Do you want to know how many hamster babies can your hamster have? If yes, then continue reading this post as here you will get to know about hamster breeding, pregnancy, sexing, and babies.
You may don’t know that hamsters reproduce at a surprising rate. They can produce litters as often as monthly. In fact, they can breed at their 3 weeks of age, and this means it is essential to separate babies from their mother and place them into the same gender groups. If you fail to do this, then it can result in plenty of unnecessary hamster babies in a couple of nights.
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How Many Babies Can a Hamster Have?
All hamsters are capable of giving birth to the same number of baby hamsters or pups. Generally, they can give birth to 6 to 12 hamster babies per litter. On infrequent occasions, a female hamster may give birth to 20 hamster babies.
How many pups do dwarf hamsters can have? Usually, it depends on the hamster mother, which means how many babies she can have. A litter can be small, ranging from 2 to 3. However, it can also be big that can range from 12 to 16 or more. And the more pups there are, the higher the rate of mortality will be. A usual litter ranges from 4 to 6 hamster babies.
A mother hamster should be well hydrated, fed, and should be placed in a low-stress environment during this time. Underfed and anxious hamster mothers may kill their babies.
How can you have baby hamsters?
To breed your hamsters, you need to introduce your female hamster into the cage of male hamster every evening for almost 4 days during your female estrus. And estrus is 12 hours, in which female hamster mate with male one. This happens during the night, and moreover, there may be minor tussling and sparring between female and male hamster. The female hamster will be receptive if she splays her legs and squashes her body when you try to stroke your pet back.
If she does not settle down and seems to only fight with the male hamster, then you should separate your female hamster from the male one. If the mating happens, then keep them both together for numerous hours or overnight.
When Mother Hamster Start Weaning?
A mother hamster will begin weaning her pups at two or three weeks of age. This frame of time may vary and depends on how many hamster babies are in the litter and plus, how well individual babies are thriving. Babies may continue to nurse during this time frame. Once they start to become mature, they will be separated by their mother. During this time, you should supply enough food to your hamster to make the transition smoother and more comfortable.
When to Remove the Babies from their Mother?
You can remove the pups from their mother at about three to four weeks of age. However, if litter has small babies that are failed to thrive, then you should not remove them from their mother for an extra week. Generally, baby hamsters can go their adoptive homes at 3 weeks of age. It is preferable that you should adopt hamster babies before 7 weeks old.
Some of the hamster’s breeds, especially dwarf, are really hard to differentiate from the perspective of gender during a young age. However, you need to distinguish between females and males to avoid unwanted breeding. Hamsters come with two distinctive openings on their undersides that are adjacent or next to their tails. In females, these are a little bit close together, and on the other side, openings are a little apart.
What to do if your Hamster has Babies?
A surprise or unexpected birth is not uncommon when it comes to hamsters. They are frequently incorrectly sexed, and you accidentally purchased the hamster as adults. So, it is best to ensure you buy your hamster from a pet store that always separated females from males at a young age to avoid such kind of surprises.
Sometimes, you will buy a hamster your home from a pet store where hamsters were kept together with other hamsters of the opposite gender. This leads to pregnancy, and that’s why you buy pregnant hamster without knowledge. Even, you may surprise to see that a litter of puppy hamsters that have appeared suddenly one day in your pet cage. If it ever happens with you, then you can do certain things to make your hamster and its babies comfortable.
Feed Your Pregnant Hamster
As soon as you realize your hamster is pregnant, you should start giving a high-quality diet to your hamster. A diet should have a lot of proteins, and you should continue to provide a high protein diet throughout her pregnancy until the pups are weaned. In addition to it, you can give hard-boiled eggs in small amounts, cheese, cooked chicken, etc. to your pregnant hamster as a nutritional boost. Also, ensure your hamster always get fresh and clean water to drink.
Give Privacy to Your Hamster
There is no doubt that it will be difficult for you to resist when your hamster finally gives to hamster babies. But, you should stay away from the babies at least for two weeks. And try to avoid getting your scent on the pups. In case if you have to move a baby, then don’t use your hand and use a spoon so that babies don’t get your scent.
Also, make watering and feeding time as calm and efficient as possible for your hamsters. You should place your hamster cage in a quiet environment.
Conclusion
That’s all on the hamster babies and how many babies a female hamster can have. Hamsters of same-sex do great when kept together. But, opposite genders of hamster reproduce very quickly if they are kept together. That’s why it is always recommended that don’t put opposite gender hamster in the same cage.
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