Congratulation! Your hamster has officially become a mom! But whether you’re overjoyed or surprise by the babies, there is going to be some worries. That is because you must’ve ever heard that hamster sometime eat their own babies. This is sound very scary but it’s actually a tactics for survival. There are some circumstances or situation that made them did this. That is the reason why you need to be very careful to take care of them. From when they’re pregnant until the babies are just born. You need to always be careful at least until the babies can walk on their own and already has fur. Then you can a little bit relax. But don’t worry, it won’t be troublesome. Because the main thing is you just have to leave them alone most of the time. Just don’t interfere them in any way.
Hamster, like most animals, not endowed with reasons. They would only act and behave instinctively. You need to sink this in your mind first. Because that way you can understand that this behavior of hamster eating her own babies are just evidence of the dynamic nature. You won’t really know what the exact reason for this. As we human seeing cannibalism as something that very taboo. Up until now we can only make some theories of the reasons behind all this. I tell you about this so you will be able to have a better understanding of the situation.
But you might still wondering what exactly you need to do so mother hamster don’t eat her offspring. Well, you came into the right article. Because we will discuss 4 effective ways to stop hamster from eating her babies. If you know about this then you can enjoy the new babies more. Because you don’t need to worry about anything anymore. You can fully enjoy watching your hamster babies to grow up.
Now let’s dive more into these 4 effective ways to stop hamster from eating her babies :
1. Separate from the father
You probably already done this ever since your hamster is pregnant. But if you’re not aware of the pregnancy then this is a must thing to do. When you see the babies, remove the father immediately. It’s a big no-no to keep the mother and father hamster together in one cage. Most of the time hamster just meet to mate. After that they would try to kill each other. Their fight could also be one of the common symptoms when your hamster is pregnant. So, you need to keep an eye on your hamster. If you see they’re fight separate them immediately. It’s not impossible the father would kill the babies as well.
I also need to mention this very quickly. It’s not only applies for the father. It also applies for another hamster in the same cage. The mother hamster would not like her area being interrupted by another. If there is another hamster she would feel the need to defend her territory and believe me it would not end up nicely. She would not hesitate to fight the other. But not only that. If she feels she can’t defend it, she would start to sacrifice the babies. Yes, she would start eating the babies. She did this because she feel she can’t protect them. So, you need to leave the mother completely alone in the cage with the babies. This is the first of 4 effective ways to stop hamster from eating her babies.
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2. Quiet environment
Not only you need to think about inside the cage you also need to think about how it is around the cage. You need to create certain situation around the cage. If you place your hamster cage in the crowded place before, now it’s time to move the cage. Your hamster needs to be in the place that is quiet. That place shouldn’t be visit by human a lot. If you have another pet like cat or dog then make sure they also not enter the room or get near your hamster cage at all. Another presence, even outside the cage, if your hamster can see you, then it would surely bother her. Just don’t stare for too long at the mother hamster and most importantly the babies.
It would be better if the surrounding also a bit dark. Because the combination of quiet and dark would make your hamster feel save. If she feels save she can concentrate on her own condition and the babies. Not only she wouldn’t eat the babies, she would also take a good care of the babies. That if you can provide them with a suitable environment for your hamster.
3. Provide plenty of food and water
Though you know you can’t get near them too much, you still need to watch their food and water carefully. This is very crucial for your hamster and her babies. The hamster that just giving birth would need extra food as she need to gain more energy. She would also need extra food because it would take her some more energy to take care of her babies. Your hamster would not physically need this, but also mentally. If there is plenty of food and water that is provided, then your hamster will feel save. She would feel that she had enough food to take care and raise her offspring. That would caused no stress for your hamster which lead her to take a good care of the babies instead of kill and eat them.
The condition would not be as good if you fail to provide them plenty of food and water. Not only it would affect your hamster physically, it would also surely make her feel stress. She would feel like her babies won’t survive with the little amount of food and water that are provided. This situation would of course lead her to eat the babies. That’s why you can’t take this lightly. You must place a lot of food and water in their cage. There is no other option for this.
4. Don’t touch
This is another very effective way if you don’t want the babies to be eaten. Do not touch them. No matter what, try to not touch the babies. Especially with your bare hand. If mother hamster sense any other smell on the babies she would not hesitate to kill and eat the babies. So, if you’re doing this (not touch the babies) then I can say that the chances for your hamster to not eat her babies are going to be big.
Bottom line is you cannot make your hamster stressed out over anything at all. It’s banned if you want her to take care of her babies and not eating them. You need to be extra careful to not doing anything I mention above or any other things that can make your hamster stress or panic. She needs to be in the right mind all the time. Because if she did then you don’t have to worry about the babies hamster safety anymore.