Problem With Baby Hampster

xrenegadex

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2 weeks ago my hampster had 14 babies. 2 days ago, we noticed that one of the babies has a small...gash...in his side, about where his shoulder would be. He isn't moving the leg very well, and he's not eating (on his own, he's still feeding solely on the mother) any tips on what we should do? and when?
 
Im sorry to say that the only thing to do at this point is to keep your fingers crossed and hope the little guy turns out to be fine. Mother hamsters tend to move their young many times after birth for protection. In doing so the occasional accident will happen.
 
I agree. When my gerbil had babies she would move them everywhere. One ended up being crippled but he was fine other than that. He would still run around.
I hope yours gets better.
 
There is also the possibility that something stressed the mother, so she harmed the baby. By the location, it sounds like an accident in moving him about, but just in case, where is the hampster located, how quiet is it, is it nice and dark there, and are there other animals around? If it is too high traffic, too loud, too bright, and if she can even smell a predator, the stress could make her harm the offspring. Honestly, excessive moving of the babies usually means the mother feels insecure about where they are. I've never seen a rodent with a large, well-placed, secluded cage move the babies until they simply got too big for the old nest site. So, something like (carefully) relocating the cage to someplace warm, dark, and quiet, or even just placing a towel over it and only disturbing them for food and water, might help. :thumbs:

If the baby is old enough to be handled, you could at least keep the wound clean with a mild saline flush to see that it doesn't get infected. Don't put any ointment on it however, as sometimes other rodents find these "tasty." I've heard horror stories about mice cannibalizing cagemates being treated with ointments, and my own mouse anja got attacked when I started her on her eye meds. I'd imagine hamsters could have a similar reaction.

Good luck with the lil guy. Hope he pulls through :-(
 
the nest in in a ball....usually used for running in, and is on the side of the cage, it's normally quiet, warm, and peacfull during the day. Only people that go near the cage are myself and my fiance. The nest was in the one corner of the cage, we woke up one morning and found them in the ball....they are 2 weeks old today...is that too soon to handle em?
 

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