Should I rescue these guys?

[RedBzu]

My Orca just passed away and I have the opportunity to rescue two dwarf hamsters but I'm not sure if I should. They are being kept, one male and one female, in the same cage which is far too small even for one dwarf and it looks to be in terrible condition.
The reason I am hesitant is because for one I feel bad "replacing" Orca so soon. I don't know if I am ready for another hamster.
I'm also worried about the female. I imagine there is a good chance she is pregnant and I have NO idea how to deal with that if she is.
Any advice? I was thinking of taking them because the person I am in contact with is moving on Thursday and I don't know what they will do if they do not rehome them by tomorrow. If I feel I am not ready for another hamster, perhaps I can find them both healthy, loving homes. However, what if the female is pregnant? What if they are ill? Will I be able to tell? I have so many questions and would love some advice.

[Nancy's Hamsters]

First I am so sorry you lost Orca, Each of us handles a loss differently then the next. Only you can tell when you are ready for a new furry friend.

As for the dwarf Hamsters if you do decide to take them in please don't see it as replacing Orca cause no Hamster can replace another. Try to see it as extending your furry family to honor Orca as without Orca you wouldn't have a desire to help another Hamster.

Taking on a pregnant female though may be very hard for you. If indeed they are for sure a male and Female the odds of her not being pregnant is very low, unless the Hamsters are not in health or very very young. So if you do get them you will have to do so with the knowledge that in a bit you will have many more mouths to feed and to help find good homes for. That means you'll have to be sure to have several extra cages for babies down the road a bit, and may have those extra mouths to feed for some time. If you are not sure you can handle that then it may not be a good idea to take these two hamsters in.

As for health, look at the normal things when seeing them. Check they have nice clear and open eyes big and bright with no crusty discharge. Check bums for any signs of loose stool, and see how their fur looks. If the fur is greasy looking and you can see them breathing hard chances are good they are not healthy and that will not be good for the female if she is also pregnant.

Is there any Rodent rescue you might be able to ask for assistance in getting these two in a safe place? That way should you choose to keep the male you could while finding a good place for the female. I wish you good luck in whatever decision you do make.

[kyrilliondaemon]

If you do choose to get them the forum can definetly help with advice, one of the biggest things you need to do is ask yourself if you can handle having potentially 6+ new hamsters, dwarf litters aren't usually big but 4+ pups wouldn't be too unusual and all of them may need to live separately sooner or later.

I know in your situation I'd be really tempted to want to help but if you don't feel you can cope with the potential problems then I'd have to say you shouldn't get them. I think most on the forum would want to say "Yes I'll help them" but if you're not prepared it could cause you a heck of a lot of stress and the last thing you want to do is get them and regret it later when you're struggling to cope. Do you know what species of dwarf they are? Its worth warning you now that roborovskis are often really difficult to sex so if its roborovskis thats worth bearing in mind. Hybrid russians and chinese are generally a lot easier to sex.

If you do get them the first thing you'll need to do is separate them and make sure the female is in a tank-style cage with plenty of bedding incase she is pregnant. The male just needs to be in any suitable cage really. Then for roughly three weeks you'll want to assume the female is pregnant, this means giving her a bit of extra protein (in the form of mealworms or chicken e.t.c) and being ready to remove her wheel at short notice if she looks likely to be pregnant or has pups. If she has pups you basically want to keep your distance as much as possible and only go near the cage to change her food and water until the pups are 14 days old and/or their eyes open. It isn't safe to handle pups until they either reach 14 days old or open their eyes, if Mum feels you're interfering before that point there is a risk she'll kill the pups. When we fostered a pregnant hamster we knew about the pups because we heard them squeaking, not all litters are vocal but if you hear little chirps kinda like baby birds in the cage... She's probably had pups.

As far as if they're ill or not goes, its pretty much the same for syrians as for dwarf hamsters. As long as they seem fit and healthy they probably are.

I hope that gives some sort of answers to bits of it, there is more info to be offered but I didn't want to go into everything incase it seemed a bit much.

[RedBzu]

I appreciate the replies. My concern is of what the owner will do to them if I don't take them tomorrow. They don't seem to care either way about them. My worry is they will die if I don't take them. That might sound a bit extreme but I don't know.

I am more than willing to accommodate to the babies but I'm more worried about handling the pregnancy. I may try to see if there is a shelter I can contact. I'm not sure where to look though.

[RedBzu]

This cage is housing the two dwarfs


Here is a picture of one of the dwarfs. The state of the wheel is what worries me in terms of how well they take care of these two. They are 5 months old each.

[Nancy's Hamsters]

The wheel's a mess but that tube is worse. He(I think that is a him by the hind end) looks nice and healthy despite his poorly care taking. Handling a pregnant Hamster is not hard as you just feed them high protein Noms like mealworms, and chicken and make sure she has a good amount of nesting materials and a good water bottle which will need to be lowered when pups emerge so the pups can drink when ready too.

While Mom is tending the pups from newborn until 21 days there is not much need for any help from you. She will build a nice big nest, create a big food store in or very near by the nest. She can birth any where from one pup to eight pups with 4 or 5 being average for a litter size. The work starts once eyes open as you'll need to handle the pups every day so they are tame when weaned. Wean from Mom at 4 weeks and gender split at 5 weeks re-home at 6 to 8 weeks.

BTW you are seeing a Hybrid who has a heavier influence of Winter White then Russian Campbell which means you have two more things to be aware of. They need to be tested for Diabetes and you need to feed them Hamster food low in sugars which may be a bit higher priced then your basic Hamster food like they currently feed them by what I see in the food bowl..

[Piebald]

First of all big hugs for caring Redbzu ((((hugs)))). Second you're getting great advice here--another member was recently helped through not one, but two surprise pregnancies successfully:
Hamster Drama!
And third but not least, hamsters have been having babies for thousands of years!
I can't tell you what you should do only you can decide that but I agree you are not replacing Orca who will forever have a special place in your heart. I think it's wonderful that Orca has opened your heart to the others in need. xx

[racinghamster]

It`s never easy making these decisions, but to be blunt, these hamsters are unwanted. They may or may not be a male and a female. Chances are they won`t be if no babies have been born in the time they have co-habited, but if they are male and female, all you need to do is separate them and give him/her their own cage.

Dwarf hamsters are quite easy to care for. They don`t ask for much, just a cosy home, food and a wheel to play on at the very least. If you are happy to provide those basics, then I would say take them. If you have worries about baby hamsters appearing, well if that happens, the mum will look after them for four/five weeks and then they can be separated out and rehomed, either to nice people like yourself, or to an animal charity who would find them nice homes.

There will be that doubt surrounding the female being pregnant, but the owner should be able to tell you how long these two have been housed together and for how long. This will give you an idea of the risk. If their genders can be identified as both male or both female, then there will be no risk. If they are male & female, separating them right away should reduce any further pregnancy risk.

You may be their only hope if the owner isn`t making provision for these hamsters or saying what they might end up doing, so if it was me, I would step in regardless and either keep them myself and deal with the cuteness and any potential babies! And even try finding a home for one of them and keep the other, depending on how you feel about that. x

[RedBzu]

I'm picking them up today around 3pm. I'm hoping I can finish work in time. These people I'm dealing with are so rude! I'll update when I have them and let you guys know how it goes. Frustrates me that I have to give these people money to save those two hammies.

[Piebald]

Yay! I'd be lieing to say I wasn't pleased
Yeah some people need to go back to humanity school to be called humans.
That cage might do for a transport cage so not a total loss as long as it cleans up ok.
Be sure to save some of the mucky substrate and even the icky wheel to put in the new cages so they have something familiar even if it is gross.
xx