Large litter of Pups!

Personalityhamsters · 06-03-2006, 08:37 PM

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h306/ ... G_2351.jpg

Edit by Admin: Just a note that there has been a misunderstanding and the original questions to this post have been removed. So the thread might not make much sense. To summarize Personalityhamsters female hamster had quite a large litter of pups and had some concerns (the usual kinds of concern for a case like this) and managed to get some helpful tips from our forums members. Hopefully the responses from our other members will kind of explain the original questions which are no longer present.

SnuggleHam · 06-05-2006, 05:46 AM

I would think that there is a high possibility that not all of them are getting nursed that same, that is quite a few babies! If the hamster is a first time mother ...raising the pups might not go so smoothly, that may be why she’s injuring some of them. An ill looking pup will start to turn a grayish-blue color I believe.

I think hand rearing a baby hamster is possible though difficult. Perhaps someone with knowledge about that will post soon. In the mean time, don’t disturb the mother to much, it may lead to cannibalism or aggression. It would be wise to make sure she’s in a nice quiet room, maybe placing light towel over the cage would help.

souffle · 06-05-2006, 08:33 AM

Take Candace advice and do not disturb the mother hammy just now. You must never pick her up or touch the babies till their eyes are open and taking pictures may make her very nervous and she may kill the babies. Hamster mothers would rather destroy their litter than allow them to be touched. Cover her up and keep her very quiet. Feed extra protein, bits of chicken, tofu, milky porridge and little bits of fresh greens. Be ready to start supplementing early with such a large litter sprinkling wheatgerm, fine oats and tiny bits in the nest from 6-7 days. The babies love baby food from jars..chicken & pasta and stuff with no onions in it. Ours love spaghetti hoops & sausage! The mother may lose a few of the weaker ones. She will often kill the ones she knows are weak or have something wrong. It is natures way and she knows best. Sometimes they will eat the dead young for hygiene reasons but if you see a dead one you should remove it with a clean spoon and not touch the rest. I agree with Candace on the apple nest. They will never fit in soon! Offer some comfy bedding in another area of the cage and if she moves them whip the apple out and leave her with them in the new nest. Good luck with the litter and look forward to seeing them when you can SAFELY take pics without disturbing them. Hand rearing of pups this age is virtually never sucessful. Do not even attempt it. Leave them with mum and let her do her best. It is time consuming and in inexperienced hands you can drown the pups with the drop of milk they can take. They need mothers milk and she should be able to feed that many as long as you keep her well fed. Pleanty water for her too. They do look like they are being rough when they pick them up and occasionally injure one but that is just the way of things. Ours just grab the nearest bit and haul the pups around and it is not often one gets hurt. The enclosed nest may make it more difficult for her to feed them as she cannot stretch out full on her side so hopefully she may move them out to another nest. Do not move them yourself. She must do it and if she chooses to stay put then so be it. Fickle hams! I have just noticed you have taken the strawberry with the babies in out of the cage. This is VERY BAD practice. I know this is your first litter and very exciting but you are risking losing all the babies. I do not even look in the nest till my babies are at least 7 days other than a quick check while the mum is feeding. Please leave them in the cage with mum. No wonder she is upset.

souffle · 06-05-2006, 03:29 PM

That is excellent news. So glad she has moved the babies as she will find the feeding easier now she can lay out to suckle. You are doing everything right now so fingers crossed we will see some cute little furries in about 10days!

Personalityhamsters · 06-05-2006, 06:50 PM

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Here's my baby hunny she's actually 7 months but she's my baby still... She gives me kisses

SnuggleHam · 06-06-2006, 06:28 AM

Sorry to hear about the little ones, I suppose that it was just to big of a litter for her to handle, hopfully she will stop killing them now, though if she is in fact a first time mother, things might not go the best first time around. Just keep doing what your doing, dont remove her from the quiet room and keep the cage covered and try not to peek in as much as possible.

A change of subject.. I noticed that you are double posting quite a bit on the forum. I ask that you please keep your posts restricted to one, rather then reposting after yourself. If you forgot to add something you should be able to edit your original post to remedy the mistake. Ive fixed the others already, so no need to worry about doing it yourself.

Thank you, I had send you a PM about it but you must not have seen it yet. You can find your inbox at the top of the page just under the logo.

**babyboos** · 06-06-2006, 09:27 AM

You did the right thing taking her to a quiet room but please don't cover her with a towel as she may decide she wants to add it to her nest and pull the fibres through these could be dangerous to her and to her little ones

I have seen limbs severed by thread before and hamsters DO die of impaction.

Try not to be too upset by the deaths as this does happen, especially with young hamsters and first time mums.

Please please can everyone NEVER remove a nest from a cage - even if it does seem to be in a convenient "strawberry". Even the friendliest of mum's can suddenly turn if you do this, and you were lucky she seemed to settle down and just move them. The only time this is acceptable is if the cage becomes flooded or contaminated in some way and requires urgent cleaning. In this situation remove the nest as whole as possible and place and mum in a dark box until the cage is ready to be reassembled. Then return babies and her back, sprinkling seeds in the new substrate. This will hopefully distract her, otherwise you may see manic baby carrying which can cause damage to delicate limbs.

Young babies are often killed due to some unknown illness or weakness only mum is aware of, or just due to sheer numbers. Mums know what they can realistically handle and suckle. An increase in protein levels in advance of her due date can help alleviate but never eliminate such deaths.

Personalityhamsters · 06-06-2006, 10:37 AM

I understand now! Trust me okay i understand!

She seems to have about 5-10 left... Looking bigger and healthier..

All look banded from what i can see from afar and, ears showing..... Hair is slowly comin too! :P

I placed a shirt over half the cage and she hasnt bothered it!!!!!!!!!

SnuggleHam · 06-06-2006, 05:54 PM

Just a note that there has been a misunderstanding and the original questions to this post have been removed. So the thread might not make much sense. To summarize Personalityhamsters female hamster had quite a large litter of pups and had some concerns (the usual kinds of concern for a case like this) and managed to get some helpful tips from our forums members. Hopefully the responses from our other members will kind of explain the original questions which are no longer present.

Please continue this thread if desired

souffle · 06-07-2006, 07:13 AM

I am sorry if you have been put off the forum personalityhamsters. I just wanted you to have all the information possible so that you could keep as many of your baby hamsters as possible, I wish you all the best with the litter.