Apparently when a captive hamster does it it’s usually caused by a nutrient deficiency. There was some research like a decade ago on how corn based diets didn’t offer enough B3 and would create nearly 100% cannibalism rates, with similar problems in diets lacking in protein.
So if you’ve ever had a mad cannibal hamster mom don’t worry, it was YOUR fault!
Insects are good, for example something like dried mealworms is an easy way to add protein that’s pretty natural to them. These days good quality hamsterfoods usually have enough protein already, but you should always check the protein, fiber and fat percentages just to be sure (and the ingredients as well, the foods shouldn’t have colorants at least). The good numbers are around 20% protein and 10% fiber, in fat there’s bigger variance depending on the age and weight etc. but it shouldn’t be over 15%. I haven’t checked what the latest research says though, these numbers and recommendations for diets can change over time
Thanks! I don’t actually have a hamster, I was just curious 😅 and hopefully, someone will find this thread at some point and it helps save some hamster babies
Yeah I like to post these small animal facts just so if someone reads these they also get answers!
My anecdotal evidence is that I raised a couple litters in a stressful environment few years back (we have active dogs so there’s quite the commotion most of the time) and had zero babies eaten, so what I did with the diet likely worked
Hard to say exactly but it causes dementia and increased aggression in humans as well, it’s simply necessary for proper brain function. Brains need glucose to function and B3 is used in several vital functions related to both energy production and neural health.
It could also just be an instinctual trigger in hamsters that makes them think they’re starving and tbf they kind of are.
What we can say is fixing the deficiencies almost entirely eliminated the cannibalism.
Apparently when a captive hamster does it it’s usually caused by a nutrient deficiency. There was some research like a decade ago on how corn based diets didn’t offer enough B3 and would create nearly 100% cannibalism rates, with similar problems in diets lacking in protein.
So if you’ve ever had a mad cannibal hamster mom don’t worry, it was YOUR fault!
What food do they need added to their diet?
Insects are good, for example something like dried mealworms is an easy way to add protein that’s pretty natural to them. These days good quality hamsterfoods usually have enough protein already, but you should always check the protein, fiber and fat percentages just to be sure (and the ingredients as well, the foods shouldn’t have colorants at least). The good numbers are around 20% protein and 10% fiber, in fat there’s bigger variance depending on the age and weight etc. but it shouldn’t be over 15%. I haven’t checked what the latest research says though, these numbers and recommendations for diets can change over time
Thanks! I don’t actually have a hamster, I was just curious 😅 and hopefully, someone will find this thread at some point and it helps save some hamster babies
Yeah I like to post these small animal facts just so if someone reads these they also get answers!
My anecdotal evidence is that I raised a couple litters in a stressful environment few years back (we have active dogs so there’s quite the commotion most of the time) and had zero babies eaten, so what I did with the diet likely worked
baby mice
technically better than having to deal with hamster babies…
how come b3 deficiecy leads them to want to eat other hamsters?
Hard to say exactly but it causes dementia and increased aggression in humans as well, it’s simply necessary for proper brain function. Brains need glucose to function and B3 is used in several vital functions related to both energy production and neural health.
It could also just be an instinctual trigger in hamsters that makes them think they’re starving and tbf they kind of are.
What we can say is fixing the deficiencies almost entirely eliminated the cannibalism.