I work at a very well known petstore. Today we found, in the trash, ready to be put in the dumpster, a tied bag with a taped up box full of hamsters. Looked like a mother and littermates, all dead except two babys about 21 days old from what we could tell.
the dead ones were very decomposted and it appeared that the two survivors were feeding on the dead ones to stay alive. it was so gross! the two survivors appear to be healthy but dehydrated. i offered to adopt them but they have to be quarentined for 72 hrs before the store will allow me to take them home. we figured that a customer abandoned them in our trash hoping they would escape and be caught and adopted out. as with what happens to alot of little unwanted animals at our store, sadly.
i just started working there three weeks ago and would feel stupid asking questions about hamsters. i dont have alot of experience w/ them and our store dosnt deal with baby’s, as they are not allowed to breed. any websites or advise?
even though the circumstances are dramatic, the two siblings will be able to live together, for the rest of their lives;
two (syrian) hamsters can be kept together under two conditions
- that they ALWAYS are kept together and keep having the same smell; they get aggressive towards another hamster when they smell the different smell; if they are still together right now (during the quarantine) you’ll be able to keep them in the same cage, which, for syrians, will however to be LARGE.
- that they have the same sex (!)
the shop owner / mgr. should be able to check later;
if they didn’t leave then together (most unlikely, anyway at this age) it maybe because they are a couple (thus male & female)
if you are willing to spend a little more money for a larger cage and they have the same sex (especially two males), you’ll end up having the cutest and happiest pets you may hope for.
instead of a house (which would be too small for two hammies to sleep together, give them a large "cavernous" housing so they always can sleep together.
with 21 days, they can feed on commercial hamster food (or small pieces of meat or vegetables and fruits)
if you started working there only three weeks ago, there is no shame in asking a couple questions about hamsters; if you never had hamsters before, it’s unlikely you’d even know what they look like, exactly; if you volunteer to take care of those two (unless the shop wants to sell them), the shop mgr. / owner might be glad that you show interest in hamsters and should be willing to help you get on speed.
best of luck!
At that age, the babies should be eating solid food with no problems.
Make sure the survivors get plenty of water, and offer them some lab-block type food soaked in water to make a soft mash. After a few days they should do fine on normal hamster chow.
There’s a special place in hell for people who would leave animals to die like that.
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I don’t know much about hamsters however years ago I found a baby squirrel with his dead mother. I called a vet and he told me to keep him in a box with a heating pad on the lowest setting. For food I bought goat milk, heated it up a little bit and fed it to him in an eyedropper. Later on he ate peanut butter and grains. I put him in my yard in his fifth month and he lived in my yard and in my trees for years. Call a vet. Good luck!
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I had to care for baby hamsters once too..cuz they’re mother died of heat exhaustion (important tip: they dont do good in hot weather! keep them where its cool and sun doesn’t shine a lot on their cages!) but yea the baby hamsters were able to feed themselves, so yea just feed them hamster food (seeds) and they’ll grow…just be careful cuz they’re gonna start fighting alot cuz hamsters are very territorial…so once they start fighting u have to seperate them and place in different cages…also its good that u have them from a small age cuz you can get them used to being handled.
References :
even though the circumstances are dramatic, the two siblings will be able to live together, for the rest of their lives;
two (syrian) hamsters can be kept together under two conditions
- that they ALWAYS are kept together and keep having the same smell; they get aggressive towards another hamster when they smell the different smell; if they are still together right now (during the quarantine) you’ll be able to keep them in the same cage, which, for syrians, will however to be LARGE.
- that they have the same sex (!)
the shop owner / mgr. should be able to check later;
if they didn’t leave then together (most unlikely, anyway at this age) it maybe because they are a couple (thus male & female)
if you are willing to spend a little more money for a larger cage and they have the same sex (especially two males), you’ll end up having the cutest and happiest pets you may hope for.
instead of a house (which would be too small for two hammies to sleep together, give them a large "cavernous" housing so they always can sleep together.
with 21 days, they can feed on commercial hamster food (or small pieces of meat or vegetables and fruits)
if you started working there only three weeks ago, there is no shame in asking a couple questions about hamsters; if you never had hamsters before, it’s unlikely you’d even know what they look like, exactly; if you volunteer to take care of those two (unless the shop wants to sell them), the shop mgr. / owner might be glad that you show interest in hamsters and should be willing to help you get on speed.
best of luck!
References :