re-homing babies

juniper92 · 08-29-2016, 07:48 AM

What is the youngest age it is OK to re-home babies? I have received a litter that the mom rejected about 3 weeks old. I do not have space to keep them all. I'm very worried about them breeding and would like to re-home them ASAP.

One of them is very timid and wants to be with siblings but is easily alarmed by siblings as well, squeaking and panicking and staying away when the others are eating, but then going to find one to snuggle with when sleeping. Not sure if this one would be better off staying longer or shorter with a sib.

No luck with trying to sex them yet. They are so wiggly.

WinnieTheHam · 08-29-2016, 12:51 PM

They need to be separated into single sex groups at 4 weeks old and rehomed at 5-6 weeks old, preferably 6 weeks old but in your position I think maybe 5 weeks would be okay. They can't be rehomed at all at 3 weeks old. Have you got any storage box's you could put them in? or maybe try find another breeder or rescue that will happily take them on.

juniper92 · 08-29-2016, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WinnieTheHam

They need to be separated into single sex groups at 4 weeks old and rehomed at 5-6 weeks old, preferably 6 weeks old but in your position I think maybe 5 weeks would be okay. They can't be rehomed at all at 3 weeks old. Have you got any storage box's you could put them in? or maybe try find another breeder or rescue that will happily take them on.

I have 2 cages so if I could tell which are male and which are female, I could separate them and keep them until 5 weeks. But what if it is, say, 1 male and 5 females? The poor male would be alone. I think the skittish one is a male but I'm not sure.

AmityvilleHams · 08-29-2016, 03:31 PM

Actually hamsters do fine alone,regardless of species,even so called social species

**Cinnamon Bear** · 08-29-2016, 03:57 PM

What species do you have? Just curious

juniper92 · 08-29-2016, 06:18 PM

They are dwarfs. I suspect hybrids because some are white, 2 are tan, and 1 is gray. I think they are too young to be split up completely, but I can't figure out the sexes.

hamtarokid · 08-29-2016, 08:32 PM

Hamsters don't mind being alone. Just give them some toys and they'll be fine.

cypher · 08-30-2016, 12:30 AM

If you do have to separate one out from the rest it will be very stressful for it at such a young age but it does have to be done when it's time to separate the males & females & they do adjust fairly quickly, to make it easier keep it in a small cage/bin without too much open space & some nice hideouts, just bendy bridges & or small cardboard boxes will do & a good depth of substrate to burrow down in & it should be fine.
Good luck, it sounds as though you have quite a challenge on your hands there.

**Cinnamon Bear** · 08-30-2016, 03:50 AM

You could take them to the vet to sex them if you wanted to be 100% sure, so there are not any mistakes if your unsure, just a thought

juniper92 · 08-30-2016, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

If you do have to separate one out from the rest it will be very stressful for it at such a young age but it does have to be done when it's time to separate the males & females & they do adjust fairly quickly, to make it easier keep it in a small cage/bin without too much open space & some nice hideouts, just bendy bridges & or small cardboard boxes will do & a good depth of substrate to burrow down in & it should be fine.
Good luck, it sounds as though you have quite a challenge on your hands there.

That's what I thought. After much wiggling, I think I may have found another male!

The white ones I'm not trying to sex yet because they look like identical. I tried to sex 2, thought I found 2 girls and then couldn't figure out which ones they were.

I think the idea about the smallish bin with lots of hide-outs is a good one. The gray male is so timid he runs and hides if I walk into the room. A white one does that, too, but don't know which one. All will climb on my hand except the gray one. Going to work on just handing the shy one treats and not touching him any more now that I've sexed him. I don't know if he's ever going to forgive me for that!

On the other hand, we have one called Squawker who is so vocal. She squawks at about everything she is displeased with. At her siblings, at me (when we first met), at anything new. She even squawked the first time I offered her a mealworm. (She loves them now.) I thought this was going to be a very high-stress hamster. She squawked like crazy when I sexed her. But after I sexed her (squawk, squawk, squawk), she was annoyed with me for about 2 minutes and then came and took mealworms from me, all was forgiven.