How long does a hamster's pregnancy last? This question is of interest to all owners of small pets when mating happened - random or planned. How long a hamster’s pregnancy lasts depends on its breed. On average, the females of these rodents carry offspring from 16 to 22 days - this is a rather short period when compared with other mammals. The article will give answers to the question of how long the pregnancy lasts for dzhungars and other types of hamsters.
Signs of pregnancy of a domestic rodent
If you have several hamsters, and mating between them is not planned, then you need to keep them separately, even young animals, since the maturity of these animals comes by the age of one month.
An unplanned pregnancy in a hamster can be determined only by the 10th day after mating. If you are just going to buy a rodent, then the seller may not even know about pregnancy, believing that the animal is simply voracious, and therefore has excess weight.
With the planned mating, you can independently test the female’s tummy on the 5-6th day with your hands for the presence of fruits. To do this, put the female on her hind legs, lean her front against the wall, grasp the tummy with her hand so that the thumb is on her back. With your other fingers, carefully probe the tummy from the pelvic bones to the ribs. If there is a pregnancy, then inside the animal will be felt the fruit-balls. But this method will not work if the rodent is restless. Or small, for example a dzhungarik.
How long a hamster’s pregnancy lasts depends on the breed, and methods for checking the presence of future offspring also depend on it. If the rodent is small or aggressive, then weighing will help, which after mating should be done once every three days to ten days, and then every day. From the 10th day of pregnancy, the female begins to gain weight quickly. If this does not happen, then there is no pregnancy. If at first the weight started to gain, and then stopped, or the rodent began to lose it, then you need to contact the veterinarian, as this may be a sign of a frozen pregnancy or the presence of another disease that is dangerous both for the hamster and for its offspring.
External signs of pregnancy
When the mating has occurred, the owners of rodents begin to wonder about when the offspring will appear, that is, how long the pregnancy in hamsters lasts. Some notice that the female is demolished only when the first signs appear.
Outwardly determining the pregnancy of a hamster Roborovsky or Dzungarian is not a problem at all. These babies look very much like a pear because of an expanding tummy. But with large breeds, especially long-haired, not everything is so simple. You need to pay attention to the nipples, they become enlarged, and they can be seen even from under thick wool.
In addition to the obvious signs of pregnancy in rodents, there are indirect ones, these are:
- aggression is manifested;
- in the cage, the animal begins to build a nest in a secluded corner;
- moves carefully;
- sleeps more than usual, curled up in a ball;
- increases appetite, drinks more water.
How long does a Dzungarian hamster take?
All dwarf breeds, including Roborovsky's hamster, jungarik, Campbell, Chinese, bear offspring for an average of three weeks. How long a pregnancy lasts for hamsters depends on the number of cubs. Dwarf breeds often have from 4 to 7 pieces per litter, and the pregnancy lasts about 21 days. If there are more fruits (dwarf rarely, but 9 babies are also born), then the gestation period will be approximately 18 days. That is, the more babies, the less the female carries them.
How long does a Syrian hamster take?
This is a larger representative of hamsters, and it is precisely during his pregnancy that the lower bar of the term is set - 16 days.
If we consider the pregnancy of the Syrian hamster by day, then we will see a figure from 16 to 20 days, and this, again, depends on the number of offspring. If the litter is scheduled from 6 to 12 babies, then the pregnancy will last up to 20 days. If it is from 16 to 18, then about 20 days, but not less than 16.
When should I go to the veterinarian?
We examined the question of how long the pregnancy lasts for hamsters, and, as it turned out, the term is very short. But during this short period deviations from the norm may appear, and it will be necessary to consult a specialist to save the life of the female and future offspring.
If the pregnancy is delayed for more than 2 days, then this is a reason to worry. Perhaps the female was not at all pregnant, but simply gained weight - and this is the best outcome. It happens that the birth took place at night, when the owner was sleeping, and the hamster just ate newborns!
You should consult a doctor if childbirth does not occur, and the stomach continues to increase. This may not be associated with pregnancy at all, but with the disease, most often rodents undergo pyometra and ascites, the signs of which are an increase and tightening of the abdomen.
If you are sure that the female is pregnant, but the period is delayed, and the belly is not growing or the animal has begun to lose weight, then you need to urgently take him to the veterinarian, because such signs may indicate the death of the babies in utero.
In general, a visit to the clinic is a great stress for all animals, especially when it comes to baby hamsters. If there is no serious reason for concern, then a visit to the doctor should be avoided.
What to feed the animal during pregnancy
The nutritional needs of pregnant hamsters are very different from those that are required just for an adult. Pregnancy is fast, the fruits develop and greatly deplete the female's body. Therefore, food should be easily digestible, but high-calorie, rich in trace elements and minerals. Veterinarians advise you to adhere to the following diet:
- Vegetables and fruits: hamsters should not be given pears and apples during pregnancy. Pumpkin, carrots, zucchini, wheat and oats seedlings, dill and fresh grass are allowed. You can give these products every day. Chunks about a centimeter.
- Protein and calcium are needed in more hamsters during pregnancy than in normal periods. Twice a week, the female should be given boiled meat (beef, chicken or rabbit), baby purees of turkey or beef, cottage cheese (maximum fat 1%), boiled quail or chicken eggs.
- The main source of energy for rodents remains the usual dry food. After about a week, the grain mixture will need to be poured twice as much. You can enter herbal rings in the diet.
- Water is needed in double volume. Change the liquid in the drinker daily by washing the dishes. Vitamins can be added to water.
Pregnancy
Hamster pregnancy is fast, and proper maintenance is the key to success for the breeder.
As soon as the first signs of pregnancy appear, the female will need to be put in a separate cage. During this period, she has a very developed instinct for self-preservation, and she can show aggression against relatives, harm them, even cripple.
While waiting for the offspring, the hamster will arrange a nest, and she needs to provide the appropriate material - cotton cloth or paper towels. Sterility in the cell is not as important as the rest of the animal. During this period, the litter is rarely changed, but 5 days before giving birth it is not touched at all, you just need to sweep out the garbage.
The female will need shelter, a simple cardboard box is good for this. Veterinarians do not advise taking a hamster in your arms during pregnancy, even if it is very tame, the main thing is peace, calm, lack of stress!
What to do with hamsters after childbirth?
When the female finally brought offspring, in no case should you take babies, touch them, climb into the nest for counting! Any extraneous smell can provoke mother aggression, she can bite the owner and even gobble up her own children! Do not allow other pets and children to the cage, the family needs peace for two weeks.
Also, within 2 weeks in the nest you can not carry out cleaning, you can only sweep the cage. Full cleaning should occur only when the kids crawl out and begin to move around the cage.
Why can a female eat cubs?
Quite often it happens that after giving birth a hamster for some reason gets rid of its offspring by eating all or some of them. No, she did not confuse them with food, and everything is normal with her head. There may be the following reasons for eating babies:
- During pregnancy, the owner incorrectly fed the animal, it lacked proteins and vitamins. The body was exhausted, and the female realized that she could not feed all, so she was getting rid of the excess.
- If everything is eaten, then the female just did not wake up instincts that contribute to the safe breeding of offspring.
- Preservation of healthy offspring. If the hamster diagnosed deviations in the health of the babies, then she will get rid of them so that the sick individuals do not spoil the genus!
- Fright and outside smells are the most common reason for eating. That is why you can not disturb the family in the first 2 weeks.
How to feed a female and babies?
At first, the mother herself feeds her offspring, but she needs a lot of protein, so you should adhere to the diet that was during pregnancy.
When the young growth crawls out of the nest, you need to put a drinker below. Toddlers are fed baby cereals - without sugar and salt. Suitable corn, buckwheat and oat. Kids will love boiled egg white, a quality grain mixture.
So, in this article we examined how and how many days a hamster’s pregnancy lasts.