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evilpenguin · 10-31-2018, 12:12 PM

Hello everyone,
I am a longtime owner of rodents (I've had chinchillas, guinea pigs, rats, rabbits and, of course, hamsters.) A hamster was actually the very first pet I got when I was young and my love for rodents has only grown since then. That first hamster was an adorable little dwarf named Pica, and she was awesome. I definitely don't remember how long she lived, but I think it was close to 2 years.

As much as I loved Pica, I never thought I'd get another hamster. I thought for sure that guinea pigs were the best rodents for me, but after owning almost 10 different piggies over the course of about 15 years, they became too much work for me to properly care for and require more space than I currently have.

About four months ago, I decided I wanted to get hamsters again. I went out and bought the IKEA Detolf and transformed it into a cage, that I split in half, because I had my eye on two hammies and couldn't make up my mind. I watched a bunch of YouTube videos to learn how to properly care for them (because, let's be honest, I had no idea what I was doing with Pica when I was 10 years old...) I bought them the best food, a bunch of healthy snacks and "furniture" for their cages.

I brought the hamsters home with me and got them all settled in and everything was really great. One of the hamsters, that I named Winston, was older when I picked him out from PetSmart (about 5 months) and he had some biting/aggression issues. But I worked with him everyday and he soon became the sweetest little rodent I had ever had.

Well... Fast forward to this past Sunday. I made a terrible mistake when I put the Detolf together that resulted in about an inch of space at the top between the two sides of the cage. For some dumb reason, I was never really concerned by it. It didn't even occur to me that the hamsters would find a way to crawl up the glass surface and breach the hole. But that's exactly what happened... My husband woke me up late Sunday night to tell me that Winston was dead. My other hamster had gotten onto his side of the cage and they fought.

My heart is so broken. I feel terrible for making a mistake that could have easily been prevented. I only had Winston for 3 months, but he is by far the rodent I've had the strongest connection to. I'm still very raw from his death, but I'm determined to do better in the future.

I'm joining this forum to learn as much as I possibly can about hamster care and to maybe help others from making a mistake like I did.

10-31-2018, 12:12 PM
evilpenguin Newborn Pup Join Date: Oct 2018 Posts: 3	Hello Hello everyone, I am a longtime owner of rodents (I've had chinchillas, guinea pigs, rats, rabbits and, of course, hamsters.) A hamster was actually the very first pet I got when I was young and my love for rodents has only grown since then. That first hamster was an adorable little dwarf named Pica, and she was awesome. I definitely don't remember how long she lived, but I think it was close to 2 years. As much as I loved Pica, I never thought I'd get another hamster. I thought for sure that guinea pigs were the best rodents for me, but after owning almost 10 different piggies over the course of about 15 years, they became too much work for me to properly care for and require more space than I currently have. About four months ago, I decided I wanted to get hamsters again. I went out and bought the IKEA Detolf and transformed it into a cage, that I split in half, because I had my eye on two hammies and couldn't make up my mind. I watched a bunch of YouTube videos to learn how to properly care for them (because, let's be honest, I had no idea what I was doing with Pica when I was 10 years old...) I bought them the best food, a bunch of healthy snacks and "furniture" for their cages. I brought the hamsters home with me and got them all settled in and everything was really great. One of the hamsters, that I named Winston, was older when I picked him out from PetSmart (about 5 months) and he had some biting/aggression issues. But I worked with him everyday and he soon became the sweetest little rodent I had ever had. Well... Fast forward to this past Sunday. I made a terrible mistake when I put the Detolf together that resulted in about an inch of space at the top between the two sides of the cage. For some dumb reason, I was never really concerned by it. It didn't even occur to me that the hamsters would find a way to crawl up the glass surface and breach the hole. But that's exactly what happened... My husband woke me up late Sunday night to tell me that Winston was dead. My other hamster had gotten onto his side of the cage and they fought. My heart is so broken. I feel terrible for making a mistake that could have easily been prevented. I only had Winston for 3 months, but he is by far the rodent I've had the strongest connection to. I'm still very raw from his death, but I'm determined to do better in the future. I'm joining this forum to learn as much as I possibly can about hamster care and to maybe help others from making a mistake like I did.