will my baby hamsters be okk?

my dwarf hamster babies are 12 days old. Today the dad killed and ate a baby, I was horrified! I knew that males could do that (but didnt think they would at 12 days, only as newborns) and I read a lot on dwarfs before and what I found was to leave the male in with the mom, that dwarf dad’s actually help take care of the babies..well after today I right away snatched the other two babies out of the cage and set up a cage of their own. My mom thinks I should take the male out and put the babies back with the mom, but I dont even trust that now,…she may do the same as he did, especially since I have now handled them and they have my scent on them. They are eating the hamster food okk and seem to get water from the bottle, but since they are so young yet, I am a bit worried. Will they be okk? They are sooo sweet and so cute! :)

Answer #1

the little babies are doing great on their own so far, I think my female is preg again, so I already seperated the male from her…thanks all

Answer #2

I’ve heard that if the baby hamsters are born wth defects, the mom will usually eat them. But I dont know about the dad. maybe hes gone coco.

Answer #3

is it too late now to do that? Take the male out and put the babies back in? Would she kill them at this point? Especially since we have been handling them?

Answer #4

okk took the dad out and tried to put the babies in w/ mom again and she attacked the baby…so out they went again…they seem to be doing fine on their own..they are eating the seed and carrot I give them and drinking from the water bottle.

Answer #5

I don’t know I would help you but I have bad luck with hamsters. I got one two christmas ago and it died in like a week from wet tail and that hamster was so happy looking and I let it run around and have fun in my room and it would climb in my lap when it wanted to get back in its cage … so I got another one and it had a teeth problem It was missing a its top teeth and couldn’t eat right so it was always underweight and it got an infection from the bottom teeth growing into the top of its mouth I didn’t know it was missing its teeth at the time and I had to get the vet to cut them out and I gave her meds for infection but she only lived like a month longer. so my first hamster died within 2 weeks and the 2nd one died before a year came around … my bro got a hamster when I got my first one on christmas and his hamster is still alive .. it’s fur is starting to look spiky like its getting old you can tell its bright red eyes are dull but it’s still alive and he doesn’t let it out much or take as good of care as I did with mine while I had them ,, yet his is still alive … But ya I guess I shouldn’t give much advice here.

Answer #6

I’d have taken the male out, and left the babies with the mom…she’s not to kill her babies at this age. Males of all species are territorial…that’s why they kill young…

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Answer #7

Your actually supposed to take the father out of the cage if the mother is about to/had babies. The father will eat them. The mother may sometimes eat the babies but they need her to keep them warm and for her to feed them. If they are eating hard food they may be able to survive w/ out her. Just don’t take anything to heart. If you keep the parents together they will keep having babies…I’ve learned the hard way. lol. I have 17 hamsters!

Answer #8

I have learned even more I now have 23 babies but all doing fine. The father should be taken out as soon as the female is pregnant and should always be mated on a different teritory or they will fight. I made the mistake of not splitting the sexes correct and ended up with 3 females pregnant , they are sexually active at 3 weeks old so make sure they are split correct lol

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