How to care about the little hamsters in the first days of their life

And here you have a milestone at home - female brought youngs.

You can see them, but do not touch them in any case during the first 6-8 days. You will leave your scent on them and this can lead to tragic consequences: mother will bite them or will cease to feed them. If the mother felt foreign smell, she starts acting on instinct to preserve the posterity, she will think that the nest is attacked and they face danger, so the cubs that have your scent will be considered as aliens and in order to save the posterity, she kill and eat them.

Don't be startled if at the first view of the nest you see dead or sick youngs. Female will take care of itself, she will carefully examine each cub and will eat the sick, traumatized, and weak ones, and all the natural results full from the birth. She will not leave in their nest anything dirty, which can decompose and serve as a source of spread of infection or odor revealing the location of the nest with newborns.

When the youngs are born, place some soft paper, napkin or toilet paper in the cage. The female will use them to make a warm nest for her cubs, where she will conceal them when goes for food. The newborns are voiceless and weak, they are naked and blind, very small, with closed ears. At first they are red, have a thin skin and transparent capillaries. Over time, their color will change and won't be so red. If healthy, they will actively move and look for grains to feed. The voice appears for 5-6 days and you will hear a sharp and demanding scream out of the nest. But hamsters are hidden animals and with the age they no longer turn to each other by means of voice.

On the 6-8th day, they cover with hair and with the occurrence of this event you can see them and satisfy your curiosity about what is their amount and gender.

On the 10th day, they start leaving the nest and exploring the outside world, so it is possible to acclimatize them to the toilet at that age.

At 11-14 days they are not so helpless and are completely independent. During this period their eyes are opening and they can notice the food for adults and try it. In natural habitat female starts to feed them with hamster food using its stocks. But breed in domestic conditions, there are no stocks so at that time you should put in the nest some sop and shredded vegetables.

Do not hurry to move and transport the animals into a single cage, it can not be done earlier than at the age of 16 days and in case that the female has no milk to nurse them.

When hamsters get 3 weeks old, they can eat any kind of food, run around and be independent enough so that from this moment you can distribute them.

After half a month the puberty occurs and this is the end of their child's friendship -  games turn into fights and females put in operation their teeth.

Some farmers wonder at what age  the female feeds the youngs with milk, and when they can
begin to give them food for adults and what kind it should be.

Females are able to suckle her young till the age of one month, such animals are young and healthy fed. Starting from the age of 2 weeks, you can offer to the cubs finely grated carrots, mash, an inner part of white bread. In this period they already have teeth and are able to acclimatize to ordinary food.

In the process of breastfeeding the female could remain without any milk which is a tragedy
for the small animals, but if they have already reached the age of 14-16 days, try to save them with food for adults.

On the second month they are in the puberty and the formation of their body ends.

The growth of the youngs will give you a great pleasure, they are happy and moving, all the
time thinking of different amusements for themselves and then showing their individual character.