Babies and a sick mommy sayrian

[AmberJadeFriend]

Hello.

My name is Amber'Jade. I have been a hamster lover for many years, I started at a young age with dwarf hamsters and now I have two Syrian hammies. One is white, a boy and his name is Cola. The other is brown, my girl and her name is Nuts.

I do not intentionally breed them but it is like a Romeo and Juliette situation and he always finds his way out of his cage and into hers.
She recently, (two days ago) has a little of nine babies. |
However, I am a bit concerned, Nuts, before she gave birth, was showing signs that she was sick. I have spent so much money on baby vitamin drops for her food and chew toys, as well as general hamster medication and nothing seemed to work.
After givi9ng birth, she is still slow and her coat is dull. It also looks to me as if she is alien eyed, her eyes do not want to open fully but there is no leakage or anything that show signs of infection ect.

I have refrained from giving her medication since giving birth in case it has an impact on the babies but I do not want her to get too weak.
It is very cold at the moment in my city, stormy weather.
I have put a lot of extra cotton wool in the cages and I put toilet paper as well with the normal sawdust. A blanket has been over both cages (Just since the stormy weather started about two days ago), I take it off for a few hours in the evening and then put it on again to keep the heat locked in.
Do you think she and the babies will be warm enough?

Do you have any ideas about what it may be that is causing her to look weak and slow?
What vegetables and fruits can I give her to boost her energy levels and to give the babies enough nutrients?
Will cabbage be good for her?

[souffle]

You need to see a vet with her and take her and the litter (if there are any babies) with you. It sounds to me as if she has an overwhelming infection and if you lose her you lose the entire lot as these pups will not survive without their mother. If she has mastitis or a womb infection she will be unable to feed the pups and handrearing pups this age is practically impossible.
The mother is your priority and no vitamins nor veggies will help her. She needs vet attention quickly. This is not normal behavior for a female with pups especially if she was sickly beforehand.
Is there a bad smell around the nest?
Another issue is the cotton bedding. This may be the cause of the problem. It is very dangerous as hamsters when pouching it swallow some and it can block the bowel. If she has a bowel blockage she will need given rest. I don't think you can remove this right now if you have live pups in there so get her to a vet.
It's not a Romeo and Juliet situation. It's instinct for the male to seek out a mate and allowing him access to the female is really a bit of a disaster especially given the fact you did not know the genetics of the parents and one is a white who could be carrying the eyeless white gene Make sure your cages are very secure and this can never happen again.
The blanket over the cage will be fine to give her privacy for now as long as you ensure there is ventilation. If there is a bad smell you must check using a clean spoon for dead pups. If mother is not constantly in the nest they are likely dead I'm afraid but again see a vet asap.
You should not self prescribe medication in case it is the wrong type. Pet shop meds are no use. Did you see a vet for the medications and what did they say?
Please let us know how things turn out and sorry for the bluntness of this post. I hope she rallies round for you.

[AmberJadeFriend]

Hello, yes I did see a vet.
She prescribed vitamins and other mineral drops for her water.
She also prescribed other hamster medication for her water as well. I have spent over R600 on just medication on her.. There are no funny smells and I can hear the babies every now and then so I know that they are safe and healthy at the moment. She has had one little before this one and she is acting the same however she is slow and sickly. I thought that it may be old age because we initially rescued her and have had her a year now.

Thank you so much for your advice and I will take her back to the vet ASAP.

[souffle]

She may be very tired and worn out with the babies. We would never breed a hamster at that age as it is an enormous strain on her body. Last breeding date would be around 8-9 months maximum however they are here now.
I'd supplement the food a lot with plenty babyfood and porridge. The pups will be eating themselves now a little so provide plenty small seeds and porridge oats sprinkled near the nest as well as small chopped cucumber for fluids. We use the omega seed sprinkle mix from health food stores as it has nice small seeds. Tiny cubes of tofu provide protein too. Hope the pups are OK and mum too.