46 replies to this topic

[lostinspace]

so for days and days i thought my hamster was getting worse with his illness but turns out.... shes a girl and she was pregnant when we got her.

 

i smelled an awful odor coming from a chamber in her den and when she left, i took her out of the enclosure to clean. i thought she was squeaking from pain and i might have to take her to a vet, but when i removed the bedding from the dirty chamber... i heard squeakings from the chamber right beside it. i removed the roof, as the chamber was full of moss, and... there was pups. i did not touch them directly ofc. more than two, possibly four or six. i put the roof back and put her back in the enclosure as well.

 

i don't think she ate them. she wasn't too scared and i didn't touch them so there was barely any of my scent. i'll check later to see if i can hear their squeaks, though i think i did hear it a few minutes after i left them and they weren't scared or anything.

 

they are definitely less than a week old. possibly born some days ago, as i heard brief squeaking that i thought came from her, or maybe even yesterday, as yesterday she pretty much didn't leave her den for the entire day. their eyes are closed, they are the size of a bottle cap (but smaller) and completely hairless. I guess they are in the pinky/jellybean stage.

 

they're either 2-3 days old or literally 1 day old.

 

i removed the tubes and the sand bath. i kept the pups inside her den for now as i knew they were newborns and needed her. ive read the pinned post but i still want to write this. i added mealworms to her bowl for protein.

 

so, questions:

 

what else should i do?

 

when will they come out of the den on their own?

 

when should i take them out of the den and separate the sexes?

 

how big should be the bin/box i'll be keeping them? i have a big bin pretty much the same size as the main enclosure but i can't keep males and females together. maybe i could make a barrier in the middle?

 

if i find a runt, should i separate it from all the other pups? i know they are rejected and could potentially be killed by their siblings or mom.

 

can someone please tell me the difference in sexes in baby WINTER WHITES? or russian dwarves as its probably identical? people only talk about baby syrians...

 

when should i give them to someone to adopt? i can't keep them when they're older, the enclosure is not big enough and i don't want a pair of dwarfs.

 

should i crush the seeds in the seed mix to feed them once they don't need their mom to feed them anymore? i guess their teeth will still be weak so...

 

how often should i check them? i don't feel confident enough to hand-raise any of them, but still.

 

do i really need to handle them? i don't feel confident enough.

 

i'm still worried about the odor. its still there but less, and its also inside her food stock, stronger as i didn't do anything there (she made it in a little house in the other side of the enclosure), so i guess its coming from herself. should i look for blood? i haven't seen any. i don't wanna remove her food stock, she'll be really stressed out by it, and it might simply be smelly pee. although i've smelled pee before in the sand bath and this odor is different, worse. 

 

[Lillias]

Read this post first. It covers a lot of your questions: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/129725-crash-course-on-hamster-pregnancies/

 

Mostly you should leave them alone (except as necessary, like adding food and water to the cage) until the pups' eyes open.

 

I am concerned about the odor. Did mum look okay when you saw her? It is possible that one of the pups was stillborn.

[lostinspace]

Read this post first. It covers a lot of your questions: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/129725-crash-course-on-hamster-pregnancies/

 

Mostly you should leave them alone (except as necessary, like adding food and water to the cage) until the pups' eyes open.

 

I am concerned about the odor. Did mum look okay when you saw her? It is possible that one of the pups was stillborn.

 

 

she looked perfectly fine.

[lil BIG dwarf]

Only handle them once their eyes are open-it’ll be a few weeks before they need to be separated by sex. The link Lillias added answers most of your questions, but for sexing dwarfs this is good- https://www.hamstersociety.sg/hamster-care-blog/2019/6/18/identifying-gender

[Kikya]

Cook some egg for momma, either scrambled or hard boiled. She needs the extra nutrients right now. Make sure she has access to fresh water and plenty of seeds. Don't touch the baby hams for a few weeks but then try to make sure they get used to being handled. It will make their lives easier. Remove any levels or wheels or sand baths for now. Don't bother changing the bedding or anything for a while. You can probably spot clean once the pups eyes are open.

 

and yeah all that squeaking could be explained. Also, the "yellow" on the tail may have been dried blood.

[lostinspace]

Cook some egg for momma, either scrambled or hard boiled. She needs the extra nutrients right now. Make sure she has access to fresh water and plenty of seeds. Don't touch the baby hams for a few weeks but then try to make sure they get used to being handled. It will make their lives easier. Remove any levels or wheels or sand baths for now. Don't bother changing the bedding or anything for a while. You can probably spot clean once the pups eyes are open.

 

and yeah all that squeaking could be explained. Also, the "yellow" on the tail may have been dried blood.

 

i've put some mealworms in her bowl for protein but i'll definitely tell my mom to make scrambled egg.

 

i'll try to 'introduce myself' to them once they come out of the den with their eyes open but i won't hold them yet. i want them to know my scent and see if Quione (mum's new name) is ok with it. 

 

would the 'dried blood' be concerning? she hasn't shown signs of anything harmful really, though they do hide their symptoms a lot.

 

i'm also hesitant to add veggies to her diet cuz she just healed from diarrhea and i don't want to make it come back :,)

 

 

Only handle them once their eyes are open-it’ll be a few weeks before they need to be separated by sex. The link Lillias added answers most of your questions, but for sexing dwarfs this is good- https://www.hamstersociety.sg/hamster-care-blog/2019/6/18/identifying-gender

 

omg thanks for that link! i'll definitely keep it in mind when figuring their sexes out.

[Kikya]

i've put some mealworms in her bowl for protein but i'll definitely tell my mom to make scrambled egg.

 

i'll try to 'introduce myself' to them once they come out of the den with their eyes open but i won't hold them yet. i want them to know my scent and see if Quione (mum's new name) is ok with it. 

 

would the 'dried blood' be concerning? she hasn't shown signs of anything harmful really, though they do hide their symptoms a lot.

 

i'm also hesitant to add veggies to her diet cuz she just healed from diarrhea and i don't want to make it come back :,)

 

 

 

omg thanks for that link! i'll definitely keep it in mind when figuring their sexes out.

I just mean there is blood when giving birth! Not that there is something wrong. Just make sure it's just plain scrambled egg, no salt or butter or anything =D

 

I don't know about your mom, but when I scrambled eggs for my kiddos, I load up the butter and salt haha

Edited by Kikya, 04 February 2022 - 10:12 PM.

[lostinspace]

First week (7 days since birth) update

 

Pups:

 

alive. less noisy as days went on. Mom's either really good at keeping them asleep, there's not many pups so no milk-fighting, or, in the worst case, they're ill, as I've read they are more quiet when they're ill. Though I can't think of literally anything that could cause it.

 

Mom:

 

Aggressive and territorial. accepts treats but chases my hand a lot, hissed a few times and is overall very angry, and bites me all the time. I don't blame her!    I've read this is normal behavior when they're nursing pups. 

Throughout the days i've fed her a half teaspoon of scrambled egg, been giving her mealworms each 1 day, sunflower seed treats and i gave her a single piece of apple and a peanut today. she's also using her chew toy (finally!) and i've bought some larger pellets, the ones people recommend for teeth care so hopefully no over-growing of teeth issues for the next months. We also bought a new, healthier seed mix (home-made, bought from an individual seller rather than a brand) which will likely arrive this weekend, so her diet and her pups' diet will improve significantly <3

 

---

 

I'm afraid she might still eat all her pups even with all i'm doing. Unfortunately, she gave birth on a terrible timing: we live in a house that is a shared yard, basically two houses in the same yard. The man who lives in the other house is the guy we pay rent to. He's alchoholic and he was hospitalized way long before I even thought about getting a hamster, so he wasn't here. However, at pretty much the next day after she gave birth to her pups, he returned. As my dog is not used to the man anymore, he barks (VERY loudly) every time he sees him. So the environment gets noisy at times, and it's completely out of my control. I hope she doesn't panic too much.

 

i'll try to be optimistic for the time being. 

 

Any advice?

Edited by lostinspace, 11 February 2022 - 03:53 AM.

[Kikya]

I wouldn't worry too much about the noise, hamsters get used to the day to day noise. I think you are doing a great job. Hopefully, we'll see some healthy pups coming out of the nest soon(ish) and you can post some pictures ;)

Edited by Kikya, 11 February 2022 - 04:26 AM.

[lostinspace]

I wouldn't worry too much about the noise, hamsters get used to the day to day noise. I think you are doing a great job. Hopefully, we'll see some healthy pups coming out of the nest soon(ish) and you can post some pictures ;)

 

weirdly enough, (just updated my post on ailments) i was really worried and took the opportunity when i took quione out for a small cleaning to check on the pups, i did not touch them, just moved the roof a little to try to see them, and they were there, alive, moving, BUT they didn't make a single noise. no squeaks, no cries, nothing, completely silent, whereas in the first day when i discovered them they were crying very loudly as if scared of my movement. i'm worried now that they might be ill cuz now i feel like quione might still be sick from something (check my post there :/)

 

vet care is unbelievably expensive here, a single check-up is nearly 200 BRL. i dont know what to do.

 

PS: i know i shouldnt spy on them. i wont do it anymore unless urgent. i was just extremely desperate

Edited by lostinspace, 11 February 2022 - 05:04 AM.

[Kikya]

weirdly enough, (just updated my post on ailments) i was really worried and took the opportunity when i took quione out for a small cleaning to check on the pups, i did not touch them, just moved the roof a little to try to see them, and they were there, alive, moving, BUT they didn't make a single noise. no squeaks, no cries, nothing, completely silent, whereas in the first day when i discovered them they were crying very loudly as if scared of my movement. i'm worried now that they might be ill cuz now i feel like quione might still be sick from something (check my post there :/)

 

vet care is unbelievably expensive here, a single check-up is nearly 200 BRL. i dont know what to do.

 

PS: i know i shouldnt spy on them. i wont do it anymore unless urgent. i was just extremely desperate

 

I'm going to go back to your other post to continue the conversation about Quione's possible illness.

 

There isn't much we can do for the pups anyway right now if mom is sick, the best thing we can do is try to get her better.

[lostinspace]

11 days update

 

it's two pups! an unusual number, honestly. one white, one dark gray. gender unknown.

still silent, might be ill, or maybe just growing up. 

as they haven't reached 2 weeks of age, they're still blind.

they are VERY needy and when Quione leaves the den to check on some noise (usually made by me), they are still suckling on her lol. she kind of has to drop them on the ground to do what she wants because they WON'T LEAVE HER IN PEACE. i'm writing this while smiling

in fact, i witnessed this scene today so here's a video of it  https://youtu.be/vFrWqKQslTk

 

everything seems fine with them except for the silence. (for info on quione check my post on ailments)

[lostinspace]

13?? days update???

 

the pups' eyes seem to be already open/opening, so they either opened them a little earlier, or i miscalculated when they were born.

 

either way, i see them walking around the enclosure more frequently. they seem to be ok, already chewing on things and stuff.

[Kikya]

13?? days update???

 

the pups' eyes seem to be already open/opening, so they either opened them a little earlier, or i miscalculated when they were born.

 

either way, i see them walking around the enclosure more frequently. they seem to be ok, already chewing on things and stuff.

It's a good time to offer them some soft solids! Like steamed veggies, cooked chicken, etc. Will help take a load off momma feeding them and maybe help the one she's not as interested in.

 

Good time to prep for separation too, if you haven't already, it happens about 4 weeks but it's good to get the cages ready in advance, just in case.

[lostinspace]

update

 

ITS NOT JUST TWO. OH MY GOD.

 

https://youtu.be/VuQX_fn90fg

 

i saw 3 white pups and 2 grays. my god this will be harder than i expected

 

(all seem healthy!)