Normal behaviour for a 21 month old Syrian

[LancashireLass]

Hi. I have been so fortunate to have Poppy my Syrian Hamster who has never bitten or even threatened to bite either Tony or me, even the vet commented on how delightful she is and a dream to handle. I am under disillusion that my baby girl is knocking on a bit in hammy years and the inevitable i think is not far off as I see a deterioration in her. Poppy is my first hamster and I know she is well looked after lovely cage, regular exercise and good diet, I have to admit I'm not sure what is normal in an ageing hamster, please could i have some tips on what to expect.

Many Thanks
J x

[POLAR WHITES]

21 months is a good age for a hamster I think the average is about 2 years or just under.

[Littlefurryfriends]

My Toffee passed on two weeks ago and he was approx 3 years 8 months. I don't think I did anything different with him to my other hams he was just a special boy. I did keep a close eye on him and as he slowed down and found it an effort to manage his ladders I moved him to a retirement cage only one easy reached extra level with all his toys. I didn't remove his wheel as he loved it up to the last two weeks of his life when he didn't have the energy. I also noticed he was losing weight so I started giving him jar baby food chicken with rice and veg was his favourite. He was soon putting on weight and back to his old tricks. I think the vitamins in the baby food gave him a boost. Your Poppy might be slowing down a bit but let her do all the things she enjoys she will only do as much as she can manage. I never imagined Toffee would live to be so old all hams are different but the most important thing is they are loved and happy when they are with us. I hope Poppy will be around for a long time yet x hammy hugs from Tiffany and Humdi x

[caro317]

The oldest I've had a hamster til was about 2 and a half years and I think that was a good age, Toffee was a very special hammy I think! However mine didn't show very much difference in behaviour until the last few weeks when they would just sleep a bit more and be a bit slower in general. If your hammy loves running on their wheel this will keep them nice and active right into old age a lot of the time :)

[LancashireLass]

Hi Poppy seems to have slowed right down, and even though she is eating and drinking she seems to have lost interest in all her favourite things, all she wants to do is either sleep or stay in her bed its difficult to coax her out.

[LancashireLass]

Hi Littlefurryfriends, I'm so sorry for your loss, I hope I'm wrong about Poppy I've been to p@h this afternoon for some treats and a couple of new toys hopefully it will perk her up a bit.

[Anthorn]

It's difficult to answer the question because it all depends on the individual hamster: I think in general terms a hamster is middle-aged at 12 months old and is on the downward track to old age from then on. So at 21 months your hamster may not yet be "old". In my hamsters, old age is characterised by loss of weight and a slow-down in activity: In general hamster keepers refer to the slow-down as "chilling out".

Personally, I think it's a very big mistake to assume that just because a hamster is old it's getting ready for the Rainbow Bridge. Lots of hamsters live on and on through their old age and have a happy retirement.

[de4life]

IMO as long as a ham is well looked after it's definitely a case of genetics as to the exact time when a hamster starts to slow down and enter their twilight years.

I have two male Syrians - Hjalmar is 23 months old and still very active. It's funny because around 20/21 months he actually did seem to be slowing down, but like Benjamin Button he seems to be regressing in age! He even chewed the bars for attention the other night, which he hasn't done since he was a much younger ham. He comes out 2 or 3 times a night at the moment and still runs like mad on his flying saucer. His fur is still soft and shiny, eyes alert, overall just as healthy as he was half a year ago.

Axel on the other hand is a different matter entirely. I adopted him when he was 16 months old, he's now 26 months old and is definitely showing some major signs of slowing down. He's always been lazy and woken up an hour or two later than Hjalmar, but now he sleeps almost all the time. I get him out when I can, but after about 20 minutes of free roaming he tends to toddle off into a corner and start dozing again. He's still a big boy weight wise (always has been!) and his fur hasn't noticeably lost any thickness, but there's no question he's a very different hamster now than when I first got him. He started slowing down at around 23/24 months. I'm prepared for him to pass at some point quite soon, but am hoping he has a couple more months left in him yet!

Average age of a ham is I believe 18-24 months, so really at any time after 18 months signs of old age can occur. As Anthorn mentioned above, though, this doesn't necessarily mean they are close to the end. They're just seniors and prefer sleeping!