Blood on tube

AnyaAndLyra · 03-03-2016, 08:37 PM

Okay so i have a russian dwarf (if you didn't know) that I believe is pregnant. I bought her with a male because I was saving them from a rock in their cage at the store..

I estimated that her due date would most likely be the 6th through to the tenth. I've been giving her extra protein foods such as chicken and eggs. At first I gave her scrambled eggs.. today I tried boiled eggs and I just got home and went to check and see it looked like she ate any and it does appear she ate a little bit but then I noticed some coloration on a cardboard tube I have in her cage as something for her to chew on. From what I've seen of her (before I covered her cage and she started hiding out more) she likes climbing over it.. it appears to be blood and looks like she walked over it or Sat on it in two spots while bleeding

So if she was ready to birth could that be what may have happened or should I be worried.. where she was from the pet store I don't know if she was bred in my custody or before so I had estimated from the day I bought her estimating the 16-18 day minimum gestation

Could the blood be because she was preparing to birth and dialating or could it be from food allergies or poisoning. I don't know her extremely well which I like to get to know my hamsters and their particular signs before introducing new foods but as I just got her and there was possibility of pregnacy I started her with added vitamins right away and she seemed finne with that so that was ok but the new thing would been the eggs today and I just want to check and make sure its not that so ccould it be her pregnancy related?

Nancy's Hamsters · 03-03-2016, 09:31 PM

It could be she has birthed but just a FYI Dwarf Hamsters gestation is usually a bit longer then Syrians and can go to 21 days so you should adjust your pregnancy watch. The blood on the tube could also be she has had a pup pass away in the womb and her body is kicking the passed pup on out to protect the remaining live ones.

Is she still acting normal for herself? Often they quit eating right before birthing so the small appetite before the blood may prove you have new members to the Hamily

AnyaAndLyra · 03-03-2016, 09:41 PM

I have noticed her not really eating! I hope it wasn't just a pup passing away.. and she's a russian and everywhere I have looked I found that their gestation tends to be the same as Syrians gestation so I stuck with that however if I hadn't seen signs I would have pushed it back as I am aware that dwarves gestation temds to be longer. I tried listening as I know what hamster pips sound like because my Syrian had pups (unfortunately I wasn't aware of pregnancy which is why I've taken precautions this time so all her pups passed away due to deficiencies in her milk) but I couldn't hear anything.. where the dwarves are much smaller would that mean that they could just be quieter as well as muffled asif she does have them she has them very well hidden away (she has herself hidden well too)

Nancy's Hamsters · 03-03-2016, 09:51 PM

My Hybrids(rescued pregnant) always went 21 days, and they are much different to Syrians in the nesting of their litters tending to burrow as deep as is possible and staying on the pups some times at birth 24/7. If Mom has enough milk and is feeding the pups round the clock they tend to be quiet, but the squeaks and chirps are a lot softer so the soft voices plus the deep substrate can often muffle the sounds where you simply can't hear them. If she stays in the nest and only comes out to grab a bite to eat and a quick drink and then disappears back to they nest chances are she has pups.