Yesterday I took in a pair of Russian dwarf hamsters that were being housed together in a small bin. I immediately separated them & got them both in large, enriching enclosures.
One of them is looking pudgy & pear shaped. She weighs 53 grams and in her old bin she was sharing a 4" wheel with her roommate and had bad nutrition. Its possibly she's just had a lot of snacks and no opportunity to exercise.
I don't have experience sexing hamsters and neither were cooperative but I believe one is a male and the other female so probably got a pregnancy situation.
It's certainly possible (and preferable) that I'm wrong about this but I'll be proceeding as if she's pregnant for the time being.
Which leads me to my questions
- why do I need to remove the wheel and sanbath during the pregnancy? I've heard different things like they could be dangerous if the pups try to use too early or that she may ignore her pups in favour of running. But in that case couldn't she keep them until she gives birth?
I've been reading a lot of hamster pregnancy resources but if anyone's got any good ones to share I would appreciate it.
Tomorrow I'm going to put a camera in her cage and remove the wheel & sand bath if needed. Then I'm just going to leave her alone except for adding food, water and nesting materials. I won't try to take pictures or check the sex again for fear of stressing her out at this stage.
Wish us luck.
Here's a video of hamster and also photos of her old set up (280 square inches) and current set up (800+ square inches). Pregnant?
One of them is looking pudgy & pear shaped. She weighs 53 grams and in her old bin she was sharing a 4" wheel with her roommate and had bad nutrition. Its possibly she's just had a lot of snacks and no opportunity to exercise.
I don't have experience sexing hamsters and neither were cooperative but I believe one is a male and the other female so probably got a pregnancy situation.
It's certainly possible (and preferable) that I'm wrong about this but I'll be proceeding as if she's pregnant for the time being.
Which leads me to my questions
- why do I need to remove the wheel and sanbath during the pregnancy? I've heard different things like they could be dangerous if the pups try to use too early or that she may ignore her pups in favour of running. But in that case couldn't she keep them until she gives birth?
I've been reading a lot of hamster pregnancy resources but if anyone's got any good ones to share I would appreciate it.
Tomorrow I'm going to put a camera in her cage and remove the wheel & sand bath if needed. Then I'm just going to leave her alone except for adding food, water and nesting materials. I won't try to take pictures or check the sex again for fear of stressing her out at this stage.
Wish us luck.
Here's a video of hamster and also photos of her old set up (280 square inches) and current set up (800+ square inches). Pregnant?
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