9 replies to this topic

[Silktail]

So . . . I have been taking care of baby hamsters at work. The vendor accidentally sent us a female and out popped some babies.

I read the crash course here and basically have just been letting mom do her thing. She took very good care of them and has 5 happy babies .

I still have them all together right now, but the babies' eyes are completely open and they can eat solid food and they do normal hamster stuff like burrow and hoard. It's funny when I feed them because they make a hoard train and all contribute to the same one in one of their hides lol. I also have been feeding them Oxbow Critical Care (omnivore with a little herbivore mixed in for more fiber and better texture) every day. Mom was getting fed this along with a 21% lab block when she was nursing. The food I am feeding them now is the high protein mix I was feeding my robo when he was still considered a juvenile. Every few days they get a bowl of veggies and Nature's Salad sprinkled around.

Are they ready to be sexed, separated, and adopted out? I've read anywhere from 21-28 days, but I just don't want to do it too soon. Mom used to be very defencive and would bite if you came anywhere near her babies, but now she seems less protective over them which also indicates to me they are ready to go.

Also along with this if anyone is in the Michigan area (or even if you're not, I'll ship them), my work place has baby syrians and mom that need to be adopted out for free :P.

Edited by Silktail, 17 January 2022 - 12:52 AM.

[Kikya]

So . . . I have been taking care of baby hamsters at work. The vendor accidentally sent us a female and out popped some babies.

I read the crash course here and basically have just been letting mom do her thing. She took very good care of them and has 5 happy babies .

I still have them all together right now, but the babies' eyes are completely open and they can eat solid food and they do normal hamster stuff like burrow and hoard. It's funny when I feed them because they make a hoard train and all contribute to the same one in one of their hides lol. I also have been feeding them Oxbow Critical Care (omnivore with a little herbivore mixed in for more fiber and better texture) every day. Mom was getting fed this along with a 21% lab block when she was nursing. The food I am feeding them now is the high protein mix I was feeding my robo when he was still considered a juvenile. Every few days they get a bowl of veggies and Nature's Salad sprinkled around.

Are they ready to be sexed, separated, and adopted out? I've read anywhere from 21-28 days, but I just don't want to do it too soon. Mom used to be very defencive and would bite if you came anywhere near her babies, but now she seems less protective over them which also indicates to me they are ready to go.

Also along with this if anyone is in the Michigan area (or even if you're not, I'll ship them), my work place has baby syrians and mom that need to be adopted out for free :P.

I am pretty sure you need to separate them from mom by 4 weeks. I think you can do it earlier if they are eating solid foods but it's better to wait til 4 weeks.
 

Also, please handle them a lot so they are friendly!

 

PS what state are you in? =D

Edited by Kikya, 17 January 2022 - 04:13 AM.

[Silktail]

I am pretty sure you need to separate them from mom by 4 weeks. I think you can do it earlier if they are eating solid foods but it's better to wait til 4 weeks.

Also, please handle them a lot so they are friendly!

PS what state are you in? =D

Yeah I was scared to handle them before because mom would bite the moment it looked like you were coming near her babies, and I read she can panic and kill her babies if stressed too much. I think they are old enough to handle now though since she is losing interest.

I am in Michigan. I so badly want these out of petsmart and not going to a screaming child that I will "adopt" them for you and ship them if you want.

Either mom or a female baby is going to a regular customer who keeps all sorts of small mammals. She has no hamsters atm, but she has mice and rats and built custom enclosures for both. I told her females are notorious for being hard to please and she said she wants the challenge since she's only had male hamsters in the past. Someone from reddit is highly interested in adopting a male.

[Kikya]

Yeah I was scared to handle them before because mom would bite the moment it looked like you were coming near her babies, and I read she can panic and kill her babies if stressed too much. I think they are old enough to handle now though since she is losing interest.

I am in Michigan. I so badly want these out of petsmart and not going to a screaming child that I will "adopt" them for you and ship them if you want.

Either mom or a female baby is going to a regular customer who keeps all sorts of small mammals. She has no hamsters atm, but she has mice and rats and built custom enclosures for both. I told her females are notorious for being hard to please and she said she wants the challenge since she's only had male hamsters in the past. Someone from reddit is highly interested in adopting a male.

Ah right, Michigan. Unfortunately, you aren't able to ship hamsters except via air plane, but I am glad you have some potential adopters! You are doing such a great job helping people learn about better hamster care. The people I talk to at Petsmart aren't nearly as educated, and I feel like I know more than they do.

[Silktail]

Ah right, Michigan. Unfortunately, you aren't able to ship hamsters except via air plane, but I am glad you have some potential adopters! You are doing such a great job helping people learn about better hamster care. The people I talk to at Petsmart aren't nearly as educated, and I feel like I know more than they do.

That is because PetSmart does 0 training on actual animal knowledge. All the Pet Care team is taught are the duties of their position. I'm the manager of Pet Care, and no one on my team even owns an exotic vet aside for one girl who owns birds (all rescues and hand tamed so her knowledge is very much appreciated). I think there's a few people on my team who literally don't even own pets at all and never really have.

Virtually all of my hamster knowledge has come from this forum. My main area of knowledge and first exotic pet love is actually fish lol.

[nebit]

You can separate from Mom at 4 weeks, and should separate by sex at that point, but I would hang on to them until 8 weeks before adoption. month old Syrians are still very small and fragile, and some breeders think there are benefits to remaining with same-sex littermates a bit longer while they gain size and strength. I'd say this is doubly true for this situation, where adopters may have limited, if any, hamster experience.

[Silktail]

You can separate from Mom at 4 weeks, and should separate by sex at that point, but I would hang on to them until 8 weeks before adoption. month old Syrians are still very small and fragile, and some breeders think there are benefits to remaining with same-sex littermates a bit longer while they gain size and strength. I'd say this is doubly true for this situation, where adopters may have limited, if any, hamster experience.

Okay, should I keep feeding them critical care this whole time? They just get a bowl of it at night right now and critical care is always super popular with hamsters.

[nebit]

Okay, should I keep feeding them critical care this whole time? They just get a bowl of it at night right now and critical care is always super popular with hamsters.

No, they should be fine to eat solids by 4 weeks. A little benebac wouldn't be a bad idea though, given their store environment, if you can, send a few days home with the new owners too.

[Silktail]

No, they should be fine to eat solids by 4 weeks. A little benebac wouldn't be a bad idea though, given their store environment, if you can, send a few days home with the new owners too.

I don't readily have access to benebac without ordering online, but we do sell this product in our store:

https://www.bil-jac.com/products/breakthru-biotics-probiotic-food-spray/

It's basically spray probiotics. Do you think if I sprayed this on their veggies (or food honestly since I doubt that little bit of moisture will make it spoil) it would be beneficial?

[Kikya]

I don't readily have access to benebac without ordering online, but we do sell this product in our store:

https://www.bil-jac.com/products/breakthru-biotics-probiotic-food-spray/

It's basically spray probiotics. Do you think if I sprayed this on their veggies (or food honestly since I doubt that little bit of moisture will make it spoil) it would be beneficial?

I think you are better off feeding a little bit of plain yogurt than that stuff. It's not designed for small animals and has extra ingredients not great for them.