Why do hamsters eat their babies and each other?

Female owners who do not follow the rules for keeping hamsters will one day wonder why hamsters eat their cubs, because the maternal instinct in all other animals is aimed at protecting offspring.

Seeing how a hamster eats her children, people are horrified to get rid of such a pet, sometimes they simply take the cage out into the street, not bothering to find the owner’s animal. A rodent specialist in such a situation will explain that the owners are to blame for the incident, and not the animal that lives by instinct.

Why do hamsters eat their babies

Age

According to statistics, most often devour cubs of females younger than 2 months. Although a hamster can become pregnant at 1 month, her hormonal background has not yet been formed. By the time of birth, the female does not feel the need to take care of the offspring, and destroys the offspring. To prevent cannibalism, you should knit animals from 4 months and older.

Especially often the trouble happens if the female was bought at a pet store, already in position. Change of environment is a great stress for a hamster, and it affects behavior.

unhealthy offspring

If the babies were born with some kind of genetic deformities, defects, the mother will instinctively get rid of them. Sick or weak babies will be eaten. Defective offspring are often born as a result of inbreeding – incest, when animals from the same litter mate. Sometimes the female does not kill herself, but eats the cubs who died for any reason.

Numerous offspring

The female has 8 nipples, she can feed 8-12 cubs, but if 16-18 of them were born, it is likely that the mother will bite the “extra” ones. In this case, “partial cannibalism” is observed – from time to time the female eats one or more babies, and continues to feed the rest, and they survive.

This situation is typical for Syrians with many children. The destruction of hamsters begins in the first days after birth, and ends as soon as the cubs learn to eat adult food.

The state of health of the female

Childbirth and lactation is a serious test for the body of a rodent. Babies grow incredibly fast both in the womb and after birth. If the mother’s nutrition was insufficient, her body after childbirth is on the verge of exhaustion. Such a female will not be able to feed the babies, and in order to survive, she can eat her children.

Any health problems, poor conditions of detention provoke such a development of events. If the female does not have enough water, food or space in the cage, she will not raise offspring.

human intervention

If there is a foreign smell on the cubs, the female will kill them. Related to this is the ban on taking babies in your arms in the first week after birth. Given the nervousness of these rodents, you should stop putting your hands in the cage a few days before the birth of the cubs. Hamsters eat offspring when they feel the presence of strangers, that is, danger.

During the breeding season, even a familiar and beloved owner is regarded as a stranger.

Kindred Presence

Both Djungarian and Syrian hamsters are loners by nature. The presence of a male in the cage makes both animals nervous. The female becomes nervous and aggressive. She can first kill the male, then the cubs, ready for anything, just to remain the sole mistress of the territory.

Sometimes a father hamster will eat his children. The female, exhausted by childbirth, cannot interfere with him, and often does not even try.

stress, fear

Any emotional shock to a pregnant or lactating female poses a threat to offspring. Started repair with the sounds of a perforator, moving. It is enough just to pull the hamster out of the house or let the cat to the cage.

Why do hamsters eat each other

Far from always, cannibalism among hamsters is associated with the birth of helpless cubs. These rodents fiercely defend their territory from relatives and other competitors. In nature, a killed enemy is a valuable source of protein food. Another reason: the dead animal must be disposed of so as not to attract predators. In the wild, the loser has the opportunity to escape, in a cage – no.

A proven fact: hamsters eat their relatives, and on occasion, other, smaller rodents.

Hamsters must be kept separately, otherwise they will fight among themselves. Gender does not matter. The owner can be unaware of hostility for quite a long time, because fights take place late at night, and during the day the animals sleep. If one of the opponents manages to get the upper hand, the second hamster will mysteriously disappear. A hamster may not be able to eat an adult animal entirely, or there will not be enough time. But the situation when a hamster ate a hamster is not an out of the ordinary event. They gnaw at each other not because they lack food. Hamsters eat the corpse not so much from hunger as guided by instincts. At home, the owner usually finds in the morning the bloodied remains, bones, or the bitten head of one of the hamsters.

Conclusion

People are misled by the appearance of rodents of the hamster family. They seem to be the embodiment of harmlessness, touch and make you laugh with their habits. A person ceases to associate “fluffy” with wildlife and its harsh laws.

Most often, hamsters eat their cubs through the fault of the owner. Cannibalism occurs among them in the wild, but much less frequently. Compliance with a number of rules when breeding these rodents will prevent such an unpleasant development. The owner must decide why he needs a litter, and not bring hamsters for fun.

Joint keeping of adult animals is unacceptable. Sometimes you can hear that the Dzungars get along peacefully with each other. But this is a time bomb, the animals themselves are under severe stress. They do not fight just because the forces are equal. It is not worth checking whether hamsters can eat each other. This sight is unpleasant, and for children it is completely traumatic.