Is our hamster pregnant?

kazsiane · 03-23-2016, 10:20 PM

Hi, my sister recently got a pair of male (the store owner said) hybrid dwarf hamsters. She got it last feb only. Today we noticed the other one's belly is slightly big on both sides so i thought maybe its pregnant and the owner misinformed us about their gender. This is our first time having hamsters and we dont know what to do about it.

I tried to look at Pou's (the "pregnant" one) underside and thought he is a he. But i need to be sure. If he is male then what do you think is wrong? Is he just chubby? He is eating drinking playing and being cute as always. No discharge or anything wrong. Just his big belly.

Nancy's Hamsters · 03-23-2016, 10:54 PM

I would say Poe is a Female as you can't see any scent gland which on a male this age is quite obvious. I would also say you will have additions not to long from now as well.

You will need to get the male out and in his own cage as soon as possible as they will mate again just hours of the birth and it is very hard on a female to have back to back litters.
All should go well but being Hybrids she may have troubles while birthing but that doesn't happen all the time. Chances are she will birth the litter with no problem at all and all you will see is her more trim and slim and may occasionally hear squeaks of dis content from the pups as they bicker over the best nipple for milk.

I would do a cage clean very soon so she has nice clean cage as you will not be able to clean it again until the pups have eyes open. Remove her wheel as some Moms tend to think it a good thing to take the pups for a wheel ride and hurts them or worse.

Be sure to offer Poe lots of good protein foods like boiled chicken, scrambled or boiled eggs , or the best one they love meal worms. When pups arrive only disturb the cage to replenish her food and water. Don't attempt to see the pups as this could lead her to cull her pups.

Eyes should open at or near 14 days and they can be re-homed at or beyond 6 weeks old. At 4 weeks you should wean them from Mom and split them into males and females. Sexing as you have found is not easy so you may want to seek a small animal Vet or find a breeder near you who will help you sex the pups to avoid more pups.

kazsiane · 03-23-2016, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nancy's Hamsters

I would say Poe is a Female as you can't see any scent gland which on a male this age is quite obvious. I would also say you will have additions not to long from now as well.

You will need to get the male out and in his own cage as soon as possible as they will mate again just hours of the birth and it is very hard on a female to have back to back litters.
All should go well but being Hybrids she may have troubles while birthing but that doesn't happen all the time. Chances are she will birth the litter with no problem at all and all you will see is her more trim and slim and may occasionally hear squeaks of dis content from the pups as they bicker over the best nipple for milk.

I would do a cage clean very soon so she has nice clean cage as you will not be able to clean it again until the pups have eyes open. Remove her wheel as some Moms tend to think it a good thing to take the pups for a wheel ride and hurts them or worse.

Be sure to offer Poe lots of good protein foods like boiled chicken, scrambled or boiled eggs , or the best one they love meal worms. When pups arrive only disturb the cage to replenish her food and water. Don't attempt to see the pups as this could lead her to cull her pups.

Eyes should open at or near 14 days and they can be re-homed at or beyond 6 weeks old. At 4 weeks you should wean them from Mom and split them into males and females. Sexing as you have found is not easy so you may want to seek a small animal Vet or find a breeder near you who will help you sex the pups to avoid more pups.

Oh gosh.. Thank you for the advice. I already separated the male. Should i remove the wheel now? Or until she is due? When is she due anyway? Also do i remove all the toys? She has a mezzanine made of popsicle sticks and a pyramid ladder made of popsicle sticks as well.

Nancy's Hamsters · 03-24-2016, 02:34 PM

Hard to say and exact time she will birth so I would suggest the wheel come out now as you don't want to be removing anything once they arrive. I would guess by her belly bulge that she will deliver within the next day or so as she is quite big. The toys sound ok to leave in with her. The wheel is dangerous because dwarf hams love that wheel so much they often neglect their pups and run on the wheel and when the pups start to wander they could climb in the wheel and when Mom runs she runs too fast for them to keep up and they end up being like clothes in a dryer and get injured and die.

kazsiane · 03-24-2016, 11:26 PM

Oh my gosh my pou just gave birth i saw 1 baby. But shes ignoring it. Shes sleeping in her mug and the baby is at the opposite of the cage ver exposed. Is that normal? Were panicking we dont know what to do. Were not disturbing them. Were not making any noise. She dont see us either.

kazsiane · 03-24-2016, 11:35 PM

She woke up now and put the baby in her nesting place.. Whew..we thought she going to abandon it.

CMB · 03-24-2016, 11:37 PM

Sometimes the mum has all thebabies then goes and gathers them into the nest. Is the baby alive? Squeezing, moving?

Dead babies are often left out of the nest and can then be removed from the cage, but try not to disturb the mum.

That's good. Hope all goes well with the litter.

kazsiane · 03-25-2016, 06:19 AM

Sometimes we hear her squeak. When her pup goes under her to drink milk she sometimes squeak. Is she in pain from breastfeeding?

CMB · 03-25-2016, 06:34 AM

It could be the pups squeaking as they fight for the nipples to feed.

flowerfairy · 03-25-2016, 09:02 AM

Squeaking is perfectly normal. Hope all continues to go well with mum and babies.