How old should baby hamsters be before you can hold them?

Answer 1

I've held a hamster baby right after it was born, so i guess anytime that you feel comfortable to pick them up, and you have to make sure your hamster mother or father is okay if you pick their baby up before. So put your hand over the baby hamsters maybe five inches or so away.

Answer 2

You certainly don't want them to be eaten by the mother or father hamster, which can and does happen. So you need to take some action, or rather inaction to prevent this. I say inaction because the single most important factor in your hamster parents not eating the babies is for you not to "contaminate" them with your human scent. Particularly if it is the parent hamsters first litter, when they get very anxious and protective and would rather eat the babies than leave them to the fate of a perceived predator i.e. you!

A hands-off approach is therefore the best line to take at this time. The mother will feed the babies for the first 2-3 weeks with her milk and will usually bury them somewhere secure, often a nest box. She will often move them from time to time. Who knows why but they do? This can be amusing to watch as she grabs them one by one by the scruff of the neck and moves them somewhere else in the hamster cage, often simply to move them back a few minutes or hours later. You should omit your usual hamster cage cleaning routines during this stage and disturb them as little as possible.

In the first two weeks while the mother is suckling the baby hamsters you need to make sure that she is getting plenty of fluids, dry hamster food and a good supply of fresh vegetables. She will often look much thinner than usual, whilst at the same time the father hamster may look a bit fat. His role is to help out a bit with keeping the hamster pups in line when they start to wander and just generally support the mother. It is good for the parents to be kept together at this time, although if you don't want further hamster babies they need to be separated as soon as possible, as the mother can become pregnant again within hours of delivery!

Answer 3

You can handle the babies as soon as they dry from being born. They are born with eyes open with all their hair and teeth and ready to run.

Answer 4

You should wait for a few days to hold her, then it is okay.

Answer 5

Leaving their mother as in don't drink her milk anymore is 2 weeks old. If you meant leave their mother as in being separated is 5 weeks old.

Answer 6

About 10 weeks.

Answer 7

2 weeks