Questions???????

[shazzyswimmer]

1.How many pups do syrian hamsters have?

2.If the syrain mom dies or abandonds her litter does that mean that i am now in charge and have to feed and look after them?

3.What would i feed them?

4.By day 10pups have fur and eyes and ears are open
does that mean i can touch them?

5.Sometimes can i feed my hamster milk like a baby through a syringe? is that healthy?

6.how much milk can i feed the pups?

[f1uffster]

Firstly, I hate to sound judgemental, but if you have bred your hamsters, you should really have known this BEFORE the event... but.... thats not going to get the hammies helped is it... so....


1) The average litter size for a Syrian hamster is 8 they can have up to 26 babies. :eek:

2) survival very much depends on their age. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to hand rear baby hamsters under one week of age and even up to 10 days is not always successful. If hand-rearing is attempted the babies will need feeding a baby milk formula every couple of hours with the use of a syringe or medicine dropper. Even then, its easy to 'drown' the babies by giving too much mik...
Their tummies will need 'massaging' a cotton bud is good for this... but the odds are stacked against the babies unless they are eating some solids...

3) Kitten milk (available from petshops) is probably the best substitute for mummys milk...
Then when weaning, wheatgerm, egg, shredded carrot, and 4 month vegetable organic baby foods.

4) If mum is still in the picture, I personally still wouldnt touch them...
I would give them until day 16. If (as you suggest above) that mum has died/abandonned/unable to care for the pups, then you can touch before then to feed them I guess...

5) Answered in number 2!

6) Good question... how long is a piece of string!

Hope that helps.... whats the situation? :confused:
please share....

fluffy
xxx

[shazzyswimmer]

i was thinking about breeding my hamsters i already know about the situaions of the female going in heat and stuff i have done alotttttttttt of reasearch! But i am not sure anymore?

[o0sapphirerat0o]

plus there are lethal genes out there to be aware of, I'm not sure which ones they are (I don't do alot of research on hammie genes) but I know when they are combined they result in eyeless or blind hamsters. Which is cruel.

When breeding, don't forget that if something were to go wrong during labor, you have to rush your hammie to the vet to either get a labor inducer or a c-section done, which I would assume would be VERY hard (and costly) since they are so small.

I would either get one from a shelter or a reputable breeder, plus if you are in the new england area, there are atleast 3 or 4 in the uncle henrys (a "classified" book for those not in the new england area) or in the pets section of your local paper.