Hi I'm new and have a surprise litter

[dengen]

Hello,

Wow this is just the forum I have been looking for, We got our first Chinese dwarf hamsters eight weeks ago :) Two gorgeous little brothers, we split them seven weeks ago for fighting and surprise surprise four weeks ago one had babies :mad: so guess he wasnt male!!!:rolleyes:


We now have five very healthy gorgeous babies, so really need help, Is it time now to seperate them from mum as really dont want any more babies.

When do I need to make sure they are sexed correctly, I have four spare cages so for now two will have to stay together, but wont be for long as have found homes for two of them.

Also how do I know what type of Chinese dwarfs I have as I didnt realise there were different breeds.

Four babies look like mum and one is brown like the dad. Will try to put on a picture but not sure how to do it.

Any help greatly received thanks in advance

[souffle]

Hello and welcome
What a surprise for you !
Here is a link to a site of one of my friends who breeds Chinese. Please contact her if you need any help
Home - Vectis Hamstery (http://www.vectishams.webs.com/)
You need to separate the boys and girls now as they can start to breed. Chinese are not particularly sociable, although often sold as such, and are really best kept alone. They can stay as boys and girls groups till around 6-8weeks if watched closely.
They come in two easily available colours - the brown ones are called Normals and the white and brown patchy ones are Dominant spot. There is a rarely found white one also called a black eyed white. They are all the same species just in different coat patterns.
Sometimes a pair of males will stay together but females won't so really best to house them alone. They do not need company.
The males are quite easily identified as they have very large testicles though in youngsters it can be trickier to spot them as they take a while to descend.
Ask anything you need to know :)

[dengen]

Thank you so much for your reply, will split them today as definately dont want anymore babies even though its been lovely seeing them. Here is a photo of our mum Bubbles and her gorgeous babies

http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af243/dengen72/19122010893.jpg

[Vectis Hamstery]

Hi and welcome. Your babies (and mum) look lovely. I've responded on your other thread about sexing. In summary, look carefully at the underneaths, and make sure any you keep together have identical spacing of openings! If you have any questions, then feel free to post them or email me.

If you are not sure what one is I would keep it alone (and post us some piccies of the underneath so we can help). If this absolutely isn't possible, then put it in with the ones you are sure are boys. That way if it is acutally a girl you only have one pregnant female, whereas if you put a mis-sexed male in with the girls you could have many pregnant females. Obviously, no pregnant female babies is the best outcome :)

[fluffymunchkins]

welcome to the forum!
Sorry to here of your unexpected litter, they are sooo cute though :D
Best of luck to mum and babies, you'll certainly find the best advice here, especially from Vectishamstery ;)

[Hope]

Hi and wlecome - sorry that you had a little surprise with your litter - they are gorgeous though!!

I am sure that you will find the help you need here :-)

[dengen]

Thank you all for your replies, they may have been a surprise but it has been a very nice one, Ive found two very good homes for two of them, and we are definately keeping two (the one normal and one dominant spot)

We dont plan to have anymore so hopefully I can sex them right will try to post pictures to get second or third:mad: opinions to help me out.

[wofunny]

Well done to you and mum on raising the babies! They are very cute :D

Welcome to the forum! :Dx

[PinkPrincess]

Aww they are beautiful!!

[dengen]

I have posted some pictures of them underneath on the breeding topic so please have a look and see if I'm right in thinking I have all boy babies

[KutButLykee]

Firstly Welcome to the Forum:D x
And Secondly.. I Also Agree seperate them now.. As the risk of them Breeding even at this Age, Is high. And as you have said; You dont want anymore Litters. Soo. Chinese Hamsters in my Eyes are probably the easiest Hamsters to keep together..(well Females are usually easier too keep together than Males..) But I think it would be ok if you put two together in reasonable sized Cages. Good Luck!:D xx

[Vectis Hamstery]

I am aware that this is somwhat off topic, but I feel I have to reply to the above post. Chinese hamsters are known as one of the more difficult species to keep together, and often need separating as adults. Males are more tolerant of company than females. At any signs of bites, a pair must be separated. Unfortunately Chinese hamsters can inflict horrible injuries on each other with little pre-warning.

At 4 weeks old, the babies should be fine living in same sex pairs, but an eye should be kept for fighting. Some squarks are ok, but if they occur regularly or there is any sign of injury/bullying then the babies should be split. I have recently split 3 five week old girls as two were being kept away from food by the other sister and one had a bite to the face. All are much happier alone now.

[souffle]

I would agree with Vectis on this.
Are you definitley thinking of Chinese KutButLykee or more about Campbells or WW which are much easier to keep in groups? These often need split also however.
Even mating Chinese can be tricky and once mated the female will often inflict terrible injuries on the male. It is just as well you managed to separate them when the fighting started when she was pregnant!
Many pet shops do sell Chinese as sociable but they really should not as they are much more akin to Syrians than the other dwarf species. There are some breeders trying to work on lines that are a bit more sociable but these are not freely available.
I still recommend homing and housing the babies singly.

[dengen]

Thank you all, this site is very helpfull and can see us using it alot, we have found really good homes for three of the babies so they will all be going to seperate homes, and we already have seperate homes for the four we will be having (mum,dad,the one normal and one of the dominant spot) at the moment we have three babies in one home and two in another but as soon as the three are rehomed then one of ours will move into that home.

Now we just need to come up with names for our two new additions (mum is called bubble and dad squeak)

When should I look at letting the babies go to their new homes? They are all going to people who have experience of hamsters and are all going to be kept on their own

[souffle]

Normally around 6 weeks is a good age for Chinese. That way they have had a couple of weeks away from mum but still with a sibling. What we normally do is to ask the new owner to drop the cage in a week before and we settle the hamster in the cage and then it is passed on in familiar bedding / substrate etc so settles very quickly into its new home. If that is not possible then a good idea is to pass the hamster on with a pile of used bedding that has its scent on it and again this helps them settle.
I'm sure your babies will make lovely pets as they seem to be nice and tame already :)

[Womblehands]

bangers and mash comes to mind..

[KutButLykee]

I meant WinterWhites Hahah. I got Confused with another Post:mad: Sorry guys:p

[Womblehands]

well done on the lovely litter..a nice surprise..