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Reproduction Of Russian Hamsters
By peace | November 15, 2006
The gestation period of Dwarf Russian Hamsters is 18-21 days and if mating was observed then the time of the expected arrival of the litter can be roughly calculated. If mating was not observed then it is often not possible to know tell when the litter is expected. Many females do not appear pregnant until a couple of days before the birth but an increased aggressiveness of the female towards her mate, colony hamsters or humans is often an indication of pregnancy. The female will often banish the male or other hamsters from the nest a couple of days before pregnancy and/or after the birth. Therefore as soon as it is noticed the female is pregnant it is best to clean the cage.
The male will help to rear the young, particularly with Campbells Russian Hamsters, and so it is not necessary to remove when the female is noticed to be pregnant. However, the hamsters will often mate immediately after birth so if it is not intended to breed further litters the male should be removed prior to the birth.
Dwarf Russian Hamsters have an amazing ability to delay implantation, meaning that mating can take place but implantation of all or some of the fertilised eggs can be withheld by the female until a later date and so even if mating takes place the female may not give birth until some time much later.
Females usually give birth during the evening, night or early morning but sometimes give birth during the day. The female is active right up to the moment of birth. Before giving birth to each baby she tightens her abdominal muscles two or three times then sits up and crouches over as she gives birth to a single baby within a couple of minutes. A placenta, which looks like a small red blood sac, may be released after the birth of each baby and this is normally eaten by the mother as it is a good source of protein.
Babies are born at approximately 10 minute intervals and the mother may be active between each birth. Therefore babies may be born around the cage but the mother will usually collect them all up and place them in the nest once birthing is complete.
After the female has given birth there is often spots of blood on the bedding or around the cage. This is caused by the passing of the placentas and is normal and nothing to be alarmed about.
Severe bleeding from the female though should be cause for alarm. The pups are born naked, blind and deaf, weighing only 3 grams. If the hamsters are to be dark eyed the eyes can be seen under the skin but if they are to be red eyed the eyes cannot be seen at birth. They are born with teeth which allow them to suckle and their skin is transparent and once fed the milk can be seen in the stomach.
The female should not be disturbed whilst giving birth.
Russian B
abies Hamsters
After the female has given birth the nest should not be disturbed or the babies touched for 2 weeks – to do so could cause the mother to reject the babies.
The male, particularly with the Campbells Russian will help to look after the babies. If the hamsters belong to a group the other members of the group may also help look after the babies and if two or more females have litters around the same time they may place all the babies in a ‘creche’ and take turns nursing all the babies. It is not unusual for mothers to swap babies if two or more females have babies in separate nests and help to rear each other’s babies.
Depending on the colour of the babies the skin will become dark or flesh coloured and so at around 4-6 days the skin may start to pigment, become darker depending on the colour of the baby.
At 5-7 days hair begins to emerge and the ears open and by 9-10 days the babies are covered in short fur and the eyelids are developing. At this time the babies may also start wandering around the cage, even though still blind. The female will usually collect the wandering babies and return them to the nest – this may be accompanied by squealing from the babies but is not usually anything to worry about. At 14-16 days of age the eyes open and the babies are covered in fur. It is safe to handle the babies for short periods at this time and so the cage can be cleaned.
During the time the mother is rearing the litter plenty of food should be provided and a shallow dish of low fat milk or bread soaked in low fat milk, vegetables, scrambled or boiled egg and a few extra sunflower seeds will also be beneficial.
The babies are fully weaned and can be removed from the mother at 3 weeks of age and it is a good idea to separate the sexes at this time placing males in one cage and females in another. The babies should be kept with their brothers and sisters in their separate sex cages for another 2-3 weeks.
At 5-6 weeks of age the babies are ready to go to their new homes.
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