Shocked by sudden death :(

[Bright_moon]

My Luna died in my arms this morning and I don't know why. :'( She was 1 year old and super active since I got her in October.

Our boiler broke down so we've been without heating/hot water since last Fri and it's extremely cold. We have a little portable convection heater that I'd been putting on every so often in the living room, which is where Luna and Pip's cages are, but there is no heating on at night so it would be pretty cold then.

I'm trying to figure out if that had a bearing on it or not, although there has been no heating on at night ever since they've been here.

She's been hyper active and playful everyday since I've had her and always had a good appetite and loved her food.

She wasn't up yesterday evening when I went in to say goodnight to them, I just assumed that maybe she would be getting up a bit later as their body clocks do vary a little bit. Some days she would be up all day playing and running in her wheel but mostly she'd be up anywhere from 4pm onwards.

When I went in this morning at 8 a.m. and saw her food hadn't been touched I instantly knew something was seriously wrong.

I gently removed the wooden hut that is above her nest and then gently moved the substrate and I found her deep down looking like she was asleep but not moving.

I very gently lifted her out and held her with some kitchen roll wrapped around her. I thought she had already gone but she was still soft and then I detected faint and occasional breaths.

I held her and talked to her and cried until she took her final breaths. :'(

I've been reading and researching most of the day to see if I did anything wrong, I don't know if the cold had affected her or whether I was wrong to lift her out the cage, but I think she would have died anyway if I had left her.

During the time I had her, I did notice very occasionally that when she first woke up she would stagger a little bit which I just assumed was because she just woke and was sleepy , however once she started running around she would be absolutely fine and no further signs of staggers.

Nothing had changed with her food, I was very strict that she only had dwarf hamster food and tiny bits of fresh vegetables or nuts and occasionally fruit or wholemeal pasta.

I'm still in shock at the moment and can't believe it.

If the cold could have possibly had anything to do with it then I need to know how I can protect Pip, should I buy something like an oil filled radiator and leave it on at night?

[cypher]

I'm so very sorry, this must be really heart breaking for you & a terrible shock.
Sometimes we just can't know why they die, I would have thought that if it was the cold you would have seen a more gradual change but I really don't know for sure, when this happens at a young age it can just be that there was some weakness somewhere, something not functioning properly that doesn't show up until it suddenly stops working entirely.
You can go on guessing but you will never really know so try not to overthink that too much, I'm sure you did the right thing taking her out & she would have been comforted as she passed to the bridge.

Even if the cold had nothing to do with it I would heat the room with something like an oil filled radiator if you an just to be on the safe side with Pip anyway.

[Bright_moon]

Thank you for your kind words cypher. I just keep crying on and off, especially when I go back in and look at her little body. I've left her lying in her cage on her fleece mitt, covered with some folded kitchen roll, like she is lying in a little bed.

Normally about now she'd be zooming round in her wheel or pouching her noms and coming out for cuddles. It's far too quiet without my manic little cuddlemonster.

I will order an oil filled radiator. Would it need to only be on in the evening and overnight when Pip is most active or would it need to be on 24 hours? Should it just be on at a very low level? What's the ideal temperature I should be aiming for?

Once our boiler is fixed, should I then still have the oil filled one on overnight in the living room where Pip is when the normal heating is off?

[cypher]

I know it is very hard when they go, it seems almost unreal for a while, it takes time just to take it in.

Most oil filled radiators will have a thermostatic control so you should be able to leave it on all the time, it might take some experimenting to get the temperature right in the room & I would use a room thermometer rather than relying on a thermostat, ideally it should be between 18-20C if you can manage that. I would keep it on at night too if you can, I used to turn my heating off at night before I had hams but now I leave it on all the time & it seems to be equally as economical that way as it never gets really cold so doesn't have to heat up from scratch so to speak.

[Bright_moon]

Yes, it does seem unreal, like being in a kind of daze.

Thank you for that info, yes I'll get one with a thermostatic control and also get a room thermometer. Our central heating is pretty old and uneconomical. Am just hoping that the boiler is not going to be beyond economical repair! Still, the main thing is to get the room where Pip is warm and comfortable.

[Alyseo]

So sorry to hear about sweet Luna...
We lost our hamsters Velvet and Leo not long ago....
I read somewhere that some pet hamsters enter hibernation when the temperature drops...sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.
RIP sweet angel,Luna