6 Things You Should Avoid If Your Hamster Has Babies

Some of hamster’s owner maybe didn’t even know their hamster is pregnant in the first place. Maybe the hamster already pregnant when you buy them at the pet store. That’s why it might be a little surprise for you when you see the babies in the cage. Don’t panic, when you find the babies, let them and the mother be. Because I will tell you things you should avoid in this kind of situation.

But If you already know about the pregnancy and been waiting for it, then congratulation! The hamster babies you’ve been waiting for is finally here! But before you enjoy these little babies, you should know that there are 6 things  you should avoid if your hamster has babies. This is very important if you want to keep the babies, as hamster have tendencies to cannibalizing their own babies. If you doing something wrong then it will cost you a lot. So, in order avoid that, I’m going to tell you what to avoid for the hamster who has babies.

Before we dive into the detail, the first thing you should know when your hamster is having babies is to not disturb them. Yes, you have to leave the mother alone, give her some space. Hamster recognize their babies by sent, so you wouldn’t want to interfere the scent the babies has. If you do that then it will most likely make the mother attack and eat the babies. The reason for this could be because she feels threatened. You should avoid to do anything or have any contact with the hamster or even the cage for few days after they had a babies.

Now that we discover the main thing you had to avoid, I’m going to tell you more of these 6 things you should avoid if your hamster has babies. I’m going to tell you what exactly you shouldn’t do to your hamster and the babies.

1. Cleaning

This is the very first thing you should avoid to do. Don’t clean the cage for at least 10 days after the mother hamster giving birth. This is very necessary as the mother really need some space and zero disruption. Don’t interfere her space. If it absolutely necessary for you to clean the cage then try to not disturb the hamster and her babies at all by cleaning it spot by spot instead of the whole cage at once. But this way isn’t very recommended either as there is still possibility that it would disturb the hamsters and could cause stress for the mother.

2. Another hamster

If you think after the hamster already giving birth then you can put the other hamster back in the same cage then you’re absolutely wrong. It’s still the same when she was pregnant. You can’t put another hamster with the mother hamster together in the same cage yet. Wait for a bit, at least until the babies can do things on their own and have fur then you can put another hamster back in the cage. But you have to make sure the gender of the hamster too if you prefer to have no more hamster.

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3. Looking and staring

This is probably sound too much, but it can bother the mother so much If you stare at the babies. When your hamster has babies you probably can’t help but feel excited to see it. The mother probably keeping them somewhere that’s hard for you to see from outside the cage. If the case is like that then don’t even try to look where the babies are. Don’t move anything in the cage to find them. If there is nothing that seems off then chances are the babies are fine and the mother take caring of them well. So, you don’t have to look for them and just leave it like that.

The mother hamster will be very aware of her surrounding so there is no doubt she will notice when you staring or looking for her babies. She will take this as some sort of threat. If she feels in danger enough there is possibility she would harm/killing the babies as she feels the pressure to protect them by killing them as she feels she can’t do another thing to save them.

4. Loud noises

If one day you see the babies in the cage, I recommend you to immediately move the cage to the quiet place in your home. Try to make as little noise as possible around their cage. Sudden or loud noise can cause your hamster to be panic and end up harm or even killing the babies. So loud noise is an absolute thing to avoid if your hamster has babies. You have to isolate the cage from any noises that can possibly bother the hamster. If you don’t have any room that soundproof in your house then try your best to make close to no sound when you or anyone in your house is near the cage. Just try your best to not startled the hamster from any noise.

5. Touch the babies

This an absolute no-no. You’re banned to touch the babies under any circumstances, even when it’s outside of the mother’s sight. Because when you touch the babies the mother can detect your scent on the babies and it can make her end up killing them. So, you can’t make any of your scent detected on the babies. The only way to do that is to avoid to touch them in any way.

6. Pick up the mom

When your hamster finally giving birth you probably thinking to pick up and playing with her again. But no, you have to hold yourself back for a little longer. Because this is one of the things you should avoid if your hamster has babies. I already said a few times but you literally cannot disturb your hamster in any way for few days after she become a mother.

After you reading all of 6 things you should avoid if your hamster has babies, you might think that your hamster would feel lonely. Especially when your hamster had some other hamster before in the cage to accompany her. Well, believe me your hamster will not feel lonely at all. Because it is her nature to be left alone when she has babies. Beside she will be busy enough to take care of the babies. So, you have nothing to worry about.

For the last part I want to add something. If you see your hamster abandon the babies then you should immediately take the babies away from the mother. Hamster tend to do this If it’s their first time having babies. If you see this then the thing to avoid is to leave the babies in the same cage as the mother.