Hamsters have a short life cycle, usually living between 1 and 3 years, and can typically have up to 12 babies at once. The number of young in a litter depends on several criteria: the age of the parents, the breeding period, and especially the species of the hamster.
How many babies do hamsters have?
Depending on your hamster’s breed, if your female is pregnant, she will give birth to a litter of more or less numerous young as shown in this table:
| Species | Number of babies in a litter |
|---|---|
| Russian Hamster | from 4 to 6 babies |
| Syrian / Golden Hamster | from 5 to 12 babies |
| Roborovski Hamster | about 6 babies |
| Campbell’s Hamster | from 4 to 6 babies |
| Chinese Hamster | from 4 to 6 babies |
When to separate baby hamsters from their mother?
The separation between baby hamsters and their mother is important. If you do not separate them at the right time, the mother may become aggressive towards them and this aggression can increase.
Do not see this as malice from the female; it is a natural behavior that is easily explained. In the wild, once weaning is complete, female wild hamsters leave their nest to find another and leave their young, now capable of fending for themselves.
| Species | Weaning |
|---|---|
| Russian Hamster | between 18 and 28 days |
| Syrian / Golden Hamster | between 21 and 35 days |
| Roborovski Hamster | between 20 and 25 days |
| Campbell’s Hamster | between 18 and 28 days |
| Chinese Hamster | between 21 and 25 days |
Thus, when they are in captivity, hamsters tend to replicate exactly the same behavior: the mother will seek to distance herself from her young after the weaning period. If you leave them in a single cage, they will fight until some die.
As you may have understood, after a period (called weaning), you will need to separate the baby hamsters from their mother. What is this period? Here it is, and it also depends on the breed:
Having baby hamsters is a responsibility, particularly the responsibility of separating the young from the female and buying a second or even a third cage for your hamsters.
When you separate them, you will need to know what the sex of the hamsters is, in order to separate the males from the females, otherwise you will quickly find yourself with a new litter of young!
How to take care of baby hamsters?
What should you do after the birth of baby hamsters? The answer is simple: nothing! Their mother takes care of everything. Many novice hamster owners wonder how to take care of the young, what care they need while they are so fragile and helpless: let Mother Nature do her work; their mother will provide for all their needs during the first month.
During the first 15 days: do not touch the young, let the mother take care of them. If you touch them in the first hours, the mother may sense a foreign smell on her young and may kill them. Again, do not see this as cruelty; simply avoid human intervention in a process that, in principle, should not involve it. Just watch for 15 days, except for adding water and food!
Some baby hamsters, the weakest or the smallest, may die; this is a natural process in which you should not intervene.