bit of a dilemma with dwarf hammy...UPDATE

[ami_j]

right this is a bit of a long winded story so bare with me. me and a friend went into pah and there were two "male" dwarf hamsters in the adoption centre they said they were about 6 weeks old. i asked the person serving if they were campbells, winter whites or a bit of both and he said a bit of both :evil: anyway three weeks on friday ago my "male" hamsters produced me a litter of babies. i found them after the babies were born and realised that the male would of remated the female :( but hoped that she wouldnt take. the male died a week ago, just found him dead with the babies. all three of them are fine their eyes are open etc. however the mum is looking big and i reckon that shes pregnant again. now what do i do about her current babies. i wanted the two girls to stay with her and the male to live with dad (looks like i will have to hope for a male in this next litter to keep him with now the dad died)
do i leave the existing babies in? do i take them out? if i take them out will i be able to put the girls back in with mum to live with her and any other girls she may have this time round? im not bothered how many she has cos i will keep them all. just not sure what to do im used to breeding syrians, dwarves have me stumped though. hope someone can help me

[Bunsey]

i think that if you take the babies out and split them into sex groups, you'll probably be able to re-introduce the girls at a later date.

Depending on numbers, you might want to just sell this litter and keep the females out of the next litter with mum.

[souffle]

I would take them as they will compete for the milk that the newborns need. They should be well able to feed and sustain themselves now and mum will need her strength to raise a back to back litter.

[ami_j]

would you take them out now? when is mum likely to be due? i couldnt sell them im too set on keeping the lil guys they are gorgeous. when are they sexually mature? dont want the male to be on his own but i dont want another inbred litter. he will be going back with his brothers if i get a brother for him. ive also got an older lone male would the young males go and live with him? how would you go about introducing them? gah syrians are so much easier to understand lol

[Bunsey]

i wouldn't remove them until 3.5 weeks, unless she looks like she's ready to pop. it's tricky. when that happened to me, i didn't get them all out in time and 2 were still in there when she gave birth

[ami_j]

it says the gestation is 16- 18 days so shes due soon :( they will be three weeks on friday but she will of had them by then wont she?

[Bunsey]

oh right, i was thinking it was 21 days like robos. probably take them out then... hmmm... see what other people think! i don't wana say the wrong thing! :oops:

[ami_j]

would they hurt the new pups?gah i hate this situation want to do right for all of them

[Bunsey]

i'm pretty sure they wouldn't hurt the new pups, but they would still be trying to get milk from mum when she was trying to feed the new ones.

[souffle]

It might be worth sending a PM to littlemissdwarfhamster who has much experience in breeding dwarf species and seeking her advice on this situation ami-j. They are still quite young to separate. I thought they were already 3 weeks but now I see they are not till Friday :? feed mum and pups really well to build her and them up. I am sure you are alraedy doing this though.

[Bunsey]

oh, i read it wrong. i thought it said they were 3 weeks last friday! :oops:
i'd think probably not take them out in that case then

[ami_j]

ok i will do thanks for you help.

[nooboo]

personally i would leave all in and keep an eye on the little male/s

the young girls wont be a strain on mum in fact they should help raise the new borns. the males should be fine really untill 3.5 weeks old, then they will need removing but there is no reason for the girls to come out. luckily dwarfs are usually well behaved at sharing mum and her milk!

[ami_j]

phew! will get otis out in about a week then and hopefully he will have little brothers to keep him company

[littlemissdwarfhamster]

I am with Nooboo on this one.

I would leave them all in. Removing the litter would be stressful to mum and detrimental to the psycological development of the older litter - they learn their social skills from Mum and dont do this properly until 4wks+.

Unfortunately the males will have to be removed. They will be able to mate from 4wks so need to come out at this age. Hopefull any male babies in the young litter will be able to go in with the older males.

The females could all be left in indefinately with Mum. The most important thing is going to be food. Make sure they have lots of it and some higher protien foods too for growth.

[ami_j]

ok thank you :) will take the male out when hes 4 weeks then will have to look into introducing his little brothers. how easy would it be to integrate an older male into a group of young males.

[nooboo]

with campbells its very very easy, simply pick up young boys put into recently cleaned out tub belonging to the older boy/s.

the accept young hamster very well, even full adults will, must be some necessary skill for survival.

ww are as easy, same basic procedure but tend to break into fights later down the road, and will at around the 8 to ten week mark need to really be in pairs rather than groups. some groups work but ww seem a lot happier in pairs.

[ami_j]

ok will hope they take after their campbells side more. why pah have to hybridise and miss-sex them i do not know :evil:

[ami_j]

hey all just to let you know that zag had her babies today i went to feed them and took some mealworms for protein and zag was out of the nest in a flash (she was with the last lot shes quite people orientated so im glad she wasnt stressed plus i didnt expect the babies until tomorrow or saturday) wasnt expecting the nest to be left open saw the three week old ones sat with the second lot of babies and the new ones snuggled them so they are helping mum. had a quick count without disturbing the nest , like i said it was left open and counted seven :o poor girl this is going to be soooo draining on her. any suggestions what else i can supplement her with shes had a bit of boiled egg and a few mealworms. am i right in thinking that the first lot will be weaned? thanks for everyone who has helped me with them will get pics of everyone when they all have eyes open and will be keeping an eye on the mum and feeding her up lots

[souffle]

Congrats to Zag and hope she has lots of help from her daughters with the new babies. You could try her on some cooked chicken, pasta, rice, porridge, rice pudding and babyfood along with some omega mix seeds and linseed, millet, roast soya seeds too.

[ami_j]

ok i will do. i have millet from what i give the cockatiel. she will be spoilt rotten and i will be taking the son out next week to prevent any more babies. poor girl why didnt she have the big litter first lol

[Spuds Mum]

ahhh best wishes to Zag - hope she gets lots of help from the 'older kids' and manages to rest a little bit :D

[ami_j]

me too when i opened the cage the way she rushed out to me just gave me the impression she was saying "get me out of here"