What to do if your hamster gives birth and then dies
Author: Mary KirklandSource: www.hamster-club.com
One of the sweetest things you will ever see is a mother hamster and her newborn babies (pups). Hamster pups are born hairless, vulnerable and with their eyes closed. They rely on their mother for everything, including warmth, food, and safety. If the mother hamster dies suddenly before the pups are weaned, there is a chance they will die too.
If the pups are at least 10 days old they have a better chance of making it, but if they are only a day or two old they might not make it no matter how much you try or what you do. If you have another
hamster (of the same breed) who has recently given
birth, you can try to introduce the pups to the surrogate mother. Before putting the pups into the new mother's cage you must first wash the smell of their birth mother off of them. You have to be extra careful when doing this while making sure all the original scent is gone. First thing you need to do is gather a handful of the surrogate mother's bedding, close to her own pups nest and set it aside in a shoe box. You want the bedding material to smell like her babies.
Wet a paper towel with warm water and sponge the pups off one by one. When they are cleaned of their original scent, gently place them into the surrogate mother's bedding you gathered up. Because you stimulated them while bathing, they should be wriggling around when you set them into the bedding. This will help get the new scent on them and aid in the new mother accepting them into her nest.
Place the surrogate mother's cage in a quiet place and tempt her out of her nest with her favorite treat. Try to keep the mother busy at one end of the cage, if she starts to run right back to her nest with her treat, gently block her way unless she starts getting upset. If she is easily handled and lets you take her out of the
cage while she eats her treat, that would be best.
by Albert Saliba