How long do they live?

[gellerbing]

Fudge - 13 months, don't know why he died

Coco - 2 years, found blood in her cage an hour or so before she died so im guessing it may have been pyometra

[Hetty]

Hey folks,
I've always wonder how long our little fuzz babies live. Is there any difference in life span with boys and girls?
My gorgeous first girl Lola, lived 21 months. I subsequently realised she died of not just from a tumour, but from kidney failure due to it.
I didn't realise pyometra was so common. I wonder is this due to the Syrian hamsters recent domestication process and the small breeding pool all captive hammys are from?

My little laddie Basil is 6 months old and really whizzing around.

My sister has a male, Gerald, who is 30 months ( 2 and 1/2 years). He's still bouncing about and stuffs his face.

[Bekki2308]

There does seem to be a small difference between males and females, but it may not be actually there because with so many hams being pet shop knowing their exact DOB is tricky and could be +/- a month easily anyway.

[de4life]

Originally Posted by Hetty

Hey folks,
I've always wonder how long our little fuzz babies live. Is there any difference in life span with boys and girls?
My gorgeous first girl Lola, lived 21 months. I subsequently realised she died of not just from a tumour, but from kidney failure due to it.
I didn't realise pyometra was so common. I wonder is this due to the Syrian hamsters recent domestication process and the small breeding pool all captive hammys are from?

My little laddie Basil is 6 months old and really whizzing around.

My sister has a male, Gerald, who is 30 months ( 2 and 1/2 years). He's still bouncing about and stuffs his face.

From what I've seen and experienced males tend to live longer than females, certainly in the case of Syrians. Females seem to have a lot of womb/digestive issues which males have no equivilent of, pyometra being the obvious one. I had a female Syrian who suddenly passed at 11 months (it happened over a year ago but still baffles and saddens me) whilst my two males are over 2.5 years, though sadly both are showing signs of coming to the end. One has an internal benign tumour which he's been living comfortably with for a few months but it only takes a small growth there to cause serious problems, whilst the other seems to have picked up a heart problem which has slowed him right down. Whenever they do go they've had a full life though, and it seems most males get to at least 2 years barring an accident or genetic illness.

[ham888]

I got my first ham when I was 6 and I am now 54 and I can't even remember how many I had before a break of 12 years which occurred between me getting married and not replacing the then last hamster, and getting kids who eventually wanted a ham. Anyway, all of those were called Hammy. So, from what I can remember and what I know - all were Syrians unless shown:

Hammy I - male - 2y2m - old age
Hammy II - female, never bred - 1y4m - cause unknown
There were several Hammy's, all male except one female, again never bred, and died after about a year. I think all the males managed around the 2 year mark except for one who nearly made 4 years. All came from the local pet shop.

Then the new set:

Hampy - male - local shop - 2y3m old age
Nibbles - male - same local shop - 1y7m stroke
Hammy - male - same local shop - 1y4m some gut problem
Pebbles - male - p@h - 4 days, wet tail
Coco - female (breeding unknown) - adopted (not shop) - 1y6m - cause unknown
Snowy (WW) - female (breeding unknown) - adopted (not shop) - 1y - tumor

[Cheetobandito]

Fidget-
aprox. 6 months
wet tail and ???

[Username]

Whammy - female - approx 12 months old - cause unknown (was extremely sudden)

[Colby and the Dwarfs]

Uno, Campbell's male, five months, unknown, possibly choking to death(bred twice, if that matters)

R.I.P.

[Bekki2308]

Sansa - F syrian rescue uknown origin - minimum of 18 months probablly more like 20 months(I had her a year, exact age when I got her unknown appeared to be fully grown) - stroke
Stevie - M eyeless syrian hamster pets at home origin - 2 years - old age
Marie - F syrian pet shop origin - 5 months diarrhoea

[de4life]

Hjalmar - Male Syrian - approx. 30 months. Passed after developing heart problems from around September onwards.