Ziggy Hamster
04-01-2019, 05:36 AM
2 weeks ago, Jean Michel passed away. I've been feeling so guilty that I've only just been able to bring myself to share this with the forum.
I had him for all of four weeks and I'm gutted.
His cage was too small and while I was building him a much larger cage, I was letting him play in a playpen in the evenings so he had some space to explore and toys to enjoy.
One evening he escaped, he managed to climb up one of the toys and stretch over to the top of the pen and that was it he was free! I managed to get him back into his cage within 20 minutes but from the next day onwards he started to go downhill.
Whenever I went to check on him in the evenings he just wanted to sleep.
First I thought the stress of the escape was causing it, so I left him in his cage to recuperate for a couple of days. The next day he seemed fine, came out of the pen, still eating and drinking at this point and looked like he was fine but a bit skittish. The next day, he stopped eating so I made a vet appointment but when I got home from work he had passed.
I've never cried or been in denial so hard in my life. I've been very fortunate to not have to experience much death in my life and certainly not where I've been responsible for the life of an animal. It hit me hard, the guilt, the blame, the shame. I let him down and now he's gone.
I still feel those feelings but not as intensely as before. It's been three weeks since he passed and last week I got another hamster.
I didn't intend to, I was just looking to see what the local pet shops had but then I saw this tiny 8 week old male hamster who was smaller than all his litter mates but was the most curious and less fearful. My heart melted.
I'll never forget Jean Michel though.
I had him for all of four weeks and I'm gutted.
His cage was too small and while I was building him a much larger cage, I was letting him play in a playpen in the evenings so he had some space to explore and toys to enjoy.
One evening he escaped, he managed to climb up one of the toys and stretch over to the top of the pen and that was it he was free! I managed to get him back into his cage within 20 minutes but from the next day onwards he started to go downhill.
Whenever I went to check on him in the evenings he just wanted to sleep.
First I thought the stress of the escape was causing it, so I left him in his cage to recuperate for a couple of days. The next day he seemed fine, came out of the pen, still eating and drinking at this point and looked like he was fine but a bit skittish. The next day, he stopped eating so I made a vet appointment but when I got home from work he had passed.
I've never cried or been in denial so hard in my life. I've been very fortunate to not have to experience much death in my life and certainly not where I've been responsible for the life of an animal. It hit me hard, the guilt, the blame, the shame. I let him down and now he's gone.
I still feel those feelings but not as intensely as before. It's been three weeks since he passed and last week I got another hamster.
I didn't intend to, I was just looking to see what the local pet shops had but then I saw this tiny 8 week old male hamster who was smaller than all his litter mates but was the most curious and less fearful. My heart melted.
I'll never forget Jean Michel though.