How to Take Care of a Litter of Hamsters

When you have a male and female hamster, it is almost inevitable that the female will become pregnant. Occasionally, the female hamster you bought from the pet store may turn out to be pregnant. Caring for your pregnant hamster and her newborn litter is pretty simple but should be done with great care. With the appropriate care, the little hamster pups will grow into great pets.

Things You'll Need

  • Hamster cages
  • bedding
  • Water bottle
  • Hamster food
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Instructions

    • 1

      Care for your pregnant hamster first. You should begin taking care of the pups before they are even born. If your female hamster seems to be getting fat very quickly (within just a couple of days) and you notice her eating more and making a nest, she very well may be pregnant. Feed her lots of high protein foods like peanut butter, cheese and oats.

    • 2

      Remove any males from the cage and separate them. Some males make good fathers but others may eat their young. They will also try to impregnate the female as soon as she gives birth. This should be avoided because it may stress the female. When the female hamster delivers her young, the best thing to do is leave her alone. She instinctively knows what to do and will gather all her newborn babies in the nest.

    • 3

      Resist touching the new babies. They may look cute but they are very vulnerable. Some hamsters are cannibalistic and will eat the babies if a strange scent is on them, like yours. It is a good idea to keep the cage in a quiet room for the first couple of weeks, so the hamsters will not be disturbed.

    • 4

      After the babies have been left alone for two weeks, you can clean the cage. Handling should still be kept to a minimum to avoid stressing out the mother or pups. Remove any soiled bedding and replace it with new bedding. At two weeks they will also be weaned from the mother and can start eating soft food like bread, cooked vegetables, fruit and milk.

    • 5

      Never place a water dish in a cage with baby hamsters, as they are likely to fall in and drown. They should figure out how to drink from the water bottle when their eyes open, at about twelve days old. If they haven't figured out how to use the water bottle yet, place pieces of cucumber in the cage. They will be able to get enough water from the cucumber.

    • 6

      Separate the babies when they are around three or four weeks old. At this age they may start fighting and could be a danger to each other. They also can start eating normal hamster foods at this age. It is important to separate the sexes because hamsters will start mating by the time they are eight weeks old.