How Long Does It Take for A Baby Hamster To Grow Up?

Baby hamsters (pups) are extremely vulnerable, so the initial days of their lives are filled with uncertainty. The more time that elapses, the more likely the pups will survive into adulthood.

Each stage of a hamster’s development brings forth new challenges. To increase the chances that the pups will survive into adulthood, you need to understand their entire development process.

How Quickly Do Hamsters Grow?

Growing into an adult is a biological process that’s very resource-intensive.

Regardless of species, most domestic hamsters stop growing at around 12 weeks of age. Animals with short lifespans go through each stage of their lifecycle extremely fast.

Most hamsters only live for 2-2.5 years, so it makes sense that they’d grow rapidly. A hamster can’t spend most of its life eating food to grow, so the entire process only takes 3 months.

At What Age is a Hamster Mature?

Hamsters mature at around 4-6 weeks of age, which is a quick maturation process.

However, it needs to be that way to continue the species. If they only become sexually mature once they’ve lived a significant portion of their life, they’d have few opportunities to reproduce.

At 4 weeks of age, move the pups into separate enclosures to prevent pregnancy (siblings will breed together). Even if you think it’s too soon and would like to wait another week, it’s better to be safe than sorry. If one of the female hamsters becomes pregnant at a young age, she could die.

According to the Biology of Reproduction, hamsters that give birth have a shorter lifespan than those that don’t. Pregnancy is a biological condition that takes its toll on a hamster, regardless of age.

It depletes the hamster’s nutrition and induces physical stress on the body. Having the hamster go through that while she’s still small and young puts her life in danger.

Baby Hamster Development

The growth stages of a hamster are usually divided into weeks. Each week, the hamster will have developed sufficiently to have different food, care, and environmental needs.

Let’s look at the different development stages of hamsters:

Week 1

A female hamster (sow) usually gives birth to 4-8 pups. During this first week, the pups are hairless. They’re small, red, little clumps that appear to be underneath their skin. Also, they’re completely blind.

As they have no fur, they can’t regulate their body temperature. They won’t move much during the first day, huddling together in the warm nest.

You’ll see some squirming by the second day, but they won’t try to walk around until the second week.

Some of the pups will likely die during the first week. If the mother gets stressed, she might abandon or eat the pups. Mother hamsters eat their babies when either stressed or lacking nutrition.

However, smell is a common reason mothers abandon their pups. If you handle the pups and the mother doesn’t recognize their smell, she won’t care for them.

Don’t touch the babies for the first 2 weeks unless you’re certain the mother has abandoned them. She may come back to care for them. If you interfere, she’s more likely to eat them or let them die.

Week 2

The pups will begin to grow some patches of fur. As the fur keeps them warm, they become more independent. They’ll remain with their mom most of the time, but you’ll see them move around more.

Now that her pups are more independent, the mother will leave their side to find food.

Place the food close to the mother’s usual spot so she doesn’t go too far. Don’t empty the cage or put your hands on the mother or pups at this stage.

Their eyes might still seem like little grey balls behind a layer of skin and hair, and their ears will start to grow and open. You may also see them trying to nibble at some of the mother’s solid food, but they’ll still mostly nurse from their mother.

Week 3

The pups will be covered in fur, and their ears and eyes will be open.

They no longer depend on their mother, so they’ll run around the cage alone. They should be weaned off their mother’s milk, so she’ll bring scraps of food to them.

Near the end of week 3, they’ll learn to drink water and eat alone, although you might need to encourage them. This shouldn’t be a problem since you can clean the cage and handle the pups.

They no longer need their mother, so they’ll survive even if the mother ignores them. They’re also too big for the mother to cannibalize.

If you’re looking to re-home or sell the hamsters, you can do so as early as 3 weeks. Most pups that make it to 3 weeks are independent enough to be separated from the mother and the litter without much risk.

However, if you want to be safe, you can keep them together for 1 more week.

Keep a close eye on them to ensure they don’t start fighting, especially near the end of the third week. By then, the pups are reaching maturity and might start fighting for territory and resources.

Week 4

Separate the hamsters once they’re 4 weeks old, as most begin maturing around this age.

To avoid pregnancy and further breeding, separate them by gender. You can turn the hamster over and look at its genitals to see if it’s male or female.

If you have trouble identifying the hamster’s gender, speak to a vet or local breeder.

Baby Hamster Growth Stages

How much a baby hamster grows depends on its species. Be vigilant about the litter’s growth rate because it’ll tell you if the mother is feeding the pups properly.

The average growth rate for different hamsters is as follows:

How Can I Stop a Mother Hamster from Eating Her Babies?

Mother hamsters eat their babies out of stress or due to severe malnutrition.

To stop this from happening, you need to leave the mother alone with her pups and feed her the right foods to help with her postpartum symptoms. Here are ways to prevent stress in a mother hamster:

• Keep them in a room with little movement and noise.
• Don’t touch the mother or her litter until they’re 2 weeks old.
• Avoid taking pictures of the litter up close.
• Don’t clean the cage until the litter is 3 weeks old.

When you notice that she’s pregnant, she should be given more protein than usual to ensure she’s strong enough to give birth safely.

While she’s pregnant, reduce her protein intake, as this can cause the pups to develop too quickly, which makes birthing them difficult.