pregnant dwarf hamster, eastern Iowa

[aqh88]

Ever had one of those times where an animal just strikes you as needing so much help you think about it constantly? Well meet Delilah:delilah - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting. I saw Delilah a week ago and haven't been able to forget her. I even named her before there was any chance I could get her. She was living in a tiny cage with 3 syrian hamsters and she's pregnant. Syrians are solitary and quite a bit more agressive than dwarf hamsters. They were picking on her constantly and I knew would probably kill her, the babies, and each other eventually. Everytime I looked at her she kept scrambling at the sides of the cage begging to be picked up. It took a week but finally her owner has decided he doesn't want her anymore. Although I still can't get him to seperate the syrian or give them a bigger cage.

I absolutely cannot keep Delilah. I have a sick horse I've been taking care of constantly along with the 9 guinea pigs and fish tanks. I've had to find homes for 5 of my horses, Cinnamon is leaving for a new home as soon as they get a cage built, and probably 2 other guinea pigs as well as combining several of my fish tanks to cut down on the amount of work. I will try my best to keep her until her babies are born and weaned but if someone doesn't adopt her I will probably end up taking her to the shelter eventually. At least she will have a much better chance at life than she had before.

So far Delilah has been very sweet. She ran into my hand to get out of the cage, hasn't bit, and is quite friendly. She is pregnant though and now that she's settling into her own cage she doesn't really like her belly being touched. She made upset noises at me when I scooped her out for pictures. If someone wants to take her while she's still pregnant I would prefer it to be someone who has experience with dwarf hamsters but I won't turn down anyone who is willing to do the research and work to take care of a pregnant dwarf hamster. Otherwise in probably 1month or a little over there will be baby hamsters ready to be weaned. She comes with a 10g tank(needs a mesh lid) and the necessary hamster supplies.

Why do I keep getting this feeling that I have the word sucker printed on my forehead?

[3littlepigs]

No not a sucker, just someone with a big heart. Wish I lived closer, she looks like a real cutie. Hope you find a great home for her and her babies soon!

[bunnyluv17]

Are you sure she's pregnant? Did the previous owner have her in with a male dwarf hamster at some point?

[aqh88]

Well pregant or she swallowed a bunch of tiny rocks that are sticking out either side. I could be wrong. It happens but it's not likely. The owner hadn't had any of them long. If he did she'd probably have at least a few injuries from the syrians. She probably was left with father or brothers too long before that. I'd also say she's under 6months old at least and possibly 4months.

[aqh88]

Well I think she likes it here. She just setup it up so I can't adopt her out for at least a week or 2. As of 7 this morning we have baby dwarf hamsters. Hamsters are notoriously bad mothers so none of the cage can be disturbed for at least 1 week or they have a high chance of killing their own young in order to keep a predator from attacking their nest to get them. I'm surprised a young mother with probably her first litter in a new cage actually took care of them. That's better than most hamsters do.

[aqh88]

The little hamsters now have their eyes open and will be wandering around soon. There's at least 3.

[fourbwabbys]

Aww. Do you have any pictures of the little ones?

[aqh88]

I only checked on them real quick while she was getting food so no time to take pictures. I definitely will once they start coming out on their own. She won't be as protective then. I got bit a couple days ago for trying to see how they were doing. Up until now I only knew they were there from the odd little squeaks that kept coming from the pile of bedding.

[aqh88]

The babies started coming out to wander around so it was definitely time to clean the cage. Here are babies in a bucket waiting for their cage to be cleaned: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...h/P1010024.jpg. Turns out there's 5 of them and they are so wiggly I couldn't get any other good pics of them. They've started eating some hamster food and the little squeaks have occasionally turned into a rather loud racket when they all get to wrestling and arguing.

[fourbwabbys]

Awww! How cute, they're little mini-me's!

[aqh88]

I believe we have 3 male and 2 female babies but I'm not 100% on one of the females. The males have been seperated to their own tank and are ready to be adopted. I really can't keep them especially since I've been sick the past week and haven't had time for my permanent pets much less the rescues, so if noone wants them they will probably have to go to the shelter soon.

[bunnyluv17]

Have you tried posting on petfinder or hanging flyers around town? How about take out a classified ad or post on a hamster forum?

[aqh88]

I have a post on petfinder, guinealynx, a horse health forum, and a couple gerbil/hamster forums but most of the good gerbil and hamster forums I know are UK based with few american members. We also have fliers at the vet office, feed store, pet store, and grocery store. This place is over run with dwarf hamsters because of a certain petstore that breeds them and I swear sells a dozen a day.

[aqh88]

Delilah and one of her daughters are still looking for a home.