hi i thaught my hamster was pregnant and last night she was realy on edge, she has been in a quiet out of the way room with nothing to spook her... today she hasnt been out of her bed at all until about 20 mins ago, she rushed to her toilet coner and did her business and sniffed around and rushed straight back to her bed please could you help
Location: Yorkshire, UK but my heart lies in Scotland!
Posts: 28,190
Re: how will I know if my hamster has had babies?
I have just back tracked to your intro thread Trish and saw that you got her a week ago and she was getting fat so yes the behavior would indicate that the litter has arrived. The mother usually looks bulgy over her hips a few days before birth. When mum comes out you often hear squeaks and chirps from the babies.
Keep her quiet until you are sure and if she has babies then you will be able to see them toddle out in about 10 days
I gave some useful links to read in your introduction thread if you pop on that board and see it.
Ooo exciting! Are you prepared for her if she has had a litter?
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We knew that first night because the babies made squeaking sounds. We thought our hamster was stuck or hurt in their house. When we turned on the lights, we saw the babies tumbling out of the house.
We still don't know for sure how many and we are on day 5 of baby duty.
I wish you all the best for you and the possible new momma.
ETA- they have been remarkably quite ever since that first night.
My hamster was due last Thursday, so we moved her to a quiet room a few days before and have been leaving her alone there other than two very quick, quiet visits to the room a day at her standard times to check on her/her water supply. On Friday morning there were a few chirps/squeaks from the cage (although no visible hamsters at all as Mum was deep inside her nest!) but since then everything has been very quiet. I saw Mum on Saturday night when I opened her cage very cautiously for the first time to change her water and swap some discarded veggies for fresh and she was certainly thinner (and seemed quite happy and interested in the food) but other than that she has spent the whole time of any visits invisible under the bedding and no other sounds have been heard. We are obviously continuing to give her a lot of space and peace & quiet until we know for certain how she is getting on but outside the room between visits I am now worrying that she has had a litter and killed the pups, hence no more squeaky sounds. :/
If this is her first litter and I imagine so she may well be inexperienced at such a young. My advice would be to completely give her space and look in at feeding times keep to routine but only then.
Be sure not to disturb the nest (I am sure you know that)) and if after the 10day period as others have suggested check then.
Mother hamsters have been known to eat their own babies if they feel disturbed though lets hope that has not happend.
how will I know if my hamster has had babies?
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