Why do mother hamsters kill their babies?

Why do mother hamsters kill their babies?

Mother hamsters can kill their babies. Female hamsters make a home in the expectation of their babies’ birth. The pregnancy of the female hamster is for just 21 days. She can give birth to 10 to 20 babies at a time.

Why do mother hamsters kill their babies? Mother hamsters can kill and eat their babies because of lack of water and food, a small habitat, different scent, fear, stress, and anxiety. If newborn hamsters have any abnormality, mother hamsters will eat those babies.

You should not be confused if you observe the decrease in the number of baby hamsters. Commonly, it kills babies due to various reasons. They are temperamental because they face multiple changes during pregnancy.

Her mood swings quickly during pregnancy and after pregnancy. They are very possessive in the case of their babies. They do not even bear the presence of others around their babies.

You should place soft papers, tissues, and other soft and lenient stuff in the cage through which the mother hamster can make the nest for her babies.

You should also place fresh and healthy food for the mother hamster before and after babies’ birth. She often eats more during pregnancy. You should provide vegetables, seeds, and fruits to her during pregnancy.

Why do mother hamsters kill their babies?

It can be disturbed due to noise, and due to this, she kills her babies. They are the most sensitive animals, but unkindness is naturally present in them.

It often kills her babies due to the lack of food and other various reasons. It is recommended that you should keep an eye on their activities.

Lack of water and food

When the mother hamsters become pregnant, they need more energy in proteins, carbohydrates, and healthy eating. Therefore, sufficient freshwater and food are essential for both of them.

When the hamster’s mother becomes hungry, she can kill her babies due to the lack of food and fresh water. The mother feels that there is no sufficient food for her baby hamsters; therefore, it will be difficult for her hamsters to live without food.

It is recommended that you provide extra protein through which she takes excellent care of her newborn babies.

You should give abundant water and food for her. You should make sure that there is more than sufficient water and food.

Small habitat

Your hamsters’ habitat may be too small because of this; it may kill her babies. The hamsters are fond of playing and running, and they feel happy and relaxed in a large cage.

If the habitat of your hamsters is small, then she may become unhappy. Due to this, the mother hamster can kill her babies.

It becomes panicky when they live in a small place. The space for the hamster babies becomes short due to the small cage.

When the mother hamster feels that there is little space for all the hamster babies, she kills some babies to comfort the remaining babies.

The hamster’s cage’s size should not be less than 460 square inches because it is very harmful to the hamsters. Small living space is dangerous for hamsters; you should avoid this; otherwise, hamsters can die from falling.

It is recommended that you make a large cage and add toys and wheels to the large cage.

You should make some sections in the cage; you should also make some hiding places in the cage because hamsters love to hide. If you notice this, you should pick up the baby hamster from the cage.

Mother hamster can eat its babies if they smell different

They recognize her babies due to their scent. Sher keeps the cage neat and clean for the better health of its babies. If she feels another scent on their baby hamsters, they may become confused and kill them.

They do not bear that anyone touches their babies. If she feels the mixing of aroma, she does not identify her babies and kill them.

People often touch their babies, which leads to their death; if human beings touch the baby hamsters, the odor of baby hamsters changes.

You should take a glance, but you should not stay near the cage of hamsters all day. As a responsible owner, you must follow the precautions recommended by us. If mother hamsters try to kill their baby and find an injured baby, it can be euthanized.

Due to fear

Fear is the cause due to which she can eat her babies. This is natural that she habitually gets frightened because of the occurrence of other animals and individuals.

She wants to save her babies from every threat; fear is the most common emotion.

They are already scared due to a change in their health during pregnancy. After the birth of the baby hamsters, she gets anxious about the care of her babies.

People often become overexcited, and then they start taking pictures of the baby hamsters. In fear, mother hamsters may fall backward.

It is recommended that you should not do this to the hamsters because this behavior can produce fear in her. You should leave her alone for at least 10 to 15 months after their birth.

Sick mother hamster

If she becomes sick, then she can eat her babies. If she gets sick, then there is more danger to the hamster babies.

She feels that her life is in danger due to pregnancy. Then, after hamster babies’ birth, she feels that she will stay safe if she eats many nutrients. Due to this, she tries to eat more and more.

Due to this condition, she doesn’t even feed her babies and also eat their food. When the food ends, she decided to kill her babies and eat them. It is recommended that you should observe its behavior after pregnancy.

If you feel that she is eating food in a large amount after pregnancy, she is sick.

Usually, she does not eat much food after pregnancy. The abnormality of the mother forces her to kill her babies. You can yourself feed a baby hamster without a mother.


If you disturb her too much throughout the day, she can kill her babies due to disturbance. You may spend the whole day staying near her babies.

She is moody, and sometimes she does not even like the presence of the father hamster. You should place her cage in a separate room where she can easily spend time with her babies.

You should place the father hamster away from her because it does not often like the father hamster.

It is recommended that you should stay quiet and calm near the cage of hamsters. You should make a peaceful place for her in which she can easily take care of their babies.

This means that you should keep the other animals out of the room where the babies and their mothers exist in. If you listen to music at a high volume, then don’t do this. This can disturb them; however, few make noise at night.

Due to Anxiety and stress

When the young female hamster becomes pregnant, she suffers from stress due to sudden changes in its life.

When this stress increases in her, she kills her babies to decrease stress and anxiety. The pregnancy, birth, and care are anxious and stressful for her.

She often becomes anxious due to the food demands of the babies. Due to this, she sometimes kills one or two babies to feed her remaining babies. People often like to play with domestic animals, but this produces stress in her.

It is recommended that the cage should be covered by a paper through which she cannot perceive nervousness and tension.

Abnormal babies

All baby hamsters are not born healthy—some of them are born abnormal due to the difficulties during pregnancy.

Some are physically damaged, and some are mentally abnormal. It can identify the abnormality in their babies after birth.

When she notices the disability in their babies, then they kill them. She feels that their abnormal babies will not survive due to disability.

She knows that her abnormal babies will not endure in the future; therefore, killing them is better. It is recommended that you should uninterruptedly keep an eye on the babies. If you notice that it is disabled, you should keep it away from its family.

You should be careful while separating the abnormal baby hamster from its family. Because if you touch the others, your scent will transfer to them, and the mother hamster will kill them.

Incompetency to maintain all babies

They sometimes feel that they are not capable of nourishing the little ones. When it gives birth to 15 to 20 babies, she gets confused due to many hamsters. 

They often do not give full attention to all the babies. That’s why she kills a few of them for the survival of the remaining babies. 

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