I have a pregnant hamster what do I do with the babies

SandyTheRussianHamster27 · 12-04-2016, 05:54 AM

Basically, I adopted a hamster, because this person had a photo of here in a tenny cage and was offering her for a price lower than snake food.

Anyway, It turns out that she is pregnant

I am confident in looking after her while she is pregnant, have taken out the wheel, moved the food and water nearer the nest, Not interrupting her before and after the birth/

But I have no where for the babies to go to once they are born and I want them to have a proper and good home.

Any suggestions please, She is due in just over a week

Thanks

chesca_27 · 12-04-2016, 05:50 PM

Could you possibly upload a picture, so we can confirm she is pregnant? There are lots of experienced breeders here on the forum, who I'm sure will be able to best advise you.

What species is your hamster? When did you get her? Do you know if the father is likely to be related?

Try advertising the hamster babies but make sure you screen all who are potentially interested. Provide them with a care sheet and make sure they are able to offer a big enough cage (ideally 80cm by 50cm), a good quality diet (Harry/Hazel Hamster, Burgess dwarf food etc) and just the other essentials.

Perhaps you could write down all the things you would like the owner to be able to provide into the form of a care sheet and we can proof read it for you and add any other suggestions before you send it to any interested owners. Someone on the forum might be able to take a pup. It's not unusual for hams to be rehomed to others on the forum, if they've had a litter or can no longer care for their hamster).

Good luck with her litter. I hope everything goes well for you

.

EDIT: If you live in the UK, you could take them to a hamster show and have them on the sales table. Even joining the NHC (National Hamster Council) may give you some helpful contacts.

There are other breeders on here, who often rescue pregnant hamsters and rehome the pups, who would probably be able to best advise you or spread the word, if they are local.

Pebbles82 · 12-05-2016, 03:08 AM

Hello there! Chesca has a point about being sure she is pregnant, although I am guessing you are sure. If she wasn't in with a male it could be some other reason she is looking bigger - and there can be some health conditions that cause some swelling. Best to be 100% in case she needs looking at by a vet. Sometimes people get rid of hamsters when they need vet treatment. Adding a photo on here could be a good idea, as you don't want to be taking her to the vets and disturbing her if she is about to have babies I guess.

Anyway, assuming she is pregnant. Good advice above. Would you want to keep one of the babies? The others, advertising them is probably the way to go. Local supermarkets often have a board for adverts, I've seen hamsters advertised on Gumtree as well, or the local paper classified ads. You could actually put in the add that they must have a cage of a certain minimum size. That way it will weed out people who don't agree with that! At this time of year you might need to be careful who you rehome them to. Some people think it would be nice to get one for a child for Christmas but not interested in the proper care.

There are some very experienced breeders on here and I'm sure one will come along soon and give you some advice.

Fluffagrams · 12-05-2016, 08:14 AM

I believe that the general rule for rehoming at hamster shows states that the member must have shown at least once in an NHC affiliated show, so that's something to be aware of if you'd be considering that as an option.

A lot of the experienced breeders will have waiting lists which is usually their first point of call for rehoming pups but without that option you'll probably be looking to rehome them through local channels such as posting notices on boards in shops, via local newspapers and via websites such as gumtree.

If she's pregnant now, the babies won't be ready to go to their new homes at Christmas anyway as they won't be fully weaned until they're four weeks old and most breeders won't rehome until the pups are about six weeks old. Once the pups eyes are open you can begin handling them to help them get used to human contact and the key here is to make this time a positive experience so keep the sessions fairly short and gentle as what seems like a couple of minutes to us can seem like a long time to a lively pup who just wants to snuggle back up with mum. I advise doing the early handling sessions over a storage bin or bucket as young pups can be like minature bars of soap and can wriggle out of your hands very easily!

Personally I'd be wary of ruling out people based on cage size alone and the reason I say this is because young pups can struggle after separation from their siblings and it's easier for them to adjust in a smaller space than a larger one. You could always advise them if the cages are on the smaller size that as they grow they may need upgrading to a larger cage and perhaps point them in the direction of some cages you recommend.

chesca_27 · 12-05-2016, 03:10 PM

That is a good point Fluffagrams made in the last paragraph. Larry-Jasper went into a very small cage when he got used to me and his new surroundings before he got upgraded to his new cage. If you want to know more about it, then I will link my threads which mentioned it.

To be honest, I really think it helped him become tamer. Now he is such a little sweetheart.

Definitely have a taming bin with a bit of substrate and somewhere to hide in. I remember the first time I held Jasper at the breeder's he jumped out of my hands into a taming bin. If I compare that to how he is now, there is such a huge difference in his personality.