Raising Dwarf Hamster Babies

Many people choose to adopt a baby dwarf hamster once he or she reaches 4 weeks, although others handle them much sooner. If your hamster becomes pregnant or you want to breed dwarf hamsters, knowing how to properly care for the dwarf hamster babies is essential to their survival and growth. Fortunately, these animals do a lot of the work themselves, with proper attention and care from the owner. Pregnancy in dwarf hamsters last about 18 to 20 days and the litters can range from 1 pup to 10. In general, hamsters have about 5 to 6 babies that are ready to be adopted within 4 weeks.

When the babies are first born, it is essential to leave them be with their mother. This means no handling, no touching and no cleaning the cage. Within this time period, you will notice that the pups will begin to take color and also grow fur on their bodies. They will begin to open their eyes and move about around the 10 week mark, although you should still only begin to handle them gently at this point. Also be in tune to the mother, as she may feel uncomfortable with you touching her babies. The greatest job at the moment is making sure that none of the pups are injured or unhealthy; nature will take care of the rest.

After 2 weeks, you can begin introducing new foods to the babies, such as oats, small seeds and wheat germ. You can then move on to lab blocks, as well as small pieces of cucumber, fruit and grains. In the meantime, the pups will still be getting nourishment from their mother; however she will begin to naturally wean them around 10 days when they begin reaching for water from the water bottle or water dish. After 4 weeks, the pups are now ready to be adopted or moved to a cage of their own. They will look just like an adult hamster, except with a younger face and fluffier hair. Yet they will be up and running, playing with all their toys and tubes.

Caring for baby dwarf hamsters is just like caring for any hamster; the cage should be cleaned weekly and food and water should be replaced daily. If there is more than one hamster in the cage, it should be cleaned out more than once a week and a mild detergent should be used once a month to disinfect and kill germs.