accidental hamster litter?

[kismet]

i recently got a hamster from a person off of a second hand seller site
said person claimed that the hamster was a male (which turned out to be untrue)
a little under a week ago i noticed that there was a lot of swelling around the hips of the animal and a few days back she lost a lot of weight and i started hearing a lot of small squeaking noises from the burrow
i haven’t seen the babies yet but i am at least 90% sure that i now have an accidental litter on my hands
i don’t know what to do in this situation since i most likely won’t be able to rehome them (i live in a small russian city where hamsters aren’t exactly the most popular pets) and if i do end up rehoming them i seriously doubt they will be taken care of properly
any advice would be appreciated
thank you!!

[Spud]

Oh dear, what a nightmare.
I've found these articles from other forums which are pretty in-depth:
https://www.das-hamsterforum.de/t/was-t ... en.178803/
https://www.forum.hamsterhilfe-nrw.de/f ... s-was-tun/

I believe @Brianandthekids had a similar situation, so they may be able to give you some more advice.

As soon as its safe to do so (around 14 days after you think the babies were born) I would recommend trying to find out how many babies there are. I hope that there are only a few, as this may make it possible for you to look after them for ever. If there are more than you think you can cope with, you will need to plan ahead and start looking for suitable homes (I appreciate it won't be easy).

Absolutely make sure you separate them into same-sex groups by day 28. You musn't get this wrong, otherwise you may have another accidental litter on your hands. From day 35-56, they should be separated into individual housing.

Can you start planning/budgeting ahead now to make sure you have all the supplies they will need (bin cages/ food/ wheels and enrichment etc.)?

Good luck with everything, I hope the articles are helpful.

[Lillias]

For the first two weeks, you want to give the mother hamster as much peace and quiet as possible. Don't touch the pups or bother the nest. Interference will stress out the mother hamster.

Try to quietly remove any items that may pose a danger to the pups (like the wheel). Also, add more protein to the food (such as dried crickets or chicken).


This post has a lot of helpful information:
viewtopic.php?t=57

[Kikya]

i recently got a hamster from a person off of a second hand seller site
said person claimed that the hamster was a male (which turned out to be untrue)
a little under a week ago i noticed that there was a lot of swelling around the hips of the animal and a few days back she lost a lot of weight and i started hearing a lot of small squeaking noises from the burrow
i haven’t seen the babies yet but i am at least 90% sure that i now have an accidental litter on my hands
i don’t know what to do in this situation since i most likely won’t be able to rehome them (i live in a small russian city where hamsters aren’t exactly the most popular pets) and if i do end up rehoming them i seriously doubt they will be taken care of properly
any advice would be appreciated
thank you!!

Hi Kismet,

The article that Lillias linked detailing crash course on hamster pregnancies will be helpful to you. Of course, we are happy to help you with any questions.

The best thing you can do is keep the momma in a quiet dark place, give her extra fresh foods, like cooked eggs and fresh veggies. Don't try to spot clean or do much in the first couple of weeks. Like Lillias said remove anything that they could get stuck on or may scratch them.

If you can, spend this time making a couple of bin cages to separate the pups when they are old enough and maybe do some networking to see if you can find some suitable homes. If not, make a lot of bins lol and maybe see what used hamster supplies could be donated or found on a resell site.

What kind of cage does the momma have now?

[kismet]

Oh dear, what a nightmare.
I've found these articles from other forums which are pretty in-depth:
https://www.das-hamsterforum.de/t/was-t ... en.178803/
https://www.forum.hamsterhilfe-nrw.de/f ... s-was-tun/

I believe @Brianandthekids had a similar situation, so they may be able to give you some more advice.

As soon as its safe to do so (around 14 days after you think the babies were born) I would recommend trying to find out how many babies there are. I hope that there are only a few, as this may make it possible for you to look after them for ever. If there are more than you think you can cope with, you will need to plan ahead and start looking for suitable homes (I appreciate it won't be easy).

Absolutely make sure you separate them into same-sex groups by day 28. You musn't get this wrong, otherwise you may have another accidental litter on your hands. From day 35-56, they should be separated into individual housing.

Can you start planning/budgeting ahead now to make sure you have all the supplies they will need (bin cages/ food/ wheels and enrichment etc.)?

Good luck with everything, I hope the articles are helpful.

thank you very much for your advice!!

[kismet]

For the first two weeks, you want to give the mother hamster as much peace and quiet as possible. Don't touch the pups or bother the nest. Interference will stress out the mother hamster.

Try to quietly remove any items that may pose a danger to the pups (like the wheel). Also, add more protein to the food (such as dried crickets or chicken).


This post has a lot of helpful information:
viewtopic.php?t=57

i really appreciate the advice, thank you

[kismet]

i recently got a hamster from a person off of a second hand seller site
said person claimed that the hamster was a male (which turned out to be untrue)
a little under a week ago i noticed that there was a lot of swelling around the hips of the animal and a few days back she lost a lot of weight and i started hearing a lot of small squeaking noises from the burrow
i haven’t seen the babies yet but i am at least 90% sure that i now have an accidental litter on my hands
i don’t know what to do in this situation since i most likely won’t be able to rehome them (i live in a small russian city where hamsters aren’t exactly the most popular pets) and if i do end up rehoming them i seriously doubt they will be taken care of properly
any advice would be appreciated
thank you!!

Hi Kismet,

The article that Lillias linked detailing crash course on hamster pregnancies will be helpful to you. Of course, we are happy to help you with any questions.

The best thing you can do is keep the momma in a quiet dark place, give her extra fresh foods, like cooked eggs and fresh veggies. Don't try to spot clean or do much in the first couple of weeks. Like Lillias said remove anything that they could get stuck on or may scratch them.

If you can, spend this time making a couple of bin cages to separate the pups when they are old enough and maybe do some networking to see if you can find some suitable homes. If not, make a lot of bins lol and maybe see what used hamster supplies could be donated or found on a resell site.

What kind of cage does the momma have now?

thank you very much for the advice, she is currently in a large bin cage)

[TinyPaws]

I found this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_v6ZWO177w
I hope it can help and good luck to you, the babies and the mom!

[Kikya]

thank you very much for the advice, she is currently in a large bin cage)

I would make at least two more bins for when you need to separate the males and females. If you need help sexing them later on, we can try to help you.

Do you think you will have the resources to keep the whole litter, each one having it's own cage setup or will you need to rehome?

[kismet]

thank you very much for the advice, she is currently in a large bin cage)

I would make at least two more bins for when you need to separate the males and females. If you need help sexing them later on, we can try to help you.

Do you think you will have the resources to keep the whole litter, each one having it's own cage setup or will you need to rehome?

i definitely do not have the resources or the space to keep the litter and i will absolutely rehome them all (and try to find people who might be able to take care of them properly)
on another note i’d like to ask whether it would be okay to vacuum in the same room as the hamsters? they’re in my bedroom and it is getting really dusty in there. i’ve been avoiding it for about a week (since i found out the babies were born) but at this point it’s becoming a bit unbearable. i feel like moving the bin too much might disturb them let alone the sounds that the vacuum makes ^^;