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| The Helpful Hamster |
| Abandoned & Orphaned Babies |
| Many people end up with abandoned & orphaned babies, so I am writing this post for all you hamster lovers that end up with abandoned & orphaned babies.
Many times your hamster will have a litter of pups, you are also very excited, and you cant wait to see the new pups grow up. Then after you wake up the next day, you reach the cage and take a look at all the cute babies, just then you notice the mother is gone or that the mother is dead. First of all, calm down, don’t freak out, there is a probability that the baby hamsters can survive. You will have to spend many hours helping these babies survive but in the end it will be worth it. First thing to do is to remove the mom if she is dead or set up a bucket trap to catch the mom. If the mom has died you will have to clean the cage and make the pups a new nest. Best thing to do is use a small box filled with bedding. Second move the cage to a warmer location or setup a heating pad under the bottom of the cage, directly under the nest. Make sure its on a low heat setting. Feel the glass and make sure that the heating pad is not too hot. Third, every hamster will have to be warmed up with a clean towel. Its best to get some good friends and family members to help so you can warm more hamsters at once. Gently rub the hamsters in a small, clean, towel and warm them up for about 15 minutes each, longer is better if you have more friends to help. Fourth, since you can not leave the babies, you will have to have someone rush to the local pet store and buy some KMR milk and a eye dropper. KMR is a replacement milk for kitten mothers milk. It is also used for other small animals including hamsters. once the KMR is purchased you will want to set up a timer to go off every hour. When it goes off, feed the hamsters about 3-5 drops of KMR. You will do this everyday (and every night) until your hamsters are 20-23 days old. Once the hamsters start eating solid foods its best to use baby food that comes in jars. only give them certain kinds of baby foods like peas, carrots, etc. Also when you start giving you hamsters more solid foods its best to cut the food up into small chunks. This way its easier for the hamsters to eat them. You will also have to lower the water bottle so the baby hamsters will be able to reach it. The water you put in there will have to be 50% water and 50% pedialyte. The pedialyte will help prevent dehydration. Tips- *When feeding your abandoned & orphaned pups KMR you will have to use an eyedropper. The best way to feed the hamster is to touch the hamsters mouth very gently and wait until the hamsters mouth opens. then drop the KMR in the hamsters mouth. Be careful to not get the KMR in the hamsters nose & never force feed your hamsters. *If you are a big breeder you might be able to transfer the hamsters into a litter of pups that are about the same age. This has been done before and is the best way to help the abandoned & orphaned pups survive. To do this you will have to take some of the bedding from the other litters nest and rub the abandoned & orphaned pups in the bedding so they get the same scent as the other pups. Then when the mom is away from the nest you will have to place the abandoned & orphaned pups in the other pups nest. Hopefully the mom will accept the new pets. Be careful not to touch the other pups when you are adding the abandoned & orphaned pups to the nest. I Hope this helps you all if you ever find yourself with abandoned and orphaned pups. Since I own a hamster rescue I sometimes receive abandoned & orphaned pups, Its hard work to help these abandoned & orphaned pups survive but its possible. I have seen many abandoned & orphaned pups die and its very sad so that why I wrote this. With proper knowledge you can help your abandoned and orphaned pups survive. Thanks Thanks, Oregon Hamster ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Pups that are 8 days and younger have a better chance of survival if you can find a "surrogate" mom. A "surrogate" mom is a female that has recently given birth and is nursing her own litter of pups. There's a "chance" that she will accept the "abandoned" pups as her own and proceed to raise them but no absolute guarantee of success but it's still worth a shot. If no "surrogate" mom is available or if the "surrogate" mom rejects the pups then you gotta attempt to "hand raise" the pups. You will need "KMR" which is a milk replacer used for kittens but it says right on the package that it can be used for hamsters. If no "KMR" is available then you can use either "baby formula" or "evaporated milk" (50% evaporated milk mixed with 50 % warm water) For pups from birth to approximately 12 days old you gotta feed them around the clock with an eyedropper. Feed each pup "3 drops" of "KMR" approximately every hour. Once they begin eating solid food in addition to nursing you can drop the amount of "KMR" in the eyedropper to ".5 - 1 ml. and now feed them still around the clock but at 2-3 hour intervals. Continue this shedule until the pups are approximately "21 days" when even pups raised by their mom would be fully weaned give or take a day in either direction. An important step that you can't forget is that after each feeding you gotta stimulate each pup to "urinate" and "defacate"(poop) like the mom would do only you do this by gently rubbing the pup's genital and anal area with a warm,moist cloth. Pups got a tendency to lose body heat real fast without the mom to keep them warm so suppy extra nesting material in the form of white,unscented toilet paper and place a heating pad under the tank/cage. Keep the temp setting on low. Pups also "dehydrate" rapidly so at around approximately 8 days you can add pieces of a peeled apple to the nest. Also when the pups are old enough to drink from a hanging water bottle then fill it with unflavored pedialyte and water (50% unflavored pedialyte/50% water) and then lower the water bottle so the pups can reach it. Keep this in mind when feeding the pups with the eyedropper. You gotta be real careful and do it gently never forcing the fluid because a pup can actually inhale the liquid into his/her lungs and this can lead to death. Hopefully you will never have a litter of pups you gotta "hand raise" but if you are ever faced with the situation and you follow the above info and if you are dedicated,determined,and patient then you are gonna be the pups best chance at survival. It's hard work no doubt about it but it can be done and absolutely worth the effort to save the little dudes from death. - Alex A. Article used with permission from Alex A. Rebels Rodent Retreat |
| Copyright © 2004 - The Helpful Hamster |