Eva x Alaster (SEVENTEEN!)

[Mama2six]

Eva had 17 babies!!! I'm not 100% sure that is the final count, because they are still only 6 days old and there might be more hiding away, but there are definitely at least 17. So far, all have survived. I'm hoping for a 100% survival rate, because they all appear to be thriving.

Here is a picture of Eva with 17 little ones, the day before she had them:

EvaDue.jpg

Eva is a SH dove, and Alaster is a SH yellow black banded. (He carries for cinnamon and LH.) There are at least 6 torts in here (2 of which are banded!), some blacks, and quite a few very light colored hamsters, which will probably turn out to be creams (masking blalck, if both Eva and Alastar carry cream) or silver dove (unlikely).

I am hoping for my first dove torts... we shall see! I am also hoping Eva carries for long-hair, and that some of the babies are long-haired.

This is my first litter in a while without satin, and I plan to keep 2 girls and a boy. I have too much satin in my gene pool, and selecting matches is getting difficult, so I need more non-satin to choose from, especially since the last two beautiful babies I kept also both happened (unfortunately) to be satin! I am SO hoping for a dove tort who is perfect with a lovely personality to keep to carry on this line of yellows...

[Mama2six]

So far she is a an absolute CHAMPION mother. She stays on the nest day and night, working ever so hard to take care of so many babies!

[Artisans_uk]

Congratulations on the safe arrival of Eva x Alaster's litter. That quite a number for Eva to keep in line but I am glad to read that she's doing an excellent job as mum. Look forward to seeing them once all eyes are open.

[pinksundrop]

Awww I am so happy to hear mom and babies are doing so good

[Thin Lizzy]

Congratulations to Eva & Alaster pups, that's a big litter. Well done to Eva for taking so well to motherhood.

[Mama2six]

They're still all thriving! They're getting their fur, and soon will be out wandering about. Mama is still doing a GREAT job with each and every one of her massive brood of pups!

[Wanna Hamster]

Congratulations! I'm glad mama is doing well and there are no complications!

[Mama2six]

The babies are 12 days old now, and yesterday was the day they began wandering around the cage. POOR Eva. She feels a great responsibility to gather them all back up!

Yes, all 17 are still alive and healthy!

She is literally super-mom. She is not a big ham, and she is so funny laying on the litter, which is literally 3x her size at this point and growing fast!

A couple of times she has separated the nest into 2 parts, I think, to give herself a break and only have to take care of some of the babies instead of all. The first time it was alarming, because she left the others out for a couple of hours, so I made the decision to risk putting them back in. (Not recommended unless you know your hamsters!) The second time, they were old enough to make their own way back to her.

The fact that all 17 are still alive and doing very well says something though. She is doing very well as a mom.

There is 1 dove tort and white!!! Yay! There are about 5 black torts, 3 black tort and white, 3 black, 1 dove banded, 1 white banded, a couple yellow black, and... It's still a bit difficult to visually sort all of those wiggling bodies out to see how many of each type we have. It is a beautiful litter.

[peasypea]

Ooh nothing cuter than baby fluffs! Can't wait to see some pictures

[WinnieTheHam]

Very excited to see pictures, I'm happy you've got a dove tort like you wanted!