When you have baby dwarf hamsters at home, there are some things that you must remember. It can be extremely hard to care for baby dwarf hamsters especially if you’re new to it. But once you get the hang of it, breeding hamsters and caring for their babies can be fun and exciting.

As the owner, it is your responsibility to look after the mother and the babies. However, aside from your routine responsibilities of feeding the hamsters and cleaning their cage, there are also some things that you should avoid. Here are the top three mistakes to avoid in handling baby dwarf hamster:

1. Hands off – Newborn baby dwarf hamsters can easily be tainted with the human smell especially if you are always holding them. This is the biggest mistake that you can make because it can lead to two things: the mother leaves the babies or she will eat them. Perhaps you’re wondering why the mother will want to eat her babies. In dwarf hamsters, the mother can eat the babies once they are tainted with the smell of humans which is only a protective act. The mother hamster will think that her babies are in danger of a predator (YOU), and she would rather eat the babies than leave them for predators.

2. Leaving the father and mother hamsters together – Among people, it is ideal for the father and mother to help each other in caring for the babies. While this may be true to humans, mother and father hamsters need to be separated especially if you don’t want the mother to get pregnant again. Did you know that a mother hamster that gave birth to babies can get pregnant in a matter of hours? If you don’t want to end up with lots of baby dwarf hamsters at home, take out the male hamster from the cage. This is true especially in the case of the Syrian hamsters -- you will need to separate the mother and father immediately because the female Syrian hamster prefers to handle the babies alone.

3. Not giving enough food and water – the mother needs a lot of fresh water and food once she gives birth. On the very first week, you will need to provide fresh food to the mother hamster to ensure that she can feed the babies well. A food and water supply shortage can lead to an unhealthy mother and, eventually, unhealthy babies.

Baby dwarf hamsters don’t need to be held or carried, especially when they are extremely young. In fact, you can have healthier and happier hamster babies without human intervention. Being extra careful in caring for the babies will also keep the mother happy at all times.. These are the most common mistakes that can be avoided in breeding hamsters. Hamsters make great pets, and providing their needs accordingly will help them grow up healthily.