[Ria P]

I am so sorry for your loss.
Maple had a good long life and she left this world peacefully from her own nest. It does help to know this but the emotions of grief are intense and will only fade as time goes on.
Do whatever you feel comfortable with. We all deal differently with loss. I lost a hamster in May and it took me by surprise how much it affected me. I have only had hamster housemates since March last year and this hamster was ill when i adopted him.
I cleaned his cage straight after i had buried him because it was too upsetting to look at his home knowing that he would never return to it. I even set up the cage again, differently though but couldn't bring myself to reuse his mug. It was his so i kept it as his, put silk flowers in it and it is still on the table where his habitat once was.
The next day i went into a petshop to buy something for my other hamsters, saw a litter of dwarfs in a tiny tank and took one home. Not to replace my dear Percy but to give another hamster a chance of a good life.
It made no difference to the sadness i felt about losing Percy because every hamster is an individual and irreplacable. To this day i wished i had had more time with him, an extra month, a extra week.

It may help you to talk about Maple, to share her memories with this community of people who understand how you feel. You could even share her lifestory and some photos of her.

The first few days and weeks are hard but time will help you to come to terms with your loss and Maple's memories will always stay with you.