Help! Hand raising babies ;'(

[Jessie]

Not a good week. I had a female with 5 babies. I beleive a wild mouse or something got into her cage. long story short I found my girl, squirrel in her cage dead. Her babies were born on the 13th . I talked to a local rehabber and a vet and was told to give them evaporated milk from a can a few times a day ( I've been doing it every 3 hours or so) and given them raw oatmeal and small foods in between meals. 4 are still alive and doing okay.. but I feel I could be doing more.. if anyone has any suggestions it would be wonderful!

[chulasweetchica]

Awh sorry momma is gone. You are doing a good job sounds like. I am new to hamsters so I can't help just wanted to say sorry for the loss and great job taking care of the babies. I'm sure someone will help ya soon with Advice.

[DrKMcK]

hello. What a terrible thing to happen to you. If your babies are still alive, you've got a pretty good shot at helping them make jt. Start giving them regular hamster dry food. Mama would be letting them check her food out by now and that's also how they learn to try new foods. If their eyes are open and they are scrambling about they should do fine. Also, make sure they have fresh water all the time. Make sure the water bottle is low enough for them to reach it. Once they are eating the dry food and drinking from the water bottle you can stop feeding them anything else. Be very careful with any fresh fruit or vegetables while they are this young. I'd avoid it for another 2-3 weeks. I don't know how anything got in your cage, but if something did hamsters can get out. I use aquariums with wire fitted tops with clamp locks. I've had too many get out and they can wander for days. They are the ultimate escape artists. So, unless you want them out and about, before they get much older, I'd secure their homes. If these are Syrians, you're going to need to separate them, each to its own home, by 4-5 weeks old. After that you may wind up with a hamster population explosion. One of my mamas had 16 babies and raised every one to adulthood. Good luck with them.

[Jessie]

The cage was a 40 gallon aquarium. there is at least 10 inches between the top of any toys and the cage.. I had left the lid off... :/ The babies are still alive thank god. I raised a baby squirrel and a litter of gerbils btu it was a couple years ago amnd everything seems new lol. I haven't given them anything fresh yet except mealworms.. they munch em a little bit. They pick at hamster food but not much.. the oatmeal is honestly I think what saved them.. they were looking bad til I put that in there. They don't touch water and I'm still feeding from an eyedropper :/ should I perhaps between feedings be giving them some water? what about an electrolyte solution?

chulasweetchica- Thanks. I miss mama but the babies seem to be doing okay

[DrKMcK]

Wow, that's some job you're doing. Are they roaming around yet? If not they aren't ready for water. They will discover it on their own, but until then, it's the eyedropper. Just make sure they'll be able to reach the water bottle if they're walking around. My mama hammy had 16 with her first litter and she was great. I don't envy you. That's a lot of work and a lot of hours. Keep your chin up.

[souffle]

Are the babies able to pee and poo by themselves yet Jessie? Have you seen them do it?
Normally the mother licks the babies to make them eliminate when they are young and they may still need this stimulation. Get a cotton bud and dampen it then flick it over the vents like a hamsters tongue until they pee and poo. Keep at it till they do it then you will be sure they are passing stuff.
The milk (and I would advise kitten milk or lactol milk) should be fed mixed with baby powdered rice by syringe. Hamster milk is very thick and they need it fed this way. Also offer baby food in a dish and grind their hamster mix into small bits.
Warmth using a heat mat is also important. Your babies are on the cusp of being able to fend for themselves with a bit of help via stimulation to pee and poo, supplementary feeds and keeping them warm. Give them a baby safe plush toy (not too furry) as a substitute mama.
Good luck.

[lisab]

I have just gone through this with a litter of campbells. Mine are getting on to 4 weeks now but I have kept them in a small travel cage from as soon as I found mum dead. I would suggest this to anyone as it was a lot easyer to make sure they were warm and doing well.
They are still in the small cage and are doing fab, when they are going to be split in to boys and girls they will stay in a smaller cage untill they are around the 8 week mark and I am happy with them going in bigger.

I also cut little bits of veg for fluid for when your not with them. I had 7 but lost 2.

[Jessie]

Originally Posted by souffle

Are the babies able to pee and poo by themselves yet Jessie? Have you seen them do it?
Normally the mother licks the babies to make them eliminate when they are young and they may still need this stimulation. Get a cotton bud and dampen it then flick it over the vents like a hamsters tongue until they pee and poo. Keep at it till they do it then you will be sure they are passing stuff.
The milk (and I would advise kitten milk or lactol milk) should be fed mixed with baby powdered rice by syringe. Hamster milk is very thick and they need it fed this way. Also offer baby food in a dish and grind their hamster mix into small bits.
Warmth using a heat mat is also important. Your babies are on the cusp of being able to fend for themselves with a bit of help via stimulation to pee and poo, supplementary feeds and keeping them warm. Give them a baby safe plush toy (not too furry) as a substitute mama.
Good luck.

I have seen them use the bathroom I know about that from the squirrel and day old gerbils . they're roaming around and eyes are open. kitten milk (the smallest can you can get here) is $35.00 and I only need it for another week or so so everyone I talked to said to use evaporated milk. baby rice as in pablum? they're getting that. they are in a small plastic bin with toilet paper. they're in the room with my rodents so it's warm enough in there... when I put a heating pad on they get as far away from it as they possibly can. If I put milk in a tiny bowl( actually a bottle cap) they all crowd around and drink about a teaspoon between the 4 of them. but they don;t touch water.. its odd.

[souffle]

That sounds good if they are toileting well and seem to be able to feed themselves and stay warm
The baby rice is like a packet of powdered rice that you mix up with hot water for the babies feed. I'm not sure what you call it in Canada though.
They are likely getting enough fluids from the other foods so they probably are not so thirsty for water.

[Jessie]

everything still seems good, however their hair isn't smooth like it should be.. it's kinda patchy.. could it be a vitamin deficiency? I'm thinking once they are on hamster food exclusively it'll get better?