It has long been recommended to not disturb a new Syrian hamster mom after she has given birth as they are notorious for being super sensitive in the nest.
Some say you shouldn’t disturb them for at least a week – and that is with a good relaxed mother well known to the breeder. Others don’t even go near the nest until the pups eyes are open, and you may be wise to follow that advice yourself.
Either way – most breeders we spoke to say leave her be for a good week or three to be sure. I mean if you have invested the time in finding her the perfect mate, and she has used all that energy up growing the pups, you want to get it right don’t you?
However, this doesn’t really answer the question of why hamster mums would eat the babies? Surely this just goes against what we would expect a mother to want to do.
Why Would A Hamster Mother Eat Her Babies?
There are many reasons why a Syrian hamster mum would eat her pups – and most of them are nothing to do with you as the owner.
New moms are usually very attentive to their pups and will try anything to protect them – but sometimes the greater good can override this inate behaviour – and this is when we can lose pups.
It isn’t easy to predict – and no-one is ever 100% certain as to why this happens, but sometimes it does. We can certainly do things that reduce the risk – but here are some of the most likely reasons for hamsters to eat their babies…
Nervous Hamster Mom:
It is possible that if your hamster mom is just kinda extra cautious around her young she may be more sensitive to things around their home that you may think are totally normal.
Remember that Syrians always live on their own, they have no way to show you that they may not be totally happy with your set up or its location in your home.
However, if they have pups to react to or protect – this can change.
In the wild, hamsters tend to be really worried about getting found by a predator in the nest – that is why they have evolved their natural ‘bite first’ habit that we all know about. It is in their nature.
Therefore, when they are at their most vulnerable (with a litter of pups to care for) they become even more wary of everything. And this is what causes the reaction to sometimes injure or eat their pups.
Well, in their mind – if they think they are nesting in a predator-rich environment (lots of things going on that aren’t restful to her), she may start to think that this isn’t the best place to raise a litter. And how do you stop having to worry about your litter?
That’s right; have a smaller litter or have no litter at all.
Removing the worry of a litter when the mom feels that she is living in a really vulnerable place is her best move – but unfortunately not what we as owners want.
There is nothing you can do if your mom is more nervous than others (apart from trying to avoid nervous moms for your breeding programme in the first place), so you just need to make sure you try everything you can to make them feel under no type of threat what-so-ever.
Stressed Hamster Mom:
Similarly, if a mom Syrian Hamster THINKS she is under stress – she will act in the same way as above. Even if in our eyes as humans she has nothing to worry about.
Stress isn’t like our stress (too much work to people, people to see, running out of cake), it can be biological or environmental stress.
Near a door, in a noisy room, in a place where shadows or smells frequently pass through, a place with vibrations, low frequency interruptions, high pitched sounds, too hot, too cold, incorrect bedding/house/nesting places/food and water resources, other animals in proximity, the list goes on.
If your mom doesn’t feel happy in any way – she may well feel as though there is no point raising a litter as he whole situation isn’t safe. She may not eat all the litter – she may only eat some – basically she is hedging her bets and reducing her risks.
Of course this doesn’t seem to make all that much sense to us, as we would protect all our offspring with great vigour – but hamsters are different. As are most mammals…
What If Your Hamster Mom Is Sick:
Another reason why a Syrian hamster may eat her litter or some of her young would be because the mother herself is ill in some way.
If the mother believes herself to be lacking in health for whatever reason, or who knows herself to be ill in a way which we as owners cannot see, she may well think that having and feeding a huge litter of pups isn’t in her best interests. Especially if she is unable to produce enough milk to feed them all for some reason?
Whatever the reason, she may well most likely see fit to not raise this litter just now and take time to recover herself first (whether or not she is actually ill isn’t the point – it is how she feels at the time that is important).
Domestic animals don’t often have the choice as to whether or not to get pregnant in the first place – owners and nature take care of that – but they can certainly have a say in whether they raise them.
Perhaps if hamster owners were much more choosy over the hamsters they breed, the stats of surviving pups may be different?
What If Your Hamster Pups Are Sick:
There is always the chance that the pups themselves are not as healthy as they could be – or for some reason they are not acting in a way in which the mom believes they should be. And she is extra sensitive to it. Syrians have huge litters – it is a big commitment from her to raise them all.
Whether or not this is to do with an environmental issue (too hot, cold, not enough nutrients), a genetic issue (such as neurological issues) or a congenital isse (a one off health issue related to this litter (or individuals) alone – might not matter. It is how she feels that is important.
It is quite common for mother rodents to abandon or remove pups that they don’t feel are growing correctly or acting correctly – it is just nature’s way.
We might think they are just a litter of tiny pups all being fed in the nest – but the mom will be able to spot things that we can only dream of knowing.
Sometimes problems are obvious to us – and the pups don’t disappear from the nest – so why the sudden change?
Well, we shall never know – these things just happen.
I have had many a poorly hamster born to a mommy hamster – so we can never be sure why some just don’t make the cut?
So, Why DO Hamsters Eat Their Pups?
Perhaps we will never actually know. Perhaps it is a combination of the above perhaps there is something not on the list that we don’t yet know about.
- Something to do with sensitivity to vibrations or sounds in the home?
- Chemicals used in the home during pregnancy?
- Hormonal changes relating to other pets or lifestyle choices we make?
Most long-term hamster breeders we have spoken to don’t report any pups being eaten, but then all the long-term hamster breeders we know don’t go into the nest for at least the first week – or even until eyes open.
This could mean two things of course – 1) that the lack of disturbance after birth and the experience of the breeders limits or stops the mother hamsters from eating their babies; or 2) during that first week or so, the breeders do not know how many pups were even born, therefore they only see the surviving pups. No-one would ever know if any were eaten during those first days.
Unfortunately – it is like Schrodinger’s cat – there is no way to prove either way.
All we can say is to give your mother Syrians hamsters as much space as you can after the birth of their pups (having done the last enclosure clean-out before their due date); give them plenty of easy-to-eat nutritious foods and plenty of easily accessible fresh water – and leave them be.
Good luck!