Help!

[lynette]

HELP! Second hamster dead in less than a week! Two weeks ago I went to petco & bought an adorable teddy bear hamster, they said two months old. I also bought a large aquarium, kaybee fiesta gourmet hamster food, millet spray, a water bottle, natural bedding a dish wheel, a little cave bed, all set. I got him home & he was darling. He was curious, friendly and seemed very healthy. By day two stopped eating and getting up then was dead within a week. I was so confused & furious. Im an adult lifetime pet owner, not a rookie, this just made no sense. I went back with him and got another, same kind, same age but switched out for the same food they were giving him & a different more natural bedding and now he's done exactly the same thing, first two nights up & eating and on the wheel and then within a week dead. Its heart breaking & very disconcerting. No signs of wet tail. The aquarium is in my kitchen, peaceful warm home. WHATS GOING ON?!?!

[Cinnamon Bear]

That must be very upsetting! I have no idea why that happened? Sorry to hear though
Maybe I'd try to go to a different store to adopt a hammy? Do you have other pets in the house? I'd say if you have other pets that are doing well then it must be something in the genetic make up of these two hammy's, maybe they were from the same litter? Do you use any air fresheners or sprays for cleaning the house of any kind? Is the house at a comfortable temperature which it sounds like it is? Doesn't make any sense...

[Nancy's Hamsters]

Only way to see if it is something the hamsters have genetically, or some other cause is a Vet to do a necropsy as this could be so many reasons for things going wrong.
A few simple things to consider and check off as not the cause:
1) Where is the cage located in your Kitchen? Is it in a window or can sunlight get in to it?
A Tank sitting in a location which has sunlight coming in it can heat up the inside of the aquarium to very high temps and very quickly and it doesn't take much for a baby hamster especially one in stress adjustment stage to die of heat exhaustion.
2) Are you giving tap water or bottled water?
Being the store you bought the hamsters from I conclude you are in the USA, and lately there has been a lot of Toxic water getting into public water systems from and algae which even a small amount lapped up by a Labrador size dog proves fatal within 24 hours.
This toxic algae was found in the water system in Ohio a year ago and the first sign of something wrong with the water was a large amount of pets dying from toxic poisoning.
3) When you say a Natural bedding is it Pine or Cedar Bedding?
Both can kill in a short amount of time if not properly dried(only in regards to the pine as Cedar is very bad no matter what is done to it.)
4)This one is probaly not the problem since you switched food with the 2nd hamster, but Kaytee Fiesta has contained dehydrated Onions and leeks in it in the past and was quite deadly for my hamstery when I used it before I found these two ingredients in it. Once I switched food the deaths ended.

Sorry you have had to go through all this hardships and I do hope you can find the cause and it is fixable.

[CMB]

Birds can get Teflon poisoning from being in a kitchen where non stick pots and pans are used. I wonder if something like that could kill a hamster.

If you get another hamster, you could keep the cage in another room. Just in case.

[Pebbles82]

Hi. That must be really upsetting as the others say - gut-wrenching. As you say you are a mature owner and I guess you've had hamsters before (when you say you're not a Rookie), then it's more likely to be a breeding thing from the hamsters that pet shop is selling. But the other points made above are worth thinking about too.

I don't know what kind of kitchen you have but generally a kitchen isn't the greatest room for a hamster cage - steam and condensation and so on from cooking. Although some peoples kitchens are large living areas and open plan so don't get me wrong

I'd also suggest having the aquarium in another room maybe - some where shady/dark and cool but away from draughts - you can always warm things up but it's not so easy to cool them down.

Then use something like Kaytee Clean and Cozy or Boxo for bedding and a basic hamster food like Hazel Hamster (no sugar or unsuitable things in it) - you can also supplement this with veg and fresh food and lab block. Other than that make sure there is a good sized house in the tank that's dark inside, for nest building, and have two water bottles in case one stops working.

Actually have you checked the water bottle? Sometimes if a bottle isn't letting out water they can die of dehydration in a couple of days. I've had bottles pack up on me.

Aside from all that, definitely don't go to the same pet store again in case it was something like illness there or genetic conditions from breeding.

I hope you find another hammy somewhere soon and let us know how you get on - hopefully all will go fine this time. So sorry for your losses x