Would like your opinion.

[lilangel1518]

Okay I don't want to type too much but i dont want to get yelled at either so before you get angry please ask if i dont answer your question already. my syrian hamster had babies 12 days ago today. this is her 3rd litter. she had 9 this time. they all have homes either by me or responsible friends and family. i bred b/c i know their genes and their shouldnt of been a problem. also there are no shelters close to me here for my friends to adopt. im home in ct for the summer in a small town we dont even have a dog shelter let alone one for small animals. anyways thats why i bred. like i said this is her 3rd litter the last 2 times she had 9 and 14 babies. this time she had nine. she had 1 black with white feet, 4 solid brown with white bellies, and 4 brown and white banded. i need your opinion because her other litters she had taken care of properly all the babies survived she didnt canabalize one or none died. however with this litter 3 died today on the 12th day of age. 2 nights ago she stopped taking care of all the babies. then she took the 4 banded to a different level and nursed them seperately ignoring the others and leaving them to survive on their own. this morn when i checked 3 of the babies with her were dead and one cannabalized halfway. later in the day she started nursing the other 5 she left downstairs. i dont understand why she seperated them the way she did and what caused them to die. i moved the 4th banded that survived down with the others using a toilet paper tube and shes taking care of that one now too. this is really odd for her because she has never done this before. she has had banded babies before and they all survived and are doing just fine with their new owners. some of my theories are that she just couldnt take care of them all this time for some reason, she escaped the other day which scared her and caused her to ignor them for a while, and also before she had her other litters while i was at college, now im home for the summer and its a diff environment in my house and a little louder. i just want your opinions on what u think. the others seems to be doing fine except the last banded which looks liek a runt b/c he is much smaller. im also wondering if she seperated them bc they needed more attention and nursing to survive b/c the others survived over a day on their own eating solid food and me giving them water through an eye dropper. thanks guys!

[dwankrista]

a 3rd litter is often VERY hard on a little girl's system. most responsible breeders rarely breed past the second litter. she may be stressed or her little body may be simply giving up as it is too tired from being bred so often.

[PetLuver21257]

I agree with Dwan. You shouldn't have bred her a 3rd time, that's just way too much for her. :(

I feel bad for her and the babies, I hope she and the rest of the babies turn out okay.... :/

[TiaMaria]

Actually here are the facts:

A breeder will breed a hamster around 2 times and if he or she sees fit, they will plump her up with diced meat, boiled eggs etc and will breed her one last time. The first and second litters are hard enough but the third one usually pushes hamsters overboard, there is a very low survival rate. Most third litters are hand reared or a breeder will give them to a saragote mother. All you can do now is make sure she has enough protein to lactate enough to provide her young ones with food. The ones she let die and ate is because she is low on nutrience. She needs some bread dipped in milk or some diced meat or some boiled eggs quickly to get her levels up. If she doesn't she could die herself. I really wanna be angry with you right now for not properly caring for your hamster but instead I will be kind and say good luck. Watch her carefully give her the protein she needs and a constant supply of fresh water everyday. Keep us informed.

[LMDH]

A breeder will breed a hamster around 2 times and if he or she sees fit, they will plump her up with diced meat, boiled eggs etc and will breed her one last time. The first and second litters are hard enough but the third one usually pushes hamsters overboard, there is a very low survival rate. Most third litters are hand reared or a breeder will give them to a saragote mother.

Doesnt happen like that over here. The important bit is how long you let the mother hamster recover for inbetween litters. If you breed her 3 times in fairly quick succession then you will have problems. If mummy hamster is left to fully recover for many months then she should be able to have three litters without much of a problem.

2-3 litters is the norm for a syrian from the breeders I speak to, the 3rd litter just depends on the age of mam, as by letting her recover she obviously gets older.

[lilangel1518]

its been 3 months since her last litter so she should have been fully recovered and i bred her a 3rd time b/c she did so well the other 2 and her babies were all healthy and she was a wonderful mother. i think there was something wrong with the ones that died b/c she segregated them. also i dont think she killed them herself b/c there were no marks on 2 of them. i think the 3 died then she cannabalized the 3rd. shes doing very well with the 6 now and i think they are going to be fine. tiamaria thank you for not exploding that makes me respect you much more. and thanks for everyone for your help and support. also i have been feeding her hard-boiled eggs b/c those are her absolute fave she gets them quite often. the babies are all eating solid food too and love carrots. ive been putting a lot of veggies in so they can get moisture just incase the mother stops feeding them again. talk to u guys soon and thanks again!

[Sparky2006]

Awwwwwww, im glad for you! Hope all goes well. Keep feeding the eggs! lol Keep us posted!

[PetLuver21257]

Sparky, you might want to change your signature to:

"If you can't afford the vet, you can't afford the pet."

And not,

"If you can't afford the pet, you can't afford the pet."

:D

[animalmagic]

Lol Petluver- but you can't argue that Sparky's statement isn't true.. cause, well, it's true- if you can't afford the pet, you can't afford the pet. Lol.

[lilangel1518]

thanks for the support sparky. they seem to be doing great i put some more hard-boiled eggs in today and they sure are pigging out on them. i also put some bread in with the kitten replacement milk but they havent found it yet they were nursing off the mom. im feeling pretty good about these 6 surviving.

[Sparky2006]

YAY! lol "thanks for the support sparky. they seem to be doing great i put some more hard-boiled eggs in today and they sure are pigging out on them. i also put some bread in with the kitten replacement milk but they havent found it yet they were nursing off the mom. im feeling pretty good about these 6 surviving."

thats good lol!

"Sparky, you might want to change your signature to:

"If you can't afford the vet, you can't afford the pet."

And not,

"If you can't afford the pet, you can't afford the pet."

haha lol im sorry i swear i checked that thing like 20 times

[TiaMaria]

Thats funny about Sparky's sig, both times were very true :p

I'm glad the remaining hamsters are feeling better. Keep us informed.

[PetLuver21257]

HAHAHA, animalmagic. That really made me laugh, because it IS true! :)

[MunkieBiznizz]

it seems to me like she didn't have the energy to raise her babies. Like everyone else has said, people don't usually breed hamsters past the 2nd litter, because it's way too hard on the mother. Also, it depends on the age too, if the mother is like 5 years old, then she's getting old and her body is slowing down.It all depends on the circumstances, but I would think that she is too weak and too tired to care for her babies.

[bubblz]

5 year old hamsters don't have litters

[Moosley]

5 year old hamsters rarely exist LOL

[PetLuver21257]

I Was Going To Say That! ;)

[TiaMaria]

lol it was just an example and a good laugh, enjoy it and suck it up! :)