Can I give baby hamsters regular milk or should I give them back to mom knowing

1. 50

   patsypinkposted 13 years ago

   Can I give baby hamsters regular milk or should I give them back to mom knowing she can hurt ???
   
   look the mother was going crazy right now and was kicking the baby hamsters around I had just changed the cage and she started stepping on them and kicking them what do I do if  the babies need milk from mom ? do I put them back or can I give the babies regular milk? what do I do ?HELP!!!

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2. 73

   Lady Luvposted 13 years ago

   First off, you should never have touched them. You should never change the cage with newborn rodents, nor handle them, as the mother may reject- or even eat- the young. You could try putting them back in, but first dig up some of the old shavings and sprinkle them liberally throughout the cage so mom can have the scents back. Then while reintroducing them, wear gloves, and KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THEM. If she still rejects them, you must remove them. If they are under a week old, there is little chance of survival.
   
   Second, NO you cannot give them regular cows milk. That makes them sick. But, if they are more than seven days old, there is hope of hand rearing them.
   
   What you have to do is go to a pet supply store and purchase KMP- Kitten milk replacer. If you absoulutely cannot get any, dried lactose free baby formula would do. Then you need a tiny dropper (they should sell them at the petstore, or use the tip of an CLEAN nail) and you will need to feed the babies 3 drops per hour, every hour, like clockwork. When they begin eating solid food (about 9 days old), you can change the milk feeding schedule to every 3 hours. they should be ready to wean by 2 weeks old.
   
   You can find more info on the web. Here is a good site for hand-rearing hamster pups:
   
   http://www.hamsterific.com/orphans.cfm
   
   I hope this helps, and please, next time...read before you breed!
   Good Luck!

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