diane had babies

diane had 7 babies but 1 was sick and small and she killed it. They where born on the 20th and are three days old now, they have grown a lot so far - I will have pictures on photobucket.com later

[SnuggleHam]

Hello Jesse, sorry to hear you lots of the the pups in your hamsters litter. Nature has a way of taking care of certain things though. Pictures would be nice, but should you be disturbing the nest so soon?

[souffle]

Yes mum knows best. If there was something wrong with a pup instinct will guide her into doing what she feels best. I would advise you not to touch or interfere with the nest or babies until they start to come out of the nest themselves. If the mother is worried or stressed she may kill the whole litter. This is another instinct. They would rather kill them themselves than have a predator take them. Congrats on the babies but I dont want to see photos until they are furred and out of the nest :lol: :lol:

yeah I have not touched the nest or babies but she moves the litter about once a day - is this normal? I have 2 houses for her or is it instinct to move the pups - not to keep it consistant ?
but they are very cute she seems a bit rough with them but everyone is good :D :D :D :D

[souffle]

First time mothers are often a bit unsure and will move the pups about. It is a sign of some degree of stress so be sure to make sure she is in a very quiet place and that people are not constantly looking in on her. A quick feed with nutritious food once a day is enough. If necessary you could shield the tank with a cloth or card taped on the sides to give her privacy.

[babyboos]

she should not be moving the nest daily please don't go near the her house for at least 10 days, she sounds very disturbed. You may want to remove one of the houses (the one she is not using today) but make sure you DO NOT peek no mater how tempting it is

all but 1 of the babies died from cold. She did not stay on them and let them nurse.

[souffle]

Sorry to hear that Jesse. Hope she keeps the last one. She is obviously a fretful, stressy mum and will need extra special isolation and absolutly no look care if you try for another litter. Let her rest a few months before trying so her body can recover its strength.

[babyboos]

Roborovski are usually very good mums that is such a shame, I hope she can relax enough to raise her last little one. Hugs to you, it must be awful not knowing if maybe something you did caused this to happen. Put her somewhere warm, dark and quiet and approach the cage only to check the food and water, and then only for as long as absolutely necessary and you will greatly increase the chances. Hang in there Diane :)

[Raul-7]

That's a shame, I'm sorry to hear that. But I am sure she will learn, I had similar expierences although it was with a particular species of fish. Their parenting skills come with expierence, they are not inherited.

Can you give us details of the setup please? Just interested.