Gulp.

[Colby and the Dwarfs]

Upwards of 20 hamsters. Half are probably pregnant. Listed for sale. Free. What should I do?

They're being abused. People are going to use them as "breeding machines" and I can't let that happen....but I can't take care of as many as 60 hamsters! But I have a friend who owns a petstore...maybe she can show them in her tanks for me. I have a outdoor mousery, they could live in there...


I'm really considering it. They are hybrids, and the ad poster had them in a awful cage with just one wheel(wire too) and dirty bedding, all together. They are gorgeous, and my heart is breaking for them. But....what can I do? I know I could take them, I really need advice right now.

Their little faces...it's not their fault. It's not like they did anything bad...they don't deserve this. It's cruelty. I need to help them. How can I take them all? And babies... Those poor mothers. Pregnant ASAP and will be forced to have their babies in that awful cage... Help? Can you advise? What would you do? What to keep them in? A plan of action? I really need help. I couldn't even take them till May or so, Should or could I ask her to keep them till then for me so they don't go to to other people who will abuse them more?


What would you do?

[Bashful&Mortimer]

I would probably take them if you could find the room. . It would be horrible for all of them to have to have their babies in that one tiny cage.

[kyrilliondaemon]

If you can't get them until May then I'd step back from it. Thats six weeks away and by then they could've easily had another litter per female and have more on the way. Its not great leaving them there but I think its worse to ask they're kept there in the hopes of safety six weeks from now.
If you could get them now I'd say to really, really think it over and go for it if you're sure you can cope. I don't think its fair to make them wait until May though.


We've recently walked into a situation we really felt was neglect of mice, we got three from people and yeah, the rest were in really bad conditions - when we got the chance to get the rest we made absolutely sure we could cope, and yes we went for it. We had discussed cages, pregnancies, pups... You name it and we'd discussed it in detail a lot of times before we actually got them. We were 100% sure we could cope and we could get them asap.
You can't get them soon and probably can't cope so sadly I don't think its best for you to help with this one

[DrKMcK]

Colby. This is sickening. But why are you tormenting yourself when you can't do anything about it right now? By May more will be there and even more will be pregnant. You are just never going to be able to save all the hamsters that really irresponsible people put in awful situations. Just reading about this makes me nauseous. Unless you can do something now, you have got to learn to leave it alone. Truly, you can make yourself sick over things like this. I know you are wonderful with your pets. More people like you should populate the world. But that isn't reality. Yesterday I made a donation to Villa Lobos, the Pit Bull Rescue. (I watch the show Pit Bulls and Parolees) I also donate to my own neighborhood rescue about 3-4 times a year. My hams are all rescues; so is Yoda. That's what I can do. I stay away from sites that show animals in need unless I can do something about it. Otherwise I would just be devastated. There is just no way to feel okay about any of this. At some point your own animals need to come first.

[JBH316]

Heartbreaking

If you had the facilities to take them in now then doing so and privately rehoming them in due course would be my plan of action otherwise I agree with the others that you just need to step back. Is there a local rescue centre who may be able to step in and help?

[Colby and the Dwarfs]

You're all so, so, so right.

It's going to kill me. Waking up every morning knowing where they are.

I've made a decision. I'm going to wait. Till May. And, in May, I'm going to call that lady. An if she has ANY of these sweet babies left, I'm going to take them.

I hope and pray they either go to great other homes or go to me. And DrK, you're right. I know my own animals come first. It's just heartbreaking.

I can't change the world. But if I can change the world for some hams with no hope, that would make me the happiest person alive.

Tips, comments, and advice still appreciated. Thx.

[flogging_molly]

It's really heart breaking. Maybe there's a way of a couple of members close by helping out so it's not such a huge amount for one person?

[ANGELBABIES]

If you can, can you just take the males away to avoid future pregnancies.

[fluffydd]

Do you have something like the RSPCA that you can call in to rescue them?

[Colby and the Dwarfs]

I wish. Oh, we have a shelter. One that couldn't care less about hamsters.

They'd be worse off there, believe me.