# Anyone Knowledgeable? (Hamster babies...)



## margolia.wind (Oct 4, 2010)

This is just on the off-chance that there's someone here with expertise or the ability to point me in the right direction.
My house mate's new hamster turns out to have come home pregnant and she woke up this morning with a litter or baby hamsters (5!). I told her I'd help out find some information as we obviously really want the babies to survive. 
I've been reading websites, but there are a lot of ones that are only a little helpful. We know to leave the babies alone but the information on how long etc is really varied and I'm feeling overwhelmed.
I know that hamsters aren't as difficult in general as hedgehogs, but I don't want to be partially responsible for the babies dying/being eaten/neglected. 
I was just wondering - as I trust people on here to be well informed - if anyone has advice or if you know of trustworthy sources we could go to to make sure we are doing the right thing.
Edie has only been here two weeks, so it's all still very new...
Thanks so much!


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

Ok, I've had this happen to me before with a female hamster... but I don't know if this is the correct way of taking care of hammie babies because I was like 12 then and didn't use the internet and yeah XD

I basically left them alone until they started coming out on their own (they'll start exploring even when they have their eyes closed). Once they started walking around on their own I started spending more time around the cage, and I'd gauge the mother's reaction every time I put new food in. Eventually I started handling them (even while they still had their eyes closed, but they had fur). My female was a super mellow Syrian though so I'm not sure how others will react. I separated them females and males once the mother started trying to get away from them and they started eating food on their own... Hopefully that helps? :| I don't remember how long the entire process took, but yeah >_>


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Just leave them be and make sure mom has plenty of food and water.  Mom should take care of them just fine. Once they start wandering around you can start handling them, but I wouldn't press mom with that any earlier than 2 weeks or so given her unknown (petstore) background.


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## Needlenose (Sep 17, 2010)

We've had several hamster litters born at the store over the years. I don't remember having any moms that didn't handle it well themselves. I normally don't try to handle the babies for at least a few days, but I usually do try to let them smell me and if possible some of the other employees. Some times they just plain don't care, some times they kind of take a moment to figure out "huh, that's not Mom..." some times they are crazy interested and all but try to climb out of the nest to check us out. Those are usually the ones that grow up to be the wheel hogs and escape artists. :lol: Once they start crawling around on their own, we try to expose them to human contact when ever possible. At first usually by jut putting our hands palm up in the cage and letting them explore. 
If there is a wheel in the cage, you might want to take it out until the babies are a little bigger so they don't hurt themselves. If Mom seems agitated you can leave the babies alone but we've never had a Mom that was bothered by us letting the babies check us out. Mom was usually too preoccupied with the nomz we just put in the cage.  

We also notice that the older the babies get, the more willing Mom is to let you distract them. Around week 4 or 5 Mom is usually rushing the cage door and trying to climb out! 5 nursing babies probably takes a toll after awhile :lol:


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## Ariel (Oct 26, 2009)

I bred hamsters for a while years ago.

Leave the babies alone and in a quiet place. Very much like hedgehogs, the first two weeks are telling. Don't change the bedding, don't touch the babies, don't move the mother or touch her. Just slowly and quietly replace food and water and you'll be good.


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