Hamster died or hibernating???

[almostn9ne]

Bought hamster as Xmas pressie this year so not old.

It's currently curled up snuggly in its bed but usually at this time of night it's usually awake so I put my hand on it and it doesn't seem to be breathing and feels cold.

I've read on here about hamsters hibernating - please tell me it's doing that and not dead!! I'm not ready to cope with a dead one yet, let alone DD, whose pet it is.

Cremation is not expensive where we live, I think £10 or £12. They are cremated with other animals. We quite liked the idea that they weren’t alone on their last journey. I know that sounds soppy.

You could drop it at the vet on the way to school. DD would then have closure.

When ours died we wrapped her in a bit of kitchen roll and buried her in the back garden. She was my son's first pet and throwing her in the bin would just seem wrong.

We put ours in a Philadelphia tub and buried him. DD painted a little stone to mark the spot.

If you want to go down the burial route, then The Works do plain wooden boxes which just so happen to be well proportioned as hamster coffins for about £3. Your DD could decorate it as a way to say goodbye to the hamster.

I remember seeing and burying a series of small furries around that age. I think it's an important bit of personal development and it's best they learn about death for the first time with small furries rather than grannies.

Well thanks all for being here with me and with your ideas.

I have found a small icing sugar box and sellotaped the ends down the cut out a flap 'lid' to lift up and look inside. Quite pleased with it. Filled with clean bedding material, hamster on top, covered with soft bedding material to hide it up to its face so it just looks asleep now.

Haven't decided whether to bury or cremate yet. But at least it's out of the bin....!

Oh, hoped this would have a happy ending. You coped and did what you could for the poor mite, OP.

We buried pets in the garden when I was s child. I would have been pretty upset at the idea of putting one in the bin sorry!

Sorry about your hamster, Op
Well done for overcoming you initial reluctance to touch it. You need to be able to manage this if you want to be fair and kind to your pets (and your children). The sugar box casket is genius!

I wouldn't put a cat or dog in the bin, not even double bagged

Don't worry Davros, I have now got the hamster in a little homemade casket.

Update - the children got up this morning to the news of the poor dead hamster. We are going to bury it together, but since I'm away for the weekend it will have to be next week! I have taken the box outside to the back garden, put it in a big empty flower pot and put a piece of slate on top to stop anything getting in.

Thank you to everyone for the handhold last night. And for encouraging me to keep it so the children could see it - that was exactly what they naturally wanted to do and I was so pleased I could introduce them to its poor little dead body (by now looking all soft and cute in its little bed I'd made) rather than saying 'oh...uh, no you can't see it, I've binned it already...' All felt 'right' and properly dealt with.

Still :( though. I have lit a scented candle in there since I can still smell how different it smelled once dead.

It's going to be very dead by next week. I hesitate to ask this, but could you put it in a plastic bag and pop it in the freezer?

Ah poor Hamster

I second putting it in the freezer until the funeral. It will be totally unpleasant otherwise.

Yes to freezing - you don't want to be answering questions about the "aroma"

Well done, a really nice and sensitive ending to the story. You're a better person than I am when it comes to furry things in cages brrrr