The Birth

The female hamster will give birth to the pups on the floor of the cage, or in the nest during the course of the evening on the 16th day never before and very rarely later than this.
The female will deposit one pup about every 10-15 minutes. Some owners become concerned when they see new born pups lying around the cage seemingly ignored by the mother. Do no worry once the birth is complete and after a short resting period, she will gather the pups together and place them in the nest for their first feed.
( Nest of new born hamsters.)

From here don't take any risks and stay well clear and don't let curiosity get the better of you. If the female feels threatened in any way at all, she may abandon or cannibalize the litter.
It is at this time we must consider her natural instincts. Her primary focus is on the caring and rearing of her litter, so back off for a while

Give mum room to go about her business in peace and quiet.
This doesn't mean to say that you cannot go to the cage talk to her, offer her that usual treat and fill the food bowl and water bottle as usual. But leave it at that, don't touch the nest or the pups. Also be aware that the most socialized of hamsters may take to biting in which to protect her litter.

If you do see that she has eaten some of the pup's there will be a reason. Sometimes that reason may be beyond our understanding. The pup may have been deformed, a runt, a weakling, or dead, only she knows the answer.
It is very rare a hamster will eat its pups because there are too many if there is an abundance of food and bedding there is no reason for her to dispose of healthy pups.

Very little will be seen of the mother for the first 4-5 days during this time she will be nursing the litter. After the initial first
4-5 day's she may want to come out of her cage for a little run around and a break from nursing. By all means let her do so. Handling the female at this point is not a problem, some people become concerned that human scent maybe transferred from your hand to her. Transferring your scent onto her is not a problem, it only becomes an issue if scent is on the pups and they smell different to her. When she is returned to her cage she will carry on with her duties of nursing the litter.

At about 10-12 days old the pups may now be scurrying around with mum chasing after them taking them back to the nest.
At 14 days old their eyes should now be open, you can now safely and gently handle the pups for the first time and remove mum and pups from the cage to have its first clean since before the birth. When removing the old nesting material keep most of it and transfer some of it back on top the new nesting material.
(Mum with pups at 17 days old)

After washing your hands first handle the mum, then the pups. Remove them to a container clean the cage then put mum back first followed by the babies.
This is the time I start slowly socializing the pups, and handle them for very short periods only, increasing the handling time as they get older. At 21 days the baby's should now be fully weaned.
At 28 days you can now start thinking about separating them into their own same sex cages. Here they can stay together for another 2-3 weeks before re-homing them.

Mummy's Home
If the mother is leaving the nest for any length of time she may cover the pups with the nesting material. In this video the mom has gone on her daily run around in her play-ball, before leaving she has covered the pups. It is strange how they seem to know to keep still and quite while she is away. On her return she quite happily carries on her duties of nursing the pups.

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