My baby hamster has no mom. How do I care for it to help it survive?

You'll need to set up a baby safe cage. A basic cage (preferably one without fancy tubes and tunnels), paper towels, Pet-safe bedding (NOT sawdust), Hamster muesli, Fresh vegetables (carrot or cucumber being better choices for babies), and a water bottle. Keep this all warm with a hot water bottle wrapped in two thicknesses of towel or a heating pad underneath only half the cage, that way if it gets too hot they can move away from it. From 1-14 days old hourly feeds with kitten formula are required. Pups get dehydrated in a matter of hours so not feeding them hourly could kill them. It is a very time-consuming task hand feeding pups.You have to take it slow. Any hurry or forceful feeding can lead to milk being inhaled into the lungs and causing death within the minute. Gently hold the pup in your hand being careful not to squeeze them tightly. Using a pipette or eyedropper full of milk, place it near the pups mouth. They are not used to being fed this way so resistance is natural. Try not to squeeze vast quantities into their mouth, they’ll choke! Little and often is the way to go. Allow the pup to lick/bite the end of the pipette on their own to take in milk. If they don't show an interest, a small drop of milk on the bottom lip can be licked up. Wait for the pup to stop ‘chewing’ the milk (its how they swallow and is normal) then repeat About 2 or 3 drops in one sitting is plenty for a little hamster. Anymore and you may be doing more harm than good. When the pups are eating soft/solid foods (approximately between 10-16 days) the milk weaning can begin reducing feeds to every 3 hours. When the pups are comfortably feeding themselves, milk feeds can be stopped altogether.

Other hamsters in the environment can harm and bite babies, so it is best to make sure mom and babies have an entire cage to themselves. If mom isn't caring for the babies even after a reduction in stress and removal of cagemates, there could be something wrong with her or the babies, and a vet visit may help check for illness. You may also need to begin to supplement feed the babies with a KMR formula if they aren't getting enough from mom. Hamster babies mature very quickly, so lots of care is needed to help them pull through. Looking up "hand rearing hamsters" may point you to some useful links about how much to feed, how often, and the right environment for care.

Thanks for reaching out about your hamsters and including photos. First, continue to look for the mother. Kitten or cow's milk is not the same as hamster milk and quite possibly will lead to diarrhea in the babies. Hamster milk is typically very concentrated so using a mixture of goat's milk and condensed milk might work. Try offering finely chopped vegetables, placing them in the mouth and monitor for ability to chew. This will be difficult. Good luck.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is important that you do not disturb Snow, as even a small amount of stress can cause her to neglect or even canibalize her pups. If this is her first litter, she may be a little confused and not necessarily know what to do. I recommend moistening her food a little bit with water and placing it closer to the nest, without disturbing it. This will provide her with some extra hydration. This moist food should be changed daily to avoid mold from growing in the cage. The pups should start eating food on their own by the time they are about 3 weeks old, and can be removed from the cage at this time. I hope this helps!

Typically no, the mama hamster will not harm her babies. To be sure, keep a close eye on her in the first few days after giving birth. Make sure she is nursing her babies and that she has plenty of food and water to drink. If you become concerned that she will hurt the babies or if she is not feeding them, then you will need to separate them from her to keep her safe. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

There is very little you can do. This is the reason hamsters have so many babies. There will always be a few runts and it is quite possible that they will either not be healthy (with congenital deficiencies) or not strong enough to fight their way to the nipples. Mama will take care of them as she sees fit, and if they are not ok she will either eat them or abandon them to ensure that the other strong ones have a good chance of survival. So while it is sad if some die due to being weak or very small, it ensures that the others will have a better chance to live. Do not disturb the nest much, as stress can also cause the mother to kill babies. If the house with the nest has a lid you can gently lift the lid once a day to visually check the little ones and remove a dead one, if it occurs. Otherwise leave them be as much as possible in order not to cause stress.

Thanks for reaching out about your mice. This is probably not the best idea. First there is no commercially available milk replacer for mice. Mice are not cats or dogs, and therefore those milk replacers are not applicable to mice and will likely lead to abnormal intestinal bacterial proliferation and questionable digestions, and death. Secondly, the mother could reject the remainder of the mice. Recommendations would include allowing mother to raise the babies, but once the babies' eyes are open and eating some solids, the start handling them to acclimate them to your touch, smell, etc. Good luck.