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Old 02-21-2020, 01:44 AM   #1
Ithuviel
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Exclamation Help with fostering(i have questions)

Hy everyone

So my country has 0 rescues and someone on my hamster group posted that they bought 2 hamsters and surprise...they had pups. The owner did not want to keep them at all, and they were living in a very small bird cage about 15 by 30 cm. Because the pups are just 5 days old and the owner wanted to give them up no matter where (even to the pet-shop) i offered to take the female with her pups as a foster carer until they reach 5 weeks old and can be rehomed.

So below you got the set-up that i made + a video of the mother and pups. The green square is the original enclosure and they are housed in a Ikea Samla bin with no lid at the moment.

My questions are:
Mother seems agitated...should i put a wheel? I read somewhere that a wheel is not a good idea when pups are involved as they can get injured.

How old do the pups have to be to be safely separated from the mother?

Knowing that all this time the female was not separated from the male, what are the chances of a second litter coming?

Thank you for any help.


Video of hamster


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Old 02-21-2020, 07:07 AM   #2
cypher
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Default Re: Help with fostering(i have questions)

The mother may be agitated if she hasn't been able to build a proper nest & keep her pups safe, that is hidden from any outside/human attention.
I wouldn't put a wheel in with the pups so young, the main thing with a mother & very young pups is lots of nesting material, toilet tissue & a good depth of substrate & leave well alone as much as possible. I don't know if it might still happen at this age but if the mother & pups are disturbed too much then she could potentially cull the pups so lots of peace & quiet, plenty of good quality food are the most important right now.
I can't remember for sure but I think pups are usually separated at about four weeks but it may be a little earlier, hopefully someone else will know for sure, at this point you can separate them into male & female groups until they are a little older.
There is definitely a chance mum could be pregnant again so that would be something to look out for.
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Old 02-21-2020, 07:29 AM   #3
Ria P
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Default Re: Help with fostering(i have questions)

I have read that the mother and pups should not be disturbed at all for the first two weeks and need to be left alone in their nest. Personally, i think that they are too exposed which may make the mother nervous. I would put a lot of torn up toilet paper around the little hide they are in and then place a good sized cardboard box (bottomless and with an entrance cut out) over the hide and leave them alone. The mother may instinctively be afraid of overhead predators so i would also provide overhead cover over the food and water areas.

Congratulations for rescuing these little hamsters. Who knows what would have happened to them if you wouldn't have taken them in and started Romania's first hamster rescue!
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Old 02-21-2020, 07:39 AM   #4
cypher
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Default Re: Help with fostering(i have questions)

I forgot too mention that you will need extra food as well as ham mix, things like tofu & scrambled egg would be good for mum now & the pups when they begin eating. If you have look in the breeding section of the forum you'll find lots of posts with advice on caring for a mother & pups.
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Old 02-22-2020, 02:19 AM   #5
Ithuviel
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Default Re: Help with fostering(i have questions)

thank you all for the replies. i have and update. After giving the mother lots of tissue she made her nest in the red house and moved all the pups during the night. I put a picture of the updated cage. I will look in the forum section you mentioned.

Because it kind of smells, i would like in about 7 days to get rid of the tray. As she abandoned the old nest, do you guys think that it would disturb her. I gave her baby food(chicken and rice), then boiled egg and today she has meal worms next to the new house. I give her extra food 2 table spoons and i make sure she has plenty of seed mix.

So here is a funny montage made by my husband about what she did the whole day yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Og2Zmb0RCQ&t=10s

The fostering system is actually the only system we have in Romania. There are also a couple of girls (school age) that are doing the same in the western part of the country. I wish one day some shelter will be available for all other animals except dogs and cats (those have numerous shelters)

Thank you all again and i will keep you updated. Also i think there are 3 pups and not 4 as the owner told me.

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Old 02-22-2020, 02:27 AM   #6
cypher
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Default Re: Help with fostering(i have questions)

That looks more suitable, keep giving her more tissue just in case she wants to make an even bigger nest.
Basically at this age you shouldn't be able to see the pups at all if she has an adequate nest so that's a kind of guideline to see if she has enough.
I wouldn't remove the tray just yet, she's had enough disturbance for now so best leave it if you can.
Tempting though it is to watch her & take videos you really should be trying to leave her & the pups alone as much as possible at this stage, just do food & water but otherwise leave her in peace & quiet to raise the pups. Plenty of time to enjoy them in a couple of weeks or so!
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Old 02-22-2020, 02:44 AM   #7
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Help with fostering(i have questions)

I would also leave the tray - don't worry about the smell. The Mother needs this time. She is working hard to feed and protect her pups and any disturbance would stress her. I agree with the others - keep adding more toilet paper strips. They usually like to build a really big nest.

And put extra food out each day as she will need a lot while feeding. Don't clean anything until at least the pups start to come out of their own accord. Also try not to look at the pups until they are ready to come out of their own accord - the Mother could still cull them if she feels anxious something may harm them.

It's usually recommended to keep well away from the cage even and not peer in - at this stage - just put out the food, water and bedding once a day and don't disturb anything. She is doing very well, considering she has moved from one home to another and a bigger cage. But she will get stressed easily. Fingers crossed.

I also wouldn't take any more videos until the pups are bigger - the rule of thumb is when they come out of the nest independently and their eyes are open.
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pups, mother, separated, wheel, owner, video, hamster, questions, female, moment, lid, made, agitated, ikea, square, original, enclosure, green, housed, samla, bin, injured, chances, male, time

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