The first question to ask is what kind of hamster do you have? Is it a small or dwarf hamster or large, Syrian, Teddy Bear hamster? The female comes into heat every three days and as you are not a certified breeder, this is not like having a dog or cat that has a litter. If you hamsters are the Syrian type, they should not have been put into the cage together in the first place. You will need to separate them for life. They will need totally separate set-ups.
When a hamster eats the babies it is usually only when the mother knows that the babies have some sort of defect and will not be healthy. Then the mother will eat the babies. Just because the father is in the cage when the babies are born does not mean that he will eat the babies. If you have a dwarf or Robo hamster, then the fathers also make very good care givers along with the mother.
When you separate the parents, you are avoiding more babies from being born, also, if the parents are large hamsters, then it is not good for the mother to get pregnant so soon after giving birth. You can kill the mother by having her get pregnant again and also have babies that have defects that she ultimately eats.
You should have the hamsters sexed by the time they are about four weeks. I would contact a local pet store now and let them know you have these hamster babies. They should open their eyes at about two weeks, and they will start weaning around three to four weeks depending on just how many babies the mother gave birth to and how large they are.
