female russian dwarf hamsters fight about new babies

[MummaBorris]

I have mother and daughter russian dwarf hamsters in the same cage.daughter was 19 days old and then new babies came along.they lived happily together for a while but then mumma borris got territorial over the pups and they have a little fight.i put the daughter in a spare cage whilst her limp healed for 3 days. Now her limp has healed - can i put her back in with her mum?i read sometimes girl dwarfs help each other raise pups. They would be in a large cage with 2 wheels, 2 hide outs, tubees, 3 floors...
Any advice?

[velma]

I think the answer is no. Once you've taken one away it would be very difficult to reintroduce her. Mumma will raise her pups fine on her own. It would be added stress for all of them to reintroduce daughter & that could be be harmful to both daughter & pups. I think I'm right in saying if mum hamster gets stressed she can sometimes cull her pups.

[cypher]

I agree with Velma & I think it was said in your other thread too that you wouldn't be able to put the daughter back once they've been separated & Borris could well get stressed enough to cull the new pups.
Also if you do keep more than one in a cage you shouldn't have tubes or levels so your cage wouldn't be suitable for a pair.

[kittokitty]

What I would say has been said.

I hope that this was an accidental litter! If she's a hybrid (which if she was sold as just a Russian dwarf hamster, she is), then it is lucky that she survived giving birth.

Good luck with the litter

[MummaBorris]

Yeah it was - I thought I had 2 boys. She had 8 and they all survived and mum is happy. Unfortunately I didn't discover the babies till about a week old so the mum was pregnant again.she had 8 more pups a week ago.I knew because I heard them and recognised the signs.I looked at them for the first time yesterday and all are doing fine and so is mumma borris. She is a good mummy

[MummaBorris]

Thanks Cypher for your comment - i didnt know about levels and tubes with more than one in a cage.thanks! So glad I joined this forum

[cypher]

You've been on a bit of a steep learning curve since you brought Borris home & considering you were only expecting to have one ham I think you're doing really well

[Thin Lizzy]

I agree with Cypher that you're coping well with the situation and unexpected babies.