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After the female has given birth the nest should not be disturbed or the babies touched for 2 weeks - to do so could cause the mother to reject the babies.
If the female has banished the male from the nest she may allow him back into the nest a few days after the birth.
At around 5-6 days the skin may start to pigment and at 6-8 days hair begins to emerge and by 10-12 days the babies are covered in short fur and the eyelids are developing. At this time the babies may also start wandering around the cage, even though still blind. The female will usually collect the wandering babies and return them to the nest - this may be accompanied by squealing from the babies but is not usually anything to worry about. At 14-16 days of age the eyes open and the babies are covered in fur. It is safe to handle the babies for short periods at this time and so the cage can be cleaned.
During the time the mother is rearing the litter plenty of hamster mix and high protein foods should be provided to her. As the babies star to eat solid foods they will easily manage some grated carrot, wheatgerm and scrambled or boiled egg before being able to manage hamster mix and other high protein foods.
The babies are fully weaned and can be removed from the mother at
4 weeks of age and it is a good idea to separate the sexes at this time placing males in one cage and females in another. The babies should be kept with their brothers and sisters in their separate sex cages for another 2-3 weeks.
At 6-7 weeks of age the babies are ready to go to their new homes.
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