Ohhhhh Hazel.... Grrrrrrr!!!

Skwee · 11-03-2005, 06:37 AM

Destroyed her litter.

Well... not all of them... She had 9 and culled them down to 5 and then killed the other Satin last night

I shouldn't get so attached I know but Hazel the mum, and Skwee the dad, are both pets more than anything, and will always be pets.

But why on earth would she wait until they were three weeks old to kill them? By the looks of it I don't know that she will let the others live but we didn't want to disturb her...

Nothing has changed for her for three weeks, she's been on a higher protein diet than the other hamsters. She got baby food. We put a little lid of Lactol in for the babies to lap up (which they did) because with her last litter (beginning of the year really..) Hazel had mastitis and got uncomfortable being suckled from. And from the word go she let us near the babies (again) and all was fine... we supplemented these babies so they weren't so demanding.

Hazel doesn't have mastitis this time and is a good mum generally.

The babies are all healthy and absolutely huge. There were 6 normal Black Eyed Creams and 3 Satin Black Eyed Creams... we are now down to 3 normals and 1 Satin who... hopefully if it survives... is going to Ems. It's going to be a stunner if it doesn't get mauled by Hazel

but we don't want to hand rear the pups and if we do... we want them to be over 3/4 weeks old before we finish them off because last time the babies just didn't grow very well when they were hand reared...

She hasn't been exposed to any unusual/loud noises. There has been no change in temperature....

We can't find any rational reason for Hazel to cull off her babies at all

The pups really do seem healthy....

Have we missed anything? Hazel has been the perfect mum recently...

i-love-paddy · 11-03-2005, 07:27 AM

I got your message Gemma. How awful, especially at that age as well. It was bad enough when Phoebe killed her babies at 1 day, let alone 3 weeks.

I'm really sorry. And Hazel is such a lovely hamster. Maybe she has had enough? I know by 3 weeks Daisy was getting fed up but luckily she didn't do anything about it.

I don't really know why Hazel did it - maybe someone else can give a clearer picture.

Ems x

**babyboos** · 11-03-2005, 08:27 AM

Gemma the best advice I could give is to take them out now - 21 days is old enough for them to feed themselves, no specific hand rearing is required at this age. Just keep them all together for another week then take any females out. Feed them normal hamster mix, provide plenty of fresh water preferably containing Avipro Plus, and porridge made up with Lactol and they will be just fine. Chunks of vegetable such as cucumber and brocolli under the water bottle will help them learn where the moisture source is and some organic baby food once or twice per day will help give them all the nutrients they require. Good luck and happy retirement Hazel

i-love-paddy · 11-03-2005, 01:04 PM

Have babies been taken out yet Gemma?

**pophammy** · 11-03-2005, 01:13 PM

I agree with Babyboos. Take them out now. They don't need hand-rearing. They will be weaned and will be fine on their own. I would not risk losing any more when it could be avoided.

**babyboos** · 11-03-2005, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skwee

we don't want to hand rear the pups and if we do... we want them to be over 3/4 weeks old before we finish them off because last time the babies just didn't grow very well when they were hand reared.

At 4 weeks old they are becoming sexually mature Gemma, and should be seperate from mum and their opposite sex siblings. How old were the pups you hand reared last time?

Skwee · 11-03-2005, 03:40 PM

these guys are not yet two and a half weeks old... not 4 weeks.

We did attempt from 3 days and they lasted 3...

we tried with 2 weeks and they lasted 4 days....

**babyboos** · 11-03-2005, 03:47 PM

Oh sorry I think we all got a little confused. It said in your original post that they were 3 weeks old, but a few days less in this situation is irrelevant if she has started to turn on them. If you want to be certain to keep some alive I would remove them. With Lactol porridge every couple of hours and AviPro Plus in their water they will be far better off than left in with Hazel.