Hamsters eating babies

[naturegal592]

A girl in my day care recently got 2 dwarf hamsters for her birthday. When I saw them I suspected they were both pregnant. Her mom just sent me a text saying there were babies last night but they were eaten. Why do they do this and how can you prevent it? If the other is indeed pregnant maybe she can do something to save those babies.

[AnimalHouse36]

DO NOT disturb the nest during this time as she may decide to turn on them and eat them. The cage will smell during this time - that's unavoidable, any attempts to change the bedding material would increase the likelihood of cannibalism so it's best to just leave it for the moment and put up with the smell. Sometimes despite all this, the female hamster will still cannibalize her young, this is common in female hamsters under 4 months

Just one of many reasons. Hope this helps.

[Justin]

Originally Posted by AnimalHouse36

Just one of many reasons.

Amen

[AnimalHouse36]

Make sure not to bother the mother hamster during the first few days because this might cause her to bite you or eat her babies.

You should always resist the temptation to pick a pup up, the mother will not like it and can even cause her to abandon or even worse, canibalize the handled pup.

It's not necessary to remove any of the pups, mama knows how many she is capable of raising and will reduce the number herself if she considers it necessary - she will cull out the weakest first.

.

If Mama Hamster feels threatened that there is not sufficient nourishment and water available to sustain her new family, by instinct, she will mercifully kill the pups rather than let them die the agonizing death of starvation or dehydration.

A few more. Very brutal but very truthful. I think maybe you should educate the mother on petshops. Just my opinion though.

I'll PM you a website that has the link that tells you how to keep the mamma hamster from killling them. Its a breeding site.

[naturegal592]

Thank you for all of the info! I will pass it on in the morning. She didn't get them from a pet shop. The lady I just got one of my pigs from had 3 dwarf hamsters also. She had the 2 females with a male! Anyways, she was moving and couldn't take all of her critters with her. I think my guinea is pregnant too.

[AnimalHouse36]

Originally Posted by naturegal592

I think my guinea is pregnant too.

Oh boy, Guinea Lynx :: Breeding
just incase. Hope the guinea isn't pregnant because we all know how that could end. Good luck.

[naturegal592]

I'm all set there, I just hope it goes OK, she is about 4 months old. She is eating good and has gained 3oz in the past 2 weeks.

[AnimalHouse36]

Originally Posted by naturegal592

I'm all set there, I just hope it goes OK, she is about 4 months old. She is eating good and has gained 3oz in the past 2 weeks.

Is she definatly pregnant? That is alot of weight gain but she's young. Good luck, I hope all goes well.

[naturegal592]

She still hasn't taken on an extreme pear shape yet but she is a little bulgy. I also think I may have felt movement so I baby proofed and she is getting alfalfa along with her hay, pellets, and veggies. The lady I got her from only had her for 2 weeks but purchased her from a pet store where she and another female were with a male teddy. The other female gave birth 2 weeks ago at the store I am told.

[AnimalHouse36]

Do you know how long she was in the store? The gestation period is around 65 days I believe. Do you have an exotic vet you could take her to just in case? He should be able to tell you if she is and I'm sure that would be a great help.

[naturegal592]

I do have a good vet that I have used before, I am prepared for her to have babies though, so I don't see it necessary to pay him $40 to give me a yes or no. I will just treat her as a pregnant girl and if she doesn't have babies I know she was not. She has been away from the male now for about 30 days so I do have a ways to go if it happened shortly before she was purchased. The lady I got her from also had a male so if she thought Bella was preggers she may have housed them together, time will tell.

[AnimalHouse36]

What if there is a problem? It may be a good idea to notify your vet if you aren't going to take your pigger to him. That way if there is a problem he will be able to react quickly.