Before we started, let me ask you some questions. Have your hamster seems a little off lately? Do your hamster are being more aggressive than usual? Did your hamster always try to running away from you and refuse to be held? Or did they just behave strangely in general? All those questions combine, do you have one thought in mind? Do you think your hamster could be pregnant? Well, yes, those could be signs that you have to be prepare for the little hamster babies to arrive. But before making any more assumption, you should pay attention to these 9 common symptoms that your hamster is pregnant. I’m going to tell you some of it and give you brief explanation about it. Without any further due, let’s get to it now.
1. Being more aggressive
Yes, as I already mention, when your hamster is pregnant she will be more aggressive. It is very possible that she will bite you even though she never did so before. You can’t even touch or interact with her without her being defensive. This is one of common symptoms you could easily notice. But If your hamster is the aggressive type from the start then please continue reading, since there is more to these 9 common symptoms that your hamster is pregnant.
2. Will attack their cage-mate
If you had two or more hamsters in one cage, watch how she interact with other hamster in the cage. If they usually get along well together but suddenly attack each other/one of them attack the other then this could be mean that one of them is pregnant. Pregnant hamster will become very sensitive of others. They will have tendencies to attack everyone that have contact with them. This behaviour may caused by the stress. The other reason they do that could also because they just wanted to protect themselve/the nest, that’s why the presence of other being can bother them so much which lead them to attack others. That’s why you have to be extra careful with pregnant hamster.
3. Built a nest
Another easily visible symptoms If your hamster is pregnant is she will start to built a nest in her cage. She will begin to hoard bedding materials in one of the cage corner. In some cases they could also built two nest. One they used to sleep while the other to store the food. She will use any material she can find/that are available to them. When she finished built the nest she will try to store as much food inside the nest. But this is not a good early pregnancy indication as some hamster don’t built the nest right away and wait to built it later in the late stage of pregnancy.
4. Increased appetite
Pregnant hamster will most likely to have an increased appetite. If you pay attenttion to it, your hamster probably can finish double portion of food for a day. They also will most likely to drinking more water than usual. This could happen suddenly which mean it quite easy to notice. If this is happen to your hamster then there is a big chance that your hamster is pregnant.
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5. They will seems lazy
This is also very easy for you to notice. If your hamster are always active, playing around with their toys, running in their wheel, or just simply running around their cage, but then they just suddenly not doing anything/seems lazy, then this could be one of the symptom that they are pregnant. They will spend most of their time in the nest they built and sleep a lot more than usual or almost all day long.
6. Gain weight
For some people this might quite hard to notice since the hamster is pretty small and it’s quite hard to tell when they gain weight. But If you pay a closer look then you can tell that the hamster does seems more chubby than usual. You can also watch how their body shape look like. This gaining weight can make the hamster look more like a shape of a pear. If they did seems to look like a shape of pear then it is could be because of the pregnancy.
7. Become frantic and restless
At the late stages of pregnancy your hamster could be seen frantic and restless. They will seems to confuse of what they should do. They will try to play with their toys for short amount of time then trying to do another thing next. If this is happen then there is a possibility that in just few days they will having the babies. If you notice this behaviour then you need to leave the hamster alone until the babies being born. Don’t interfere them in any way from a close range, but keep your eyes on them from afar.
8. Visible nipples
You have to see whether your hamster’s nipples started to look more visible to the eyes. Pregnant hamster tend to have this as a sign that they are pregnant. The nipples will most likely easy to spot even when you didn’t hold them. As it is quite hard to held a pregnant hamster so you have to observe them from afar. It’s also because If they are pregnant, you shouldn’t even held them because it will give them stress which will be harmful for both the mother and the babies. Other than being visible the nipples could also be darkened, due to their body preparing for breastfeeding.
9. Swollen belly
Well, this one symptom will probably the first thought you had in mind about a pregnant hamster. You’re not wrong about that. Pregnant hamster will of course had swollen belly. But this symptom only easily visible to the eye when it’s already the late stage of the pregnancy. So, this symptom could be the one that could make you very sure about your hamster pregnancy.
If your hamster show all the symptoms above, it could be mean that you have to be ready to welcome the little babies hamsters soon to the family. But these are only 9 common symptoms that your hamster is pregnant, and for some cases there could be more or different symptoms to the pregnant hamster. So, If you’re not really sure or simply can’t decide what all the symptoms your hamster has been shown mean, please take them to the vet to make sure what is happening to your hamster.
Thank you for reading and I hope your hamster will always healthy and well. And If you do expect the babies from your hamster then I hope everything will be okay and that you will welcome the new members of the family in joy.