Wall of food/Babies questions.

[Bigedyben]

Since she has given birth, I was under the impression that Potatohead was just very hungry as it seemed that the food was going fast. However, today I noticed a very large amount of her Hartz food stored in a huge pile on the lower level of the cage near where he nest is (or used to be). I would assume that she was saving this for the pups, but since they are probably too young to eat this food (and I also don't think there are live pups at this point), I'm confused. Any ideas?

Also, based on the facts that she is not spending much time near the nest and I have not seen any movement, I am under the impression that there are no pups. I obviously won't be looking to clean the cage to handle her for a while (it's been 3+ days since birth), but is there any hope that there are still pups there? I do not know if this is her first litter, but I'm guessing yes).

[Chaos]

All hamsters hoard (store) food for later, whether they ahve babies or not. She could still have pups, you often won't even know about them until they start leaving the nest. However if she was frightened or distured she could have "protected" the litter by destroying them.

[LuckyBunny888]

Try lisitening for little squeeking noises. What kind of hammie is it and how long did u have her? I know the ones at the petstore did the same thing. Lol it kind of looks like a bomb shelter. Your right about the babies being to small to eat it though. Normally not till the 10th day. If youve had her a while and she trusts you, theres no reason you shouldnt be able to check to see. Is your cage multiple layers? If so try getting her to follow you to another level why you check on the babies. Then pet her so you smell like her.Rub your hands in her bedding. Then she wont be able to tell your sent from her own. Good luck. Keep us posted!

[iheartharold]

yup. its just her little food storage. most hamsters have them somewhere in their cage. normally, when cleaning the cage you can just take everything out (including the food storage, which can be very irritating but if you dont it can begin to get moldy.)

but since she has had babies, clean what you can. DO NOT clean near or around her nest or food storage. you dont want to stress or irritate her at all.

[Bigedyben]

Thanks guys. I saw one of the babies which was very exciting. Unfortunately, I only had her for about a week before she gave birth so I don't know how much she trusts me. I did play with her since day 1 (although I have read since that I should not have). It was strange because she was very friendly over the first few days, but then she began to start biting alot (in hindsight, I guess it was because of the pregnancy). I have avoided cleaning anything since she gave birth, although I plan on taking out some of the fresh food I left in there that she has not eaten so that it does not rot. It is not near the nest so it should be ok. Finally, I plan on not giving her too much more of the Hartz food in the near future, since she has so much saved up in her storage. I will, however, continue to bring her fresh fruit/bread soaked in milk every day. The one thing that does bother me a little is that she runs for hours every night on the wheel but if I take it away, she just goes crazy and neglects the nest anyway. In my mind, it's better that she is happy as long as she sleeps at the nest and spends time with the pups. Oh and to answer luckys question, it is a layered cage. Unfortunately, even when Potato is away from the nest, it is covered by the second layer of the cage so there is limited visibility. That being said, since I did see a pup move yesterday, I am confident that there are pups remaining which is wonderful.

[Chaos]

High protein foods like scrambled egg, tofu, dog food, some boiled chicken, will help her immensly to produce enough milk. About the biting, many hamsters do get protective when pregnant, she should go back to her regular self. My female allowed me to hold her during and after pregnancy, and also allowed me to handle the pups but we had a bond, as I had her for 4 months before. It's different with a female you've had for a week. You will need to remove the wheel once the pups start moving around, if one of them climbs on and she runs its death for the pup.