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Originally Posted by Serendipity7000
Hi. Glad she is fine again. Two is a very great age for a dwarf hamster. The equivalent of an 80 year old. So although she may be fit and energetic they do start to succumb to old ages issues and usually it is organs which start to fail/wear out. So she may have something going on. But really there is nothing you can do in that case, but enjoy her time snd be prepared for the fact she may start failing slowly (or may just go quite quickly). The main thing is she clearly is very loved and happy with her family. But she probably is in her twilight years - or may live for another six months to a year - all uncertain.
She could have just been having a dream. Or as Ria says, torpor is something to watch as well in this cold weather. The room temperature should be about 20 degrees and no less than 16 to 18 degrees. I actually leave a heater on overnight in our living room for the hamster! It’s an oil fired radiator with a thermostat so it only comes in wheh the temperature drops to a certain point and then stays a stead temperature. Or you could just set the central heating to come on for a couple of hours during the night. Night time is their most active time as well so not nice for them to have to huddle in their house to keep warm.
I hope she’s ok. With torpor they seem unconscious snd cold and are hard to wake (and it usually takes warming them up gently - and in most cases, even if they come round a bit, they don’t survive. So prevention is better than cure.
But my feeling is it is maybe she is starting to suffer old age symptoms with her organs. They will often start drinking and peeing more as their kidneys decline.
Hamsters are also extremely good at hiding pain - so keep an eye on that. It’s because they are prey animals. If they show pain or suffering they are more likely to be attacked in the wild, so they hide it.
Signs of severe pain are sitting hunched, ears down all the time and face looking drawn - as if they’ve had a face lift snd eyes looking a bit slitty as if at an angle pointing up and back.
Milder pain may not show, or come and go. They can get arthritis and toothache as well!
Just give her whatever she wants - within reason - treats and attention. They usually let us know if something is wrong.
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Thank you so much for your long reply!! I really appreciate it.
I think that torpor is a possibility, because the room was fairly cold (a lot colder than it normally would be, we have brought her to my parents over Christmas and their house is kept a lot colder than our little flat!) so that was one of my thoughts after a bit of research!! Yeah I appreciate that she is at a fairly good age for a dwarf hamster too!! So far her eating and drinking is absolutely fine and normal, she is still running round playing with all of her toys and coming to see us, she seems no less energetic than when we first got her!! I'm just going to keep a close eye on her and check that she has everything she needs, and keep an eye out for any changes at all.