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Salem13 · 11-28-2021, 05:51 PM

You 100% did the right thing by warming her up! It is called torpor as Ria said and it's not voluntary. If the temperature reaches below around 15c they will go into torpor.

The vast majority of hamsters in the pet trade no longer have the ability to successfully navigate out of this state on their own and need to be warmed up by external means. It's something that usually has to be caught pretty quickly, it seems the longer the hamster is in torpor the less likely they are to come back out.

I live in Canada and even though I'm in one of the southern-most areas our winters still regularly get to -30c and below. I'm in the Ontario Hamster Club group on facebook and every winter we post reminders how to deal with torpor if you happen upon it and how to make sure your hamsters enclosure is as warm as it should be. You did a great job working quickly. Usually we advise people to warm up their pet via body heat as hot water bottles can get pretty hot- but with the tea towels you did great work.

As for complications- she should be okay but it's a good idea to keep an eye on her for the rest of the night and perhaps for the next day or so. She may be a bit groggy. The important thing is to do your best to make sure her enclosure is insulated. Packing in extra bedding can help keep warmth in and its fairly common practice in my area to use more in cooler months. If the enclosure is against a wall you may want to consider placing a thick towel or blanket between the two, or wrapping one around the base. At night when it gets a little cooler I personally like to drape a towel over part of the top so that less heat escapes.

11-28-2021, 05:51 PM
Salem13 Hamster Pup Join Date: Dec 2019 Location: Canada Posts: 111	Re: Hibernation? You 100% did the right thing by warming her up! It is called torpor as Ria said and it's not voluntary. If the temperature reaches below around 15c they will go into torpor. The vast majority of hamsters in the pet trade no longer have the ability to successfully navigate out of this state on their own and need to be warmed up by external means. It's something that usually has to be caught pretty quickly, it seems the longer the hamster is in torpor the less likely they are to come back out. I live in Canada and even though I'm in one of the southern-most areas our winters still regularly get to -30c and below. I'm in the Ontario Hamster Club group on facebook and every winter we post reminders how to deal with torpor if you happen upon it and how to make sure your hamsters enclosure is as warm as it should be. You did a great job working quickly. Usually we advise people to warm up their pet via body heat as hot water bottles can get pretty hot- but with the tea towels you did great work. As for complications- she should be okay but it's a good idea to keep an eye on her for the rest of the night and perhaps for the next day or so. She may be a bit groggy. The important thing is to do your best to make sure her enclosure is insulated. Packing in extra bedding can help keep warmth in and its fairly common practice in my area to use more in cooler months. If the enclosure is against a wall you may want to consider placing a thick towel or blanket between the two, or wrapping one around the base. At night when it gets a little cooler I personally like to drape a towel over part of the top so that less heat escapes.