Thursday, August 14, 2008
6 NEW BORN HAMSTERS!!!
:DDDDDD14/08/08 APPROXIMATELY 5:30PM
IM SO HAPPY,THAT I JUST HAVE TO TAKE SOME TIME OFF FROM STUDYING TO BLOG ABOUT IT.HAHA. I CANT SHOW YOU PEOPLE HOW THEY LOOK LIKE,CAUSE I DIDNT WANT TO DISTURB THEM BY TAKING PICTURES, FEARING THAT THE MOTHER MIGHT EAT THE BABIES. JUST IMAGINE ITS THE LENGTH OF YOUR THUMB AND SIZE OF YOUR PINKY. HAHA! THATS HOW PUNY THEY ARE! THEY ARE STILL NAKED AND THEIR EYELIDS HAVE NOT DEVELOP YET. IM SO EXCITED TO WATCH THEM GROW UP!! ((: I FREAKED OUT WHEN I SAW THE BABIES, CAUSE I DIDNT KNOW WHAT TO DO, ITS LIKE THE FIRST TIME! SO I WENT TO CHECK IT UP ON THE INTERNET! :))THE BIRTH:The female is active right up to the moment of birth although handling should be kept to a minimum when she is heavily pregnant. 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. Babies are born at intervals and the mother may be active between each birth. Therefore babies may be born around the cage but the mother will collect them all up and place them in the nest once birthing is complete.
The babies are born naked and blind and the skin will start to pigment at around 4-6 days and then hair will start to grow. The female will normally allow the male to return to the nest a few days after the birth.REARING THE BABIES: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.
If the female has banished the male from the nest she may allow him back into the nest a few days after the birth.At around 5-6 days the skin may start to pigment and at 6-8 days hair begins to emerge and by 10-12 days the babiesare 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 hamster mix and high protein foods should be provided to her. As the babies star to eat solid foods they will easily manage some grated carrot, wheatgerm and scrambled or boiled egg before being able to manage hamster mix and other high protein foods.
The babies are fully weaned and can be removed from the mother at 4 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 6-7 weeks of age the babies are ready to go to their new homes.SO MANY THINGS TO TAKE NOTE OF AND EVERYTHING, SO I'VE DONE UP A CALENDER TO KEEP TRACK OF THE NUMBER OF DAYS! HAHAHAAA.. THIS IS LIKE SO FUN.BUT MORE HAMSTERS,MEANS MORE MONEY SPENT,MORE WORK TO DO,BUT THEY ARE SO ADORABLE TO BE LOVED!((:
@ 9:48 PM
kathe