Babies!Monday, November 20, 2006 
An exciting day. Saturday morning one of the Miguel hamsters (now dubbed “Girl Miguel,” for obvious reasons) had a litter of nine little hamster babies. Rocio and her cousin first discovered them and left me a note which I found when I got home: “Josh! Bday! Go and see the baby hamsters.” Christin called it pregnant on Wednesday after I’d shown her the Miguel and noticed how fat it had become so quickly. We were very careful with her and then on Friday night I wondered aloud about how long hamsters gestate. I found out… 
The babies. 
The boys. Anyway, I first got on scene around 3pm on Saturday. All of the creatures were asleep. Mom had herself wrapped around the babies and the three males were conked out in their plastic house. All seemed well except for one baby that Mom had separated out from the rest. It looked a pale pinkish white instead of the rich dark pink of the other eight squirmers and seemed mostly dead. Sad, but I guess that’s how it goes. I washed the crap (literally) out of the plastic house, gave everybody some extra food and water, and let them be. 
Boy Miguel and Girl Miguel. As the afternoon went on, the males became their usual rambunctious selves, running around, climbing on things, and just generally getting in the way. After a few rounds trampling over the babies, they got to be too much for me to deal with. So I created a partition in the cage using some of Rocio’s blank DVD cases and masking tape. It kind of sucks for the boys, but they’re now penned up in the small second floor ledge of the cage. I put the house up with them and filled it with some food and made a pledge to remember to switch the water bottle between them and Girl Miguel periodically so everyone could drink. Then I went out for a jog (in Central Park at about 7pm — very lovely). And when I got home, the shit hit the fan. Inside the cage is a dish towel that Rocio put in the cage soon after we got the hamsters. Six weeks or so ago. Great. They love to pull it apart with their teeth and sleep on it, etc. No problems. But after I returned home I noticed one of the babies tangled up in some of the loose threads. Rocio’s cousin actually first noticed when we were talking about the babies before I left to run. At that time, I said I thought Girl Miguel would work it out and not to worry. But things seemed bad when I got back. The babies was still stuck, wrapped fairly tightly with thread. And it had stopped moving. And the other babies actually, it turns out, could wriggle along at quite a clip when they wanted to — despite being eyeless, hairless, little pink jellybeans. And others were getting into dangerous-looking situations. 
Wondering what on Earth is going on. So I made an executive decision that the babies needed to be moved. I know that you shouldn’t mess with someone else’s babies, but I felt like the risk of Girl Miguel abandoning them or eating them or whatever later was acceptable considering that a bunch may die in the ragged dish towel. So I removed the top of the cage and moved the boys away. I kept the mother on the table with me and the cage, figuring she should be around to watch or something. Maybe just to know that these were still hers. I got my nail clippers and clipped the one baby out that had been tangled in the rag. Which took some creative effort and very steady hands. It was really caught tightly and some of the strands had caused little rope burns on his neck and side. But he was alive. So I got in there and clipped him out along with a bit of fabric and then put him in my palm and finished cutting everything off of him. It got a bit difficult because some of the strands had lacerated him and were stuck a bit in his body, requiring some very close clipping and a few gentle tugs. At one point he accidentally rolled over in my hand and fell down a few feet to the floor — which I felt horrible about: Poor guy. Rough start at life… But he appeared to have not been additionally injured. I then found another dish towel and manually moved the rest of the babies over, including the pale, half-dead one, which I did a little check-up on, as well, to see if anything obvious could be fixed. Holding them was odd. I expected them to feel very, very delicate. And they were, I guess, but they were also much firmer and stronger-feeling than I had anticipated. When one of the big hamsters stepped on one of them earlier, I winced. But now I think it probably doesn’t hurt them that much. Also, their skin was still very translucent. I could see their dark pea-sized lungs and heart and a white little squiggle of lower intestines inside of them. And, of course, the two dark dots of forming eyes under the skin in their heads. It was fascinating to look at them. In a way, they’re kind of an example of what the simplest pieces are that one needs to have a working, living mammal. If you strip off all of the fancy deluxe features of a human, we’re that same package of heart, lungs, and bowels. While this was going on, Girl Miguel was beginning her descent into crazy. Understandably, I guess. She flat-out ran off the side of the table a few times and hid behind the vacuum cleaner in the corner, so I put her in with the boys for a bit to save her from killing herself while I finished setting the cage back up. I spread a bunch of new wood shavings around the base of the cage and spread out the new dish towel, covering about two-thirds of the space. And I replaced the food dish and the water and placed the babies on the new towel. And put the cage back together with Mom inside. Mom was going insane. She got in there and began just franticly running about. She’d run a couple of circles around the cage, climb a wall for a split second, run a second in the treadmill, and go back to running in circles. It’s one thing having energy, but this was a kind of mortal confusion. She had no idea what had happened and she was very, very scared. And so I continued to try to figure out what to do. The babies were squirming around, reaching up with their open mouths whenever Girl Miguel came close, looking for a nipple. I guess I really changed the scent when I switched out the towels and moved the babies. Maybe still having sweat on me from jogging made it worse. The original place with he babies still had blood and placental debris (I guess) from the childbirth all over it, and maybe Girl Miguel needed this. I mentioned to Christin that we’d had a conflict of the different wirings of our species’ brains: My brain saw them getting caught and went “this looks really bad — I’ve got to fix it.” Her brain saw the moved babies and may have fired off some signals to the effect: “I had some babies, but I don’t know where they are. These are babies, but they’re different. Something is very wrong.” Things got extra bizarre when she picked up the pale, dying one by the head and began running around with it. She dug in the corner a few times, as if looking for a place to bury it or to get it away from the healthy babies. I pulled her out of the cage and set her on the towel (baby still in mouth) figuring that it might help to give her a way to leave it outside of the cage. No dice. So I put them back in and left the cage door open so she could leave him elsewhere on the table if necessary. No. She ran around with him. And then picked up the damaged baby I had cut out of the towel and ran around holding him by the head. She wasn’t being particularly careful with either baby. So, okay. I didn’t know what to do. I finally just closed the cage door and left the room, figuring she’d either start taking care of them again or eat them and, at that point, I really had no more say in the matter. An hour or two later I checked in. She had settled down and had made a nest and collected the babies into it. Except for the pale one — she finally disposed of him by placing him in the food dish. He still twitched feebly. The one I rescued from the cloth seemed to be okay and a part of the family. So success on that front. And that’s basically how the night ended. Today the pale baby had been moved into the nest, as well, so I guess she decided to give him (or her) a try. Right now she’s sitting over them all. I haven’t had any direct access to them since Saturday, but I think they’re all accounted for and basically doing okay. She worried me a bit earlier when she covered them with the towel and was running around (just getting a bit of exercise, I imagine). She hid them very well and the only was I finally knew where they were was by noticing a faint motion underneath a bit of the towel where the little’uns were squirming.
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Hello, There.I'm Josh Knowles, a technology developer/consultant on a variety of mobile, social media, and gaming projects. I founded and lead Frescher-Southern, Ltd. I grew up in Austin, Texas and currently live in New York City. All Previous Posts
© Josh Knowles, In Perpetuity.
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Critter Care
Posted Tue, November 21, 2006, 1:54pm EST by Haven Hix
Getting to be quite the nanny....
Get the boys their own room.
Posted Fri, December 15, 2006, 2:28am EST by Eric
You might want to consider separating the males and females a little more. Just consider how fast they multiply. You might end up with a hamster farm on your hands otherwise.
how hamsters look!
Posted Sun, May 20, 2007, 12:39pm EST by ASHLEY AND ALEXIS
they are so cute when they are big not just ben born.
P.S. U DONT KNOW US!!!!
hamsters
Posted Sat, May 26, 2007, 4:39pm EST by robyn
hey,i was jsut wondering.your not serpose to put syrains in with each other.there solitary animals
soooooooooooo cute
Posted Tue, August 7, 2007, 3:06pm EST by anastasia
there soooooooooooooooooooooo cute they kinda look like my hamster
My Syrians
Posted Tue, August 7, 2007, 4:12pm EST by Josh
Yeah, I've heard that you're supposed to separate Syrian hamsters. I kept them together (well, except the female) because, well, they would fight occasionally but they also seemed to get along somewhat. Felt like an okay situation. But, then, maybe I project too much of my own emotions on the little puff-balls...
hamsters
Posted Fri, August 17, 2007, 3:52pm EST by Anonymous
plz can someone tell me how u tell if a hamster is preagnant because i rilly dont no how u tell and iv put my hamsters together and i think thay mated but i dont no how to tell so can someone plz tell me thanx
wat the f**k
Posted Sun, October 14, 2007, 12:57pm EST by chris
you need a bigger cage, keeping them all in there together is cruel, thats really good how all the syrians get along it wont usually work.
sad thing s happen to good things
Posted Thu, November 1, 2007, 6:22pm EST by nicci
that is so sad that the baby was in pain and still living if i were you i would of tryed to nurse the baby back to health and or picked him up when she set him in the food dish
wuz up?
Posted Fri, November 2, 2007, 4:01am EST by hamster lover
i think that you are so lucky to have your hamsters to multiply! i hv 2 of my own right now... 1 male 1 female. i tiink i'm gonna let them reproduce, i'm ready for a hamster family of my own!
hamsters r us
Posted Fri, November 2, 2007, 4:04am EST by hamster lover
how old must a hamster be when it can reproduce? can some one tell me? thx
hamsters r us
Posted Tue, November 6, 2007, 4:22am EST by pls pls pls tell
pls pls pls answer some one... the Questions are: how old must a hamster b when it can reproduce? and what will happen if i have babies hamsters... should i seperate them? won't the mother eat them if i carry her baby?
How old hamsters must be...
Posted Tue, November 6, 2007, 2:01pm EST by Josh
Read the above comment from Brian entitled "YOU DID THIS ALL WRONG!!" That has the answer. And many more!
hamsters r us
Posted Tue, November 6, 2007, 11:59pm EST by hamster lover
how old hamsters must be... i read the coment of Brain's but i still don't know how old it must b but there is sure alot of information!
Breeding Hamsters
Posted Wed, November 14, 2007, 12:53am EST by Brian
Ok, first off, you need a male and female..DUH! LOL. Second, a female hamster can have anywhere from 6 to 18 babies, so you either need a pet store that will buy/take them, find people who will take one or put them up for adoption(trust me, you can't keep them all!!) Once you have accomplished this task you need 4 cages, one for the mom, the dad, and the baby boys and baby girls (for when they are weaned from mom). Once and only once you have obtained the necessary supplies and found homes for the upcoming babies, you can breed momma and daddy.
Males and females can start breeding at about a month and a half from birth, BUT, females should not be breed until they are AT LEAST 4 months old. If you breed earlier the mom will usually abandon the babies, eat them or give birth to weak babies, because they are still not fully mature. It's like an eleven year old girl giving birth, NOT PRACTICAL!!!
The males can be breed as soon as they are ready.
Ok, so once you have a FOUR MONTH OLD female, you will need a male that is the same size or bigger. Now, the female will go into to heat(or ready to get it on) every 4 days, so you have to watch. Females are always territorial, so always put the female in the males cage(if you put the male with the female, he would most likely get attacked very vicously). If you put her in the cage and she spreads her legs, points her tail straight in the air and flattens her body, she is in heat. If you put her in and she attacks or doesn't allow the male to mount then she is not in heat, try again the next day. It is best to try around 530 and 730p. If she is in heat let them breed for about 30 minutes, then immediately remove the female. To make sure she is pregnant, put her in his cage after four days and see if she goes into heat again, if she does she isnot pregnant and so let them mate for about 30 minutes.
Ok, so now you double checked her pregnancy and she is definitely pregnant... YEAAHHH!!!! The babies will arrive in 16-18 days, so there is not much time. Put her cage in the quitest place of the house, this is important because any stress can make her either abort or absorb the babies. If she doesn't do either then when they are born and she is stressed she will most likely eat them!!
2 days before she gives birth, give her cage a thorough cleaning because you will not be able to clean her cage for the next 2 and a half weeks. Also, provide a large house for her to have her babies in. You can throw in some facial tissues for her to use as bedding.
Also, she will need extra nutrition, so put hamster vitamins in her water, and feed her hamster yogurt chips and even, unflavored boiled chicken. You can also feed her boiled eggs, but only the egg white!!! Once the babies are born do not disturb for the first 3 days!!! DO NOT TOUCH THE BABIES, BOTHER HER NEST, OR CLEAN THE CAGE!!! Feeding and watering should be done as quick as possible!!. After three days, quick peeks into the nest are, but only touch the babies when their eyes are opened and they are roaming the cage themselves.
Hope this helps!!!
hamsters r us
Posted Mon, November 19, 2007, 9:05pm EST by hamster lover
thanks Brian! sure helped, but my hamsters r 4 months and 1 week old and I never saw the female go into heat! that sure is weird... what is weirder is that they don't fight even when i put the male hamster into the female hamster territory!
they are in the same cage, they are not mating though.
TRIAL AND ERROR
Posted Thu, November 22, 2007, 12:09am EST by Brian
You just have to keep trying. When she goes into heat you will know because she will let the male mount her. Not all hamsters are assertively aggressive with each other but it's still not practical for hamsters to stay together. I once had a male and female hamster live together for almost a year, but one day when i came home from school the female had killed the male and she was so badly injured I had to put her down. Trust me, they will start out as little squabbles and then just get progessively worse and worse. Okay back to the breeding, making sure you put them together in the evening, that is when they are most likely to be active and the female is likely to receive the male if she is in heat. If that is not working just try throughout the day from when you wake up to when you go to bed. Remember, female hamsters go into to heat about every 4 days and stay in heat for a couple of hourse, so the time frame is pretty small. Plan/time accordingly.
sweet
Posted Sat, December 22, 2007, 10:26pm EST by max
really ousome
hamsters r us
Posted Sat, December 29, 2007, 9:04am EST by hamster lover
ok, great thx!
hamsters are us
Posted Sun, January 6, 2008, 1:15am EST by bretta
hamsters have to be 2-3 months old to reproudce
[none]
Posted Tue, January 29, 2008, 4:44am EST by hamsterlover
my male hamster died on Sunday. it was a terrible day. yet i am not sure if my female hamster is pregnant. how can u tell if my female hamster is pregnant? my hamster is always sleepy but i'm not sure if she is fat because she is pregnant or just because she is just fat.
worried
Posted Thu, January 31, 2008, 4:59pm EST by unknown
I have a male and a female hamster in one cage..obviously the female will soon end up pregnant.There is SO much too do in taking care of hamster babies!I am begining to have second thoughts,wether I want babies,or not.
hamsters r us
Posted Tue, February 5, 2008, 11:33pm EST by hamsterlover
i cant tell if my hamster is pregnant or not
Syrians together
Posted Thu, February 7, 2008, 8:58am EST by hamster haven
The ONLY REASON your Syrians have not killed each other yet is because they are in a way too small cage together. Please seperate them into their own cages now. I can't believe this type of cruelty is allowed to go on. They shouldn't be in cages with wire floors either. Cruel, selfish people like you should not be allowed to have animals. I rescue Syrians and have seen the damage they do to each other when kept like this. You should not touch the babies at all until they are 2 weeks old, you should have removed all the towel before they were born. Why don't you try reading up on hamsters? Buy a book or look on the internet for information. Please before any more animals die from your stupidity.
[none]
Posted Sun, February 10, 2008, 11:44am EST by jo
i agree
Posted Mon, February 11, 2008, 8:31pm EST by ceanna
i totally agree with you. My boy hamster is 3 and a half and he's old(dah). I'm not sir if this time i'm going to get a girl and breed her with my sisters 10 month old teddy bear hamster. I'm so redy for babies i got a hudge 3 floor bar cage,2 habitrail cages, and 1 tiny little pink cage. I would never stick even half a hamster in the little pink cage its so small so thats why i attached the cages together. If you imagine living in a tiny little cage and you wouldn't want to live in it then you no its to small to put your hamster in. I love hamsters there so special. So should i get a girl hamster and mate her and then keep one or two babies then give them to the petpad?
wholy
Posted Mon, February 11, 2008, 8:37pm EST by ceanna
Brian your smart" thanx now i now everything to hamster breeding. What i said up top i agree with you and hamster haven.
SOOOOOOOO CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE LOL!
Posted Tue, March 25, 2008, 8:09pm EST by oscar pedroza
UR HAMSTER IS REALLY SUOER DOOPER SOOOOOOOO CUTE AND SWEET ESPECIALLY MESSY LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE HAMSTERS THEY ROCK THE HOUSE!!!!!
Posted Tue, March 25, 2008, 8:12pm EST by oscar pedroza
HEY WHATS SUP HOWS IT GOING I WANT THOSE HAMSTERS!!! I WANT THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LOL LOL LOL LOLZ LOLZ ROLF
Have FuN
Posted Tue, April 8, 2008, 5:44pm EST by Lala
wHY DON'T YOU START YOUR OWN PETstore it will be so cool and fun.
Hope you have a terrif time
My New Hamster Had Babies
Posted Sun, April 13, 2008, 6:07pm EST by Heather
I got my son a hamster at a pet store a week ago and this morning I woke up to 7 babies. I'm not sure if there's anything special I need to do for the babies or their mom. I'm concerned because her bedding is very wet in spots. I just cleaned her cage on Friday and this is Sunday. Should I just leave them be or try to at least get out the wet bedding and is there anything else that I should do?
please help
Posted Wed, April 30, 2008, 10:09pm EST by ceanna
i got my hamster about a month and a half ago and i got her to breed her and i had breed her the day i got her and i have been waiting and waiting and waiting and then i just got boared of waiting so that night me and my mom had a talk and she said to give molly another two weeks and the next day i was cleaning my room and i saw 3 moving apples in one corner and 1 in the other and i was like theres no such thing as moving apples so i looked closer and went screaming to my mom "mom Molly had her babies and molly was not even watching them and im guessing she had her babies monday night and i know she had more that5 babies but i see so much blood in the bed i dont no if she killed all her babies or if she barried her pups in the hay under neath her but im not aloud to look so someone please tell me what i should do.....................................Please help me...please...please.
never mind
Posted Thu, May 1, 2008, 5:33pm EST by ceanna
never mind about the whole please thing my fricken hamster ate al her 5 and more babies so im just going to breed her again and this time ill be prepared and she will be in a quiet room with no loud music god its my falt her babies died i should have checked to make shir and not turned on the music.im so stupid owell ill just breed her again and ill be prepared.
what should i do
Posted Thu, May 1, 2008, 6:06pm EST by hi ceanna again
so should i breed my hamster again but this time ill be prepared and shell be in the quietist room and shell have a clean cage. i won't even go in the room she has her babies in theres so many ways why sha ate her babies...1. she was disturbed of my music but i didn't no she had them.2. i checked on her to much.3. i moved her bedding to see if she even ate them.4. she problebly wasn't ready to have them. but ill get her to have her babies and i wont do any of the stuff i did before SOMEBODY TELL ME IF I SHOULD BREED HER AGAIN I HAVE 7 BIG CAGES TO SEPERATE THE BABIES IN LOTS OF FOOD, HAY AND WATER AND LOTS OF CAGE ROOM.
Please don't overbreed.
Posted Mon, May 12, 2008, 4:51pm EST by SERENA
You should not breed hamsters unless you are prepared to give most of them away. There is a horrible overpopulation problem with hamsters. Please don't breed unless you are ready. Dwarfs can have anywhere form 2-12 babies as early as age 2 months and a full size hamster can have anywhere from 12-20 babies at one time. If it is an accident that you get babies then right away start looking for homes for them. You won't be able to keep them all. Make sure that you have a cage for mom and babies and a seperate cage for dad. And 2 extra cages for the boy babies and the girls. Sexing them can be really hard so I would look for a diagram to help you. If you keep dad with mom then he will re-breed her as soon as she has the babies which can ultimatly kill her.
sooooooo cute
Posted Wed, May 14, 2008, 6:58pm EST by vgirl
omg they are so cute and soooooooo small
my hamsters pregnant
Posted Sun, August 3, 2008, 10:19pm EST by sammy and brittany
ooooooooooooh nooooooooo my hamster is pregnent in how many days will she have them she just got prenent yesterday pleeeeaase pleeeeaase help:)
my hamsters pregnant
Posted Sun, August 3, 2008, 10:25pm EST by emily
Holy crap.My hamster is pregnent in how many days will she have the little raskles she just got pregnent yesterday pleeeeaase pleeeeaase help:)
week old babies
Posted Tue, August 5, 2008, 12:17pm EST by Darleen
My hampster had babies last tuesday. this is her second litter. She ate all but three of her last litter of thirteen. I pulled the last three away thinking i could hand raise them. Yeah right! that don't work. Any way, she had ten babies this time and two are gone. but the other look like they are doing great. The last litter didnt make it past the 3rd day. so i think they are ok. I did see one that was a very light color the other all dark. Has anyone ever noticed wether or not golden hampsters can have different colored babies? im not sure on the genetics but the dad is also a Golden hampster. Another thing i wanted to question to all hampster lovers is have you ever noticed how that the male hampsters are always more tame than the females. I have had hampsters since for the past20 years. And ever female i have had even this one "Kissie" is a total Bitch anyone else but me she bites. "Ben" my male is sucha sweetheart he loves everyone. Good luck to all
i dont know if my hamster had babys!!!
Posted Fri, August 29, 2008, 1:02pm EST by katie
it was today and last night i herd little noise like
squeaking,but we dont know if she hade babys
plz help!!!
im worried!!!
Posted Fri, August 29, 2008, 1:08pm EST by Katherine
can someone please help me!!
i want to know if my hamster had babys,
but if i check the hamsters the mom might eat the babys!!
Re: Hampster babies
Posted Sat, September 6, 2008, 6:53pm EST by Darleen
you can check. But be quick and quiet. If this is her first then she probably will eat them. Just dont touch. use a sock as a glove to push mom away if you really must.Good luck.
HELP i dont know if my sisters hamster is pregnant!
Posted Tue, September 23, 2008, 8:16am EST by Morgan
Hi
I need help I think that my sisters hamster is pregnant but i'm not sure.I bought it from a pet store yesterday and it was kept with 2 males.How would i be able to tell if she was pregnant.I'v have been a hamster owner before for like 6 years but i need help.
Please email me at bunnygirl448@aol.com if you can help!
Oh and to the person with week old babies iv had five hamster and one of them was a male he was the mean one.
hamsters
Posted Wed, October 8, 2008, 12:25pm EST by MISS JANICE COPELAND
hi there female hamsters give birth 18 days i also have hamsters i have 4 now i have the father but he died two weeks ago age 2years and 8 months his name was broxiebudda has he so lovely hamster i still miss him i have got tootsie who was broxie girlfriend she was in a different cage from him then there is jaystar thats broxies and tootsies son and i have there two daughters mitsie and janjay they also have there own cages you need to keep them apart of you will end up having more you must not touch the babies or the mother will get stressed then she might kill them you need kept males a way from her as after she has weaned the babies she can get pregnant again when the babies are 6weeks old you need to keep the males away from the females or they will end up having babies when they are 4weeks old you can pick them up not just now its to early from a hamster lover
bill
Posted Wed, February 11, 2009, 8:07am EST by bill
my baby is proper fit :P
he's gawjusssssssssss
BOB
Posted Wed, February 11, 2009, 8:10am EST by BOB
TONIGHT WILL BE THE NIGHT THAT I WILL FALL FOR YOU
OVER AGAIN
DONT MAKE ME CHANGE MY MIND
OR I WONT LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY
I SWEAR IT'S TRUE
BECAUSE A GIRL LIKE YOU IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND
IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND!!!!!!!
Hammy Love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted Sat, February 14, 2009, 10:21pm EST by olivia
That is so cool! I want five hamsters plus babies! You are one lucky hammy.
...
Posted Sun, May 24, 2009, 4:21pm EST by Caroline
you should seperate your hamsters. It is irrisponsible to house syrians together. They are solitary. It doesn't matter if they seem ok. They should be seperate.
Also, you need a bigger cage.
Good luck with the babies!
And to everyone else: you can't just decide to breed. You need to do a hell of a lot of research and know the genetic backgrounds of your hamsters! There are plenty of hamsters out there that need adopting, we don't need to make more!
:)
Posted Sat, June 27, 2009, 10:49am EST by lindsey
my hamster is pregnant, and the dad of the babies just died. :(