Hamster Death

[BambooTrees]

Hello!

My hamsters have recently passed away and I don't know why. I want to see what I might be doing wrong before I get another hamster.

I have a prevue 528 cage.
I use kaytee bedding, the white absorbent one.
I use a glass bottle
Food is a mix of sunburst gourmet and mazuri
I have a comfort wheel and a silent runner, both above 8" diameter
Several hide outside made of wood and plastic, wooden chews, and toys.
I keep my hamster in the living room, and in the room when it's more than 80 degrees outside. They're no where near drafts. It's only me and my husband so the living room isn't loud at all.

Milo was my first hamster. He was a Syrian hammy of 7 months old that me and my husband got from a pet store.
We were able to tame him after 1 month. We took him out in our playpen every morning around 6am. Our play pen was a cardboard box that we cut and made a huge circle with. We put a blanket underneath and played with him everyday for at least 30 mins. He definitely looked forward to play time.
He died one night (1am) while I was just watching him and softly talking about how my work day was (I'm usually night shift 11p-7a but that day I was 3p - 11p). He was climbing the bars which he never does, so I opened the cage and offered a sun flower seed. Totally ignored me and went to the corner of the cage. I walked away to give him space but close enough to watch him. He suddenly ran to the other corner of the cage and flipped on his back. I heard clicking sounds so I went near him. That was it, he was dead. I tried feeling for a pulse, blowing on him, anything to get him to move. Nothing. Heck I even did chest compressions if that's even possible. He was definitely dead. I don't know what happened. The only weird thing that happened was the other night there was a tornado warning. He was acting all weird and nervous. Took all his food that night and made a hill of bedding by his house. I figured it's because of the storm. Other than that nothing out of the ordinary.

Sunny was my second syrian hamster of 5 weeks. I adopted him from a local pet store. They said he was a rescue from a couple who had a pregnant hamster. They didnt know the hamster was pregnant until it gave birth. We had him for 2 weeks and this morning I found him dead. We didnt get to tame him, he wasnt ready. He loved burrowing.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong...
Thanks for any feedback.

[Malou123456789]

I’m really sorry. I had a hamster named Destiny who recently passed away. She would climb the bars and fall. I hadn’t noticed it at the time, but she had a few back injuries at the time. Minor injuries. It may have been my fault for her sudden death. The guilt follows me everywhere. Maybe your hamster had injured himself by falling too? Destiny sometimes would do backflips...usually when she was in another cage. Barred cages aren’t the best for hammys, that’s why I tried to get her to switch cages. But she always hit her head while backflipping in a cage with no bars. So I didn’t. I know better now.

#MissYouSunny,Destiny,AndMilo.

Your Friend,

Allison

[Pebbles82]

It sounds like nothing you did. Everything sounds normal (I am not familiar with Kaytee bedding but as long as it's unscented and not pine I would think it is fine and unlikely to cause death anyway).

Your second hamster, sadly was most likely born with a genetic defect due to inappropriate breeding by petstores etc - and that is just bad luck as some hammies, even from dubious breeding, are healthy. Very very sad - I am sorry.

Milo sounds to have had a fit or heart attack. The Prevue cage isn't that tall and I doubt he hurt himself falling from bars when you were watching him. Again it is most likely to be a genetic predisposition sadly.

I disagree about barred cages and prefer them - they give good ventilation, good access for interaction and plenty of opportunity for enrichment, by attaching things to bars.

Fall risks can be an issue - but with a cage the height of the prevue this should not be an issue - especially if you have a good depth of substrate and nothing particularly sharp or hard he could land on if he happened to monkey bar across the roof at night and then drop.

That is simple to resolve via set up - any hard items can go on or under a shelf. Any house roof would not be that far to fall onto.

So I think it is absolutely nothing you have done at all - and unfortunately pet stores get their supplies of hamsters from some dodgy breeders sometimes.

All I can suggest is you either try and find a hamster breeder (I realise they are few and far between in the US) who has good genetic breeding practices. Or try a smaller local pet store. Some smaller pet stores breed their own hamsters. Also look for signs of health when you buy the hamster - alert, bright eyed etc.

Or an adoption again - an unwanted pet maybe - who is already healthy!

I can completely understand how you must feel to lose two hamsters and wonder what the cause is, but it is very often some genetic defect or a weak heart that they are born with. And often with petshop hamsters. But even with healthily bred hamsters they can occasionally be born with a condition or a weak heart - just as with humans.

I would get your hamster from a different place this time. And come on here and get your cage set up given the once over for some tips on best environment etc - although I can see nothing wrong really.

If you are in the US, Kaytee Clean and Cozy is a good substrate. I would fill the base of the prevue cage so there is plenty of deep soft substrate, and use a corner litter tray and just spot clean as and when necessary - as with more substrate, a litter tray and spot cleaning you won't need to do big cleanouts that often.

Cleanouts can be stressful for hamsters, so best not to clean everything at the same time, even when you do change the substrate. Leave the wheel and any toys to another time. Eg wheel one week, any toys another week. I also leave the nest and hoard alone unless pee'd in. So partial cleans basically.

Avoiding stress for the hamster will help their immune system stay strong too.

This has nothing to do with the death of your hammies, but I would also suggest a large house/nesting box in the cage - shoebox house would do. That is open underneath with a door cut in one side (you can use the lid as a lift off roof to check inside). They need somewhere dark to retreat to, where they can build a large cosy nest and bury hoards under it.

So allowing for normal behaviours also helps with their stress levels and immune system.

The only other thing I can think is you mentioned the heat. Hamsters can get overheated and in very hot weather it may need a fan in the room, plus something cool in the cage - eg a ceramic mug on its side in the cage on the substrate - that has been in the fridge - somewhere they can sit and cool off. I tend to rotate two mugs - one in the fridge, one in the cage, and swap them over.

Also check the water bottle daily - some water bottles can get stuck and/or not let water out properly. They can get dehydration if the water bottle doesn't work - but I'm sure you checked that anyway.

[BambooTrees]

Thank you both for the feedback and tips! I feel less guilty now. At least I can say I tried to give the hammies a better life for the remainder of their short lives. We will definitely try again, but this time we will look for a reliable breeder. If not we will just try our best to care for the next hammy we get.

I have a 34" x 18" x 14" bin ready to be converted into a cage just in case our next hammy isn't tolerating the bar cage we have.

I really like the idea for a shoe box as a hide out, especially since you can lift up the top for easier clean out (when the hamster is outside of course). Maybe I can somehow make it into a DIY chamber hideout project.

Thank you so much again for the feedback and suggestions!!

[BambooTrees]

Originally Posted by Malou123456789

#MissYouSunny,Destiny,AndMilo.

Will miss them three for sure!!
They're in a happy place now!
Thank you

[Pebbles82]

I think the Prevue cage is a good cage actually - I wouldn't give up on the barred cage. All our hamsters have been in barred cages and no issues whatsoever. It is only the very tall ones where the fall risks and injuries (and unsuitable items hanging from the top like chains and runged ladders).