Expert: Jedediah - 7/29/2004

Question
I have a hamster that is now about 2 1/2 months.  i want to know if she can get preggnet?  im really scared that hse is.  please help

Answer
Hi,
thank you for your question.
Syrian hamsters and dwarf hamsters can get pregnant with four weeks and should be seperated from their mother after three weeks.

The pregnancy will not be very long, only 16-19 days with Syrian hamsters and 19-22 days with dwarfs. If she is really pragnant, you might not notice until the babies are born. The hamster might eat more and built a bigger nest.

Just in case offer her a bit more food, animal protein is especially important (mealworms are best, but curd or small amounts of minced meat are okay, too). Give her a lot of paper tissue to build the nest. If she does not come out of the nest any more, the babies might have been born - leave her alone. You can check the nest when the mother is eatnig outside. Use a small stick so that the babies do not smell of you. Don't clean out the cage when the babies are there, just the toilet corner (if she uses one).

If you really get babies, you need to make sure they cannot escape. It's best to get an old fishtank (they are often sold cheap at yard sales) and to put all hamster in there when the babies are old enough to run around by themselves (which will be after 12-16 days).
When you seperate the babies from their mother, you need to sex them and seperate males and females, too. The females can not stay with their mother because all hamsters, even dwarfs, are solitary animals and will fight eventually. To be sure this should be done by a vet who is knowledgeable about hamsters. If you want to do it yourself: here is a website with pictures of both sexes:
http://russiandwarfhamsters.tripod.com/hams/id19.html
It works best if you compare two hamsters.

Try to find at least ten, better fifteen, people who are willing to take one of the babies. Some people won't be able to take one even though they were all for it at the beginning, that's why you should find so many and after all hamster can give birth to 10 babies (or just 3, but usually there are many). So you won't end up having to give the babies to a pet shop and never knowing who got the babies.
I hope I was of some help and that your hamster isn't pregnant after all!
Jennifer