What to Do when Your Hamster is Pregnant

My son had been wanting a pet for a while. We are not allowed to have pets at our residence so we had been unable to get him one. Plus pets are a huge responsibility and they cost money to take care of them. It is a big responsibility when you decide to become a pet owner.

He decided he would like a hamster. I thought this may be a good idea. They are cute and small and containable. I checked into the prices of food and the other items we would need and thought.we could handle having a pet hamster.

I went to the pet store and looked at all the different varieties. Who would have thought there were so many to choose from. Black bear, long haired, Siberian, Russian Dwarf... all so cute. I let him pick out the one he liked the best and asked the salesperson whether it is male or female. She told me it was a female.

We picked out a cage with a wheel and a ball for it to roll around the floor in. We bought food and bedding and some little chew toys.

We brought her home and he named her and fell immediately in love.

Now my other child decides he wants one. Back to the store I go. I let him pick out the one he likes, then made sure it is the same gender as the previous one. I did this, well because they can mate like... well, hamsters.

Even though they each have their own cage, my children let them room together so they are not lonely and have someone to play with.

Things were going great.

Until one day my oldest son brought me his hamster and asked me the inevitable question.

"Is she pregnant"?

What? She can not be. They both are the same sex and we have had them for months.

I looked at her belly and she seemed wider and her nipples were more prominent.

He then informed me she seemed to have been making a nest.

I thought I had better start researching to see of this were possible and what I needed to do.

I learned that it is hard to tell male from female. The males genitals are farther from the tail area and the females are close together. When they are younger it can be hard to tell the difference.

I went in and compared them and realized the second hamster I had bought was a male.

I informed my child to separate them immediately and to put her in cage by herself. Make sure the bedding is clean and she has food and water. To tear up some bathroom tissue and put in the cage for her to burrow in.

A hamster can deliver anywhere from 16-22 says depending on the variety of hamster. They can have as many as 18 babies.

She had the babies by the next morning. If you are able to see them, you will see they are very small and pink.

You are not to touch the babies at all or the mother. It is preferable to not handle the mother for a few days before she gives birth. Don't even clean the cage. Keep the cage in a quiet area.

I fed her scrambled eggs and milk soaked bread in addition to her normal food. The extra protein is needed.

Now, there is a chance the mother may eat all or some of the young. Especially if this were her first pregnancy, if someone touched the babies or if she is disturbed or upset in anyway or if something were young with the baby. There is nothing you can do to stop this.

If it seems she has abandoned one of them, take a spoon and rub it in the bedding and then use it to move the baby to the nest. Hopefully she will then realize it is hers and take care of it.

After about 5 days you may hear them making noises. When the mother comes out she usually covers them back up. if she doesn't you may be able to peek in and see they are starting to grow fur.

At about 10 days they may start trying to come out and move around. You are still not to touch them.

One the babies eyes are open you can then handle them. This can happen anywhere from 14 days and on. At this point you can clean the cage.

At about 3 weeks the babies can be separated from the mother but can stay with her up until 4 weeks or so.

Try and determine the gender and separate the males from the females. Unfortunately then can mate at an early age and the mother could also get pregnant again almost immediately. This could be dangerous to her health as she has not had time to recover.

You can try and find homes for the babies or can take them to a pet shop.

If you decide to keep any, make sure you keep the males and females separated or you may be doing this all again within a few weeks!

I hope my experiences may be able to help someone else who ends up with hamsters with different genders or purchases one that happens to already be pregnant.