Be careful before burying your hamster

the_pink_panther_2

So i was just thinking back... I had a hamster when I was a kid. One morning I went down to see my hamster and to my surprise it was dead. I was devastated and my dad did the proper thing and went into the back garden to dig a burial hole for him. Crying, I carried out my hamster and was just about to place him in the already dug out hole, when hamster turned his head... it really was very confusing... I hadn't realised dead hamsters could do that... the hamster had been about a min away from actually being buried alive... we took him to the vet (I think back then the vet bill was £3). It turned out my hamster was hibernating. We got a hot water bottle to bring it back from the dead.... I just thought I'd mention this as it's that time of year... and really, hibernating and dead really were incredibly difficult to tell apart.

winterwhite11

the_pink_panther wrote: »

So i was just thinking back... I had a hamster when I was a kid. One morning I went down to see my hamster and to my surprise it was dead. I was devastated and my dad did the proper thing and went into the back garden to dig a burial hole for him. Crying, I carried out my hamster and was just about to place him in the already dug out hole, when hamster turned his head... it really was very confusing... I hadn't realised dead hamsters could do that... the hamster had been about a min away from actually being buried alive... we took him to the vet (I think back then the vet bill was £3). It turned out my hamster was hibernating. We got a hot water bottle to bring it back from the dead.... I just thought I'd mention this as it's that time of year... and really, hibernating and dead really were incredibly difficult to tell apart.

lol...
sorry for laughing and thankyou for putting this warning up.
what with pet shops selling these little creatures so cheaply to just anyone i bet quite a few go to a early and horrific death.

jokeyjo

my niece was about 5 when her hamster did this was very lucky she squeezed a bit too hard and its eyes shot open ,sadly about 6 months later it did die we found a shoebox for it and dug a hole and buried it next morning we came outside to find the box dug up and no hamster we had to do some quick thinking and said the angels had come to take it heaven we darent tell her it was the neighbourhood cats

winterwhite11

jokeyjo wrote: »

my niece was about 5 when her hamster did this was very lucky she squeezed a bit too hard and its eyes shot open ,sadly about 6 months later it did die we found a shoebox for it and dug a hole and buried it next morning we came outside to find the box dug up and no hamster we had to do some quick thinking and said the angels had come to take it heaven we darent tell her it was the neighbourhood cats

lol
sorry i,m not a nasty person ,i just can,t stop laughing tonight.

adviceforall

We had a customer at work bring one back saying she had thought it was dead at first then thought it was very ill but it had just been hibernating.

winterwhite11

adviceforall wrote: »

We had a customer at work bring one back saying she had thought it was dead at first then thought it was very ill but it had just been hibernating.

sniggers........

blossomhill_2

Good, if rather sad, advice, thank you

For anyone in doubt how to tell the difference; a dead hamster's weight feels wrong, as the blood setles in the lower part of the body. A lve but hibernating one on your hand feels like a live one, weightwise
And they will only hibernate if too cold, so check room temperature is enogh, esp at nights

the_pink_panther_2

Ha! The story about the stolen hamster form the shoe box is sad... but made me laugh... did get me thinking though.. the number of dead creatures I'd buried as a small kid, which later vanished... I did actually think they woke up or something, I was really pleased for them... but now you mention it, cats is the more plausible option...

Nicki

My sister had a hamster when she was little, which my parents thought was hibernating, until the smell told them otherwise after a few weeks though!

the_pink_panther_2

LOL I'm beginning to really enjoy this thread...

winterwhite11

we had a gerbil .it did not like living in the cage so i let it live free in the house , it made a bed in the airing cupboard and when we went to bed at night and all was quiet it would come out to collect its food.
it scared me once because it found my chocolate bar and stuffed his face and his neck was stretched out either side, it looked like it had swallowed a pencil.
i did not realise that they had pouch things on either side of their neck.
also every single night after we went to bed it would go in his cage that we kept open in the bedroom and he would play on his wheel.