8 replies to this topic

[Emmas~pets]

Hello everyone!

 

I hope you are all doing well!

 

It's honestly been ages since I've been on here but, following the deaths of my first 2 hamsters (about 1-2 years ago now) I bought a new hamster called Pancake. Unfortunately, Pancake has also now passed at the very young age of about 4 months. 

 

This seems to be a reoccurring trend in my hamsters as all of them died suddenly, within a short time space and at a young age. My first 2 hamster were bought from a pet shop (a terrible mistake on my behalf) however I bought Pancake from what I thought to be an ethical breeder, so my question is what did I do wrong?

 

None of the hamsters displayed any pain or symptoms but all 3 died very unexpectantly in around 12 hours and suddenly lost the ability to walk, eat and drink, even finding standing still to be a challenge. I really do not know what happened to any of them as they all passed before I had the chance to take them to the vet (all died in the early hours of the morning). I had what I assumed was adequate care (my care definitely could have been better but everything reached the minimum if not more) a large bin cage, large wheel, decent food/veg and loads of different toys and activities for them to use. However, I did use the same cage and toys (that could be safely cleaned/sanitised) after each hamster passed. 

 

I won't be owning hamsters again or at least for the foreseeable future as I just don't have enough room for them/good enough care but I always wanted to know what had happened to my hammies.

 

So was this just bad lack, or bad care?

 

Thank you,

 

-Emma

 

[Alessia]

It doesn’t sound like you have done anything to cause this. Unfortunately, hamsters and rodents in general have not been bred the best and it was probably just genetics. It is a little odd they both passed the same way, may just be coincidence though.

[lil BIG dwarf]

I agree with Alessia- unfortunately, sometimes hamsters just don’t live long. Out of curiosity, what did you use to clean items like the bin?

[lostinspace]

i've seen a youtuber report that her hamsters used to die really weirdly too, but it stopped once she bought a new enclosure. maybe there might be something on the enclosure, like the glues or something similar, that is toxic? it's worth a try.

[Emmas~pets]

I agree with Alessia- unfortunately, sometimes hamsters just don’t live long. Out of curiosity, what did you use to clean items like the bin?

I used dish soap and boiling water the first time and then a white vinegar x water spray 

[Kikya]

It sounds environmental. Like something is in the enclosure or the room.

What kind of room are they in? Do you monitor the temperature?

[lil BIG dwarf]

I used dish soap and boiling water the first time and then a white vinegar x water spray

When the cause of death is unknown, it’s best to use bleach as it’ll get rid of any/all possible germs left behind. There’s a chance that they all got the same thing because the disease was still present :/

[~Boba the Hammy~]

What breeder was this? Unless they are on this list, I wouldn't trust them to be "ethical":

[ForgetfulBreeze]

She is not I America

What breeder was this? Unless they are on this list, I wouldn't trust them to be "ethical":

She is not in America in Europe there are many more ethical breeders.

Edited by ForgetfulBreeze, 06 March 2022 - 10:10 PM.