Hamsters eating their babies?

[cannibalhamster]

I have 2 hamsters, a male and a female. Every few months they'll have a litter of babies, and they get eaten.. all of them! Not sure if it's the mother or the father, or both, but every time they have a litter all of the babies get eaten.

Is this normal? I don't need more hamsters, so if this is just a case of nature being nature (and nature can be terribly cruel at times).. that's OK with me, but it seems really strange that they eat their young. They have food in their cages at all times so it's not like they're starving.

[souffle]

You should separate the hamsters because it is unfair for the mother to keep having back to back litters. Growing a litter inside her and giving birth is a great strain on her body and she will have a shorter lifespan because of it. They may sulk a little when first separated but will soon settle down.
It's natures way of telling the mother that she is unfit to raise a litter as suckling is very draining too and that something is not right with the situation so she would rather destroy the litter than see them comprimised.
If you separate there is a small chance she will raise the next lot on her own then you could leave her a daughter to live with and introduce a son to dad for company.
Please separate them.

[Lougarry]

I am frankly astonished that you have allowed this to continue.

[Munchies]

Seems very irresponsible to have let this happen more than once. Nature is cruel but you have to wonder if a clueless owner is crueler.

[souffle]

May I remind members to remain respectful and only add comments which give appropriate and helpful information.

[CharlieB]

I would separate the 2 hammys, Raising a litter is very stressful on the mum and there can be lots of complications that could make the mum very poorly or worse. If you have a litter you need to be prepared to loose most or all of the pups and also be prepared for the mum to abandon the pups. I would only recommend an experienced breeder to have more litters as its a very tough job. Mum can also get an upset tummy from eating the pups everytime so its really not good for her.

[lucyeleanor]

Please separate them, the chances are that they are eating the pups because it is incredibly stressful having litter after litter. They will be much happier if you keep them separate. Are they Syrian's or dwarfs? If they are dwarfs, if you have any surviving pups after the dad is in a new cage, you can introduce the boys to dad and keep the girls with their mother, but only once they are all old enough to be separated from their mother. Please do some reading on the Breeding forum here for some advice.

[ILSMarki8]

I would separate parents and give them a 3-4 months break. Then try breeding again just leting them be together for a week. I would then take out father and wait 2 weeks in order to see if it was successful. In order to avoidtragedy provide mother a high protein diet.

[evel_lin]

I would separate parents and give them a 3-4 months break. Then try breeding again just leting them be together for a week. I would then take out father and wait 2 weeks in order to see if it was successful. In order to avoidtragedy provide mother a high protein diet.

OP has stated they don't need any more hamsters and personally IMO the female has had enough litters and shouldn't be bred from again

[cannibalhamster]

Well, one of my friends told me that eating the first litter is normal. After that I thought the next 2 litters would have survivors, but this wasn't the case. I wasn't aware of any special treatment needed, like seperating the 2 parents. I figured that if I let nature take it's course things should turn out fine, since there's about a million years of evolution built into these animals to handle these kinds of things..

I'll probably keep them seperate from now on and not let them breed anymore.

[souffle]

In the wild the lifespan of a female breeding litter after litter would be about 7-9months so yes that's why they do it and that's why they have so many pups as only one or two will ever survive to adulthood.
I think that's a wise move to separate and that we have been able to help advise.

[Sandti]

I figured that if I let nature take it's course things should turn out fine, since there's about a million years of evolution built into these animals to handle these kinds of things..


Yes but millions of years of evolution didn't build them to be in cages and kept in a small space, in the wild the male would wander off and the mother would be left to raise the pups.

[HollyHamster]

It does depend on the species as to whether or not the father will have anything to do with the rearing of the pups, but usually the mother will do most of the work regardless.

With most dwarf species, the father will stick around and help gather food and such, but won't necessarily do anything more, not that he could. The mother would be off in her own little compartment of the burrow, caring for and nursing the pups.

In Syrians, the father plays no further part in rearing the pups, or caring for the female after mating. The two will go their separate ways, most likely never seeing each other again. The mother will then rear the pups and gather food all on her own.

Regardless of all of this, captive bred hamsters should be kept seperate from the opposite gender at all times to prevent litters. This is of course, unless you plan to be a responsible breeder and are highly knowledgeable about hamster genetics and such.

I could go on and on but I won't. Anger only begets anger and nothing is gained or achieved.

[shiny]

Hi cannibalhamster, evolution has developed Syrian hamsters to live alone, not in pairs & not in captivity. The conditions we keep them in are artificial & especially so if they are in a pair such as you have had. I think it's a good idea to separate them. Chances are your female may be pregnant again so wait & see what happens without dad around. baby hamsters have to be sexed & separated fairly early - see info on the breeding thread for this & for ideas on how to feed your female to help her have enough protein to manage pregnancy & lactation.

If you have any questions, please ask on here - there are lots of experienced people on this forum, I don't breed hamsters but there are some people here who do & have lots of great experience to share.

With best wishes, shiny

[cannibalhamster]

Well, I didn't realize that there needed to be special care for breeding an animal that breeds like wildfire in the wild. I thought it would take care of itself. Definitely won't try that again since I have no knowledge on the subject.

I actually have a friend who had a hamster problem. They had quite a few of them, and his kids one day let them out of the cages.. they didn't recover all of them and a month later they had little hamsters running around their house!

[vanilla-yazoo]

as someone who dose breed, and has done the reaserch, who has asked breeders for help and advice and who has had 2 tragic litters.
I would NEVER have more then 2 litters from a female, regardless of species.
one at 5-6 months, one at 9-10, after 12 months their fertility isnt as good, it would be like a 50 year old menopausal woman carrying octuplets.
preferably ild only have one litter, for my choice to keep the line running, for showing and good health, the rest will be homed to friends and others in the fancy, as I attend shows with other breeders.
on the odd chance the litter was a perfect one, not a single hiccup then I may consider the 2nd but thats it.
there are so many problems, things that can go wrong, its a lot of stress and heartbreak, and not always successful.

yes they breed like wildfire, but thats because mums litter can mate themselves at just over a month old, and mum can also have another litter in that time, and because of how little time it takes, you can have generations worth in a very short time, this is more like mice, who are real wildfire breeders, as hamsters tend to have a larger teritory, and time between litters, as a mother who is on her 2nd litter will be more tired and more likely to be caught by a predictor.

i can see you have said you wont try it again, but i still wanted to give the above info.
you have made the right choice in not doing it again. its not healthy for your hamsters, and if she is allready culling that tells you she is not a suitable mother.
be happy having two hamsters, look after them well, they can bring a lot of happyness without the need for babies.

your friends problem is why i make sure all my cages are secure, and double check them before bed! they should put humane traps down with the closing wire sections, put some food in there and wait, they might be able to catch a few but dont expect them to remember people are nice, they will bite and be much more wild.

[cannibalhamster]

I don't have the time or energy to devote to breeding properly, so it'd be better to leave it to someone who knows what they're doing.

As for my friend's problem, his cages weren't the problem. His kids opened the cages to let them run around the house (They won't do that again, but the damage is already done). This was quite a while ago, the latest generations of hamsters in his house are pretty much wild at this point and wouldn't be suitable for pets even if they were caught.

[hikaru]

how many litters have they had?

[~Exile~]

Hey cannibalhamster,
As you would've read already, it's best advice to keep them apart in different cages.

This page helped me when I was a newcomer to hamsters, and behaviors
Hamster Care (http://www.hamsterific.com/hamstercare.cfm)

[crazygal330]

I am aware that this is going to come across as rude however I feel the need to post anyway because I honestly don't understand the thinking behind what you are saying.
I don't need more hamsters
I don't have the time or energy to devote to breeding properly
And you have been intentionally keeping a male and female together for months on end allowing them to mate because..... :?: ](*,)