Parents decided to surprise the child and give a hamster. The surprise was a success, because instead of one animal, a lot happened right away. The pet store claimed the acquisition was a young male. It turned out that this is not a male. And the girl, moreover, pregnant.
What to do in this case? A hamster with children will not be taken back to the pet store. How to understand that a hamster is pregnant when buying it? Let's find out.
Sex determination
In order not to get into the situation described above, it is necessary to be able to distinguish the gender of the hamster. Someone will laugh, they say, why is it complicated? In fact, everything is not so simple. Especially in very small (up to 4 weeks) rodents.
How to determine the gender? To do this, the following manipulation is performed. The hamster is placed on the palm tummy up. Holding under the front legs in such a way that the animal does not fall, with the free hand they hold the back of the body and look at the location of the genitals.
If the anus and genitals are far apart, we have a hamster in front of us. If these organs are at a very close distance, we see his girlfriend in front of us.
By the way, the guy’s coat covering the primary sexual characteristics is longer than that of the female representatives.
How is this possible?
Let's say the purchase turned out to be a hamster lady. A lady lived in a new house for a week, and was born. The hosts are in shock. How is that? When did you manage?
At the pet store, hamsters are not seated by gender. Both males and females live together. Often, sellers themselves do not know how to understand that a hamster is pregnant. And given the fact that these cute babies are able to breed, starting from 6 weeks of age, it is possible that the little girl bought has already reached one.
Pregnancy terms
How to understand that a hamster is pregnant? It is very difficult to do at the first stage of an interesting position in a rodent. Pregnancy lasts from 19 to 21 days. The abdomen begins to appear at about 10 days.
Does the term depend on the breed of the rodent?
Not. The gestational age is the same for both Dzungarian and Syrian individuals. And how to understand that a hamster-dzhungarik is pregnant? This is easier than distinguishing between Syrian preparation for motherhood. Dzhungari are smooth-haired comrades, which means that they will not be able to disguise their stomach under thick hair.
We establish pregnancy
So, we found out at what age the female is able to get pregnant, how long this period lasts. Now let's find out how to understand that a female hamster is pregnant.
- The first sign is an evenly rounded belly. But it can only be distinguished from the 10th day of pregnancy.
- The second sign is the sudden and pronounced appearance of the nipples. Usually the nipples of a female hamster are light and pale. During pregnancy, they become bright pink and stand out against the background of the coat.
- The third sign is an increase in appetite. The future mother eats everything that lies in her bowl, with the energy of a vacuum cleaner. And he looks through the bars of the cell at the owner, waiting for the supplement.
- The fourth sign is a change in behavior. Affectionate and tame girl becomes a real fury. When you try to pick it up in your hands, it flings its teeth.
- The fifth sign is the construction of the nest. The future hamster mom begins to fuss and build a nest for herself from improvised materials.
If the owner notices these signs in his pet, they sold him a “surprise” at the pet store.
Getting ready for childbirth
How to understand whether a female hamster is pregnant, we found out. And how to prepare her for childbirth?
It is worth starting with the fact that as soon as the owner has found a rounded and growing belly in his pet, you will have to do a general cleaning in the cage. Why so early? Because five days before the alleged birth, in no case should the future mother be nervous by touching her, changing the situation in the cell and smells of others. She may get nervous, think that something is threatening her offspring, and after childbirth simply eat the babies.
So, cleaning. How is she going? The cell is thoroughly cleaned from the filler and food debris, washed with a disinfectant and dried. Then put a new filler and clean white napkins or toilet paper without fragrances. This is necessary so that the female can equip herself with a nest.
The house washes and returns to the cage. Boiling water is scalded with a drinking bowl and feeder, then sent back to the cage.
The girl needs to be fed intensely. Therefore, it is worth giving food three to four times a day. And not only dry food for hamsters. Fruits, vegetables and the protein component of the diet are necessary.
Make sure that there is always clean water in the drinker. Pregnant females have increased thirst, the drinker can be emptied with enviable regularity.
After childbirth
About how to understand that the Dzungarian hamster is pregnant and its Syrian relative, too, we talked above. What to do to the owner the field of how one morning he will find pink, very ugly and blind cubs in the cage?
Change the filler and clean the long-uncleaned territory of hamsters? In no case. For a couple of weeks after the pet has become a mother, you will have to forget about cleaning its cage. All due to the odor that was mentioned above.
You can’t touch the kids until they independently leave the nest. Feed your mom hamster with protein food, monitor the water norm in the drinker and forget about the hamster family for at least three weeks.
Conclusion
From the article you learned the following points:
- About how to understand that a hamster is pregnant.
- How to determine the sex of cute rodents.
- How to help prepare a nursery for labor
- What to do after the birth of babies.
And the very last tip. When children reach the age of four weeks, they are seated by sex.