I found:

Let her nurse the babies till they are about 3 weeks old. DO NOT disturb the nest during this time as she may decide to turn on them and eat them. The cage will smell during this time - that's unavoidable, any attempts to change the bedding material would increase the likelihood of cannibalism so it's best to just leave it for the moment and put up with the smell. Sometimes despite all this, the female hamster will still cannibalize her young, this is common in female hamsters bred under 4 months and in older females who will cull some babies to reduce the numbers in the litter. Continue with the high protein foods (other ideas are bread soaked in milk) during this time. At about 3 1/2 weeks of age, the hamsters are ready to be sexed and weaned - they are no longer reliant on their mum for nourishment. You can keep them in 2 different boxes/cages (all the male hamsters in 1 cage and the females in another). They can be kept in these groups for a further 2-3 weeks. In the meantime, you can find new homes for them and they can go to their new owners at 5-6 weeks of age.

[Padfoot]

Here is a good website that might help you, not only with the babies, but with all you need to know about your hammy. Great website! http://www.hamsters.co.uk/ Good luck!

[dntworribhappie]

ok thanks...but i have two more questions, i guess for people who have had some experience with hamster breeding and babies.

1.) Is it normal for the mother to leave the babies for about 20 minutes just to chew on the bars and run in the wheel? I guess if she's active she needs some time for her, but I'm just making sure.

2.) When the babies are old enough to be separated from the mother, and I have to house them according to gender, how would I do this? Can i put the male babies with the father and the female babies with the mother? or would I have to get two new homes so that I have four in all? If this is the case, then I don't have the room or money for that. I do have one more home that I could put all of the babies in until I find homes for them, but they wouldn't be able to be separated into male/female.

Could someone clear these things up for me? thanks! :)

[Padfoot]

Yeah, it's normal for the mom to leave the babies for a while... she needs some rest from them too. Just make sure that it isn't too cold in the room, and don't disturb her...

When you separate them, you have to put them apart from mom and dad. Syrians are solitary, so mom and dad, who are adults, should be housed alone. Babies, after being weaned, can be housed together for some time. However, you should separate sexes to avoid females to get pregnant. This could be bad for young females cause their organs are not completely developed. What kind of cage do you have? if you have a tank (aquarium) maybe you can make a division and put males at one side and females at the other.

[mishalee]

Try to be as quiet as possible.If not,the mother will eat her babies.While cleaning out the cage,handle the babies with plastic gloves or have their mother's scent on it so she won't kill her babies or abandoning them because she doesn't recognize that particular scent.

[dntworribhappie]

I thought I couldn't clean out the cage with the babies? I thoguht I was just supposed to wait about 2 or 3 weeks. Well, yes I do have an aquarium and if I do put the babies in there after being weaned, I guess I would have to separate them into male and female. How would I do that? Would I put something in the middle to seperate them and put male on one side and female on the other?

[Padfoot]

Even if you could use the method mentioned (you have to take mom out first, then babies with nest, and after clean place babies with nest first right where they were and then mom), it can be dangerous, and mom might not accept it and destroy the litter. They each have their own personality, some are more tolerant than others... but since you never know what your hammie will tolerate, why risk it? If you don't NEED to clean the cage, it's better not to do it... when I say need, I mean if the bottle leaks and the bedding is wet, then it's better to try and clean it, cause the wet bedding can affect the pups (and mommy's) health. If it's just smelly... it's better to wait.
Yeah... I'm thinking about the "split cage method" used to put gerbils together. You divide the cage in to, with one gerbil in one side and the other on the other side. Here is a picture of a split cage with gerbs:

http://img29.photobucket.com/albums/v88/padfoot82/Gerbils/Cage_01.jpg

http://img29.photobucket.com/albums/v88/padfoot82/Gerbils/Cage_02.jpg

This is a 20g long tank. Since you won't be putting the babies together again, cause each syrian should be housed alone as an adult, then it doesn't need to be a wire mesh like the one in the pictures, a normal piece of (thick) wood will do the trick...

[Krazie4pets]

Yes once your babies reach the age of 3 1/2 weeks then you really need to look for separate homes because not long after that they will reach maturity and will need to separated.

Since you don't have thatkind of money (I believe you stated that in the beginning) I would actually suggest asking some friends or family if they would like to adopt a hamster from you and be sure to tell them that you would be able to afford them, if that doesn't bring in any results; you could try a trusted petstore and ask if they'll buy or adopt a few. Honestly I wouldn't even think of trying to get money for them since your biggest problem will be housing. Some petstores will buy them for a couple of dollars but remember they have to make a profit too.

If push comes down to shove you can give them to an animal shelter.

In the meantime, I would suggest carefully sexing your new batch since you reallllllllyyy want to avoid this type of situation.

[Revenge]

Just a quick question I wouldn't the babys be sick from the milk thats soaked in the beard?

[amber88]

hi my hamster had babies 4 days ago and i was wondering if it would be ok for me to let her run around in her ball for like 5 min a day cuz she trys to climb outta the cage everytime i open it and when i stick my hand in to clean the cage she tries to climb into it...please help me