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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Was IBU to freeze DD’s hamster?

336 replies

SandyDrawsBadly · 01/03/2019 09:33

I came downstairs on DDs Birthday to find that Wonder Woman the hamster was dead. Stupid fucking hamster

I didn’t want to upset DD on her birthday so didn’t tell her before I dropped her at school. I doubled checked when I got home in case it had been sleeping, but this was one cold dead stiff hamster and it’s red eyes were all grey, so it was definitely dead.

I didn’t want to ruin her birthday, but I didn’t want a slowly decomposing hamster in the warm living room either. so I popped it into a freezer bag and hid it underneath the frozen veg out of the way. I got her out the next day, defrosted her in the cage and “discovered” her death the next morning. Two days post birthday.

I was telling my friend but she said this was ridiculous over protective parenting.

So, was I unreasonable to freeze the hamster and has anyone else done stuff to save upset as I can’t be the only one, surely!

OP posts:
ApolloandDaphne · 01/03/2019 14:02

I froze a dead goldfish once. It was winter and we couldn't bury it with our other pets so I popped it in the freezer. I only remembered about it again when we were moving house and had to take every thing out the freezer to defrost it. It was summer then so we were able to give it the burial it deserved.

Catinthetwat · 01/03/2019 14:04

It's not a bad idea as such, but too risky. If your dd had noticed, which I would think was a very likely scenario. Then you would have to say 'ah, I'm sorry ww is dead and I've put her in the freezer.' which is pretty weird. I think it is a bit callous. It's all just a bit calculated.

overjoyedmumma · 01/03/2019 14:05

I can understand if your daughter is really attached to the hamster, that you didn’t want to ruin her birthday, but I would also say that I don’t think I’d go to the extent of freezing and defrosting a dead hamster.... but each to their own and can understand the thought process behind it.

AGHHHH · 01/03/2019 14:11

imagine the shock if she'd gone to help herself to a birthday cornetto!

😂😂😂😂

Mum I think this one's out of date it's got hair on it [santa]

Nat6999 · 01/03/2019 14:12

GraceMarks Yes we did put drain holes in, we just didn't want the foxes (& Badgers) digging up the corpses

grinningcheshirecat · 01/03/2019 14:14

This remembers me about something my mum told me. She was a new lodger once in her twenties and once found a parrot in the freezer. Turns out the owner wanted to bury it but couldn't because of the freezing weather. It wasn't in the UK and it froze for a few months with squeeky the parrot staying in the freezer next to the schnitzels Grin.

Dontcarewhatimdoing · 01/03/2019 14:15

YANBU at all. I have never frozen a pet, but I found DS's pet chicken dead on Christmas morning one year, and I hid it until the following day to avoid spoiling Christmas.

NoSquirrels · 01/03/2019 14:17

This thread is hilarious! Thanks, OP Grin

I can't decide what I like the most - all the faux outrage over dead bodies in freezers, or pet neglect of the kids today comments, or the disturbing tales of pet death and disposal from days gone by.

This was possibly my fave:

When my friend's dd's goldfish died during the night, I went round really early and we shaped one from a carrot and put it in the bowl

EwItsAHooman · 01/03/2019 14:17

Hamster don't hibernate, or they shouldn't anyway, it's a bit of a myth. They can go into what's called torpor if they're unwell or too cold and it's sometimes mistaken for hibernation.

They're pretty animals so they like to bury themselves and hide when they sleep, if their cage is big enough then it's not always possible to easily spot them. If I was to go look into our cage now I wouldn't be able to find ours without actually getting my hands in there to move things around in order to find the hamster. He has scraped up a large hill of substrate and he is somewhere inside of it. Chances are, if a sleeping hamster is immediately visible then they either don't have a large enough cage or they don't have enough bedding and substrate.

My DC don't see the hamster every single day because he doesn't usually wake up until around 8 or 9pm and they're all in bed by 8.30 during the week then he's asleep again by around 6am and they're not up until 6.30/7am. They'll see him by chance if he's awake earlier/later/during the day or on weekends when they stay up later but it's not unusual for them to go several days without seeing him. They still love him though and he gets a hero's welcome when they do spot him, they also check his food/water daily without so much as seeing a glimpse of him when they do because his food and water are in a different area to the cage to where he has his nest.

YANBU, OP and I'd have done something similar to avoid upset on a birthday. Our old hamster died on the first day back at school and I didn't want to upset the DC when they'd already be tired and unsettled so I buried her, left the cage exactly as it was and still helped them top up the food/water as normal, then a few days later when they came home from school I told them I'd found the hamster dead that morning and we could go bury her. I'd already put "her" in a box (a little cardboard box weighted with daffodil bulbs and compost) and that's what we buried.

EwItsAHooman · 01/03/2019 14:18

Pretty animals = prey animals

Stargazer888 · 01/03/2019 14:41

I guess I don't understand why your dd had to see the dead hamster? Why not just tell her it died two days later and bury it earlier?

MrsRhubarb · 01/03/2019 14:42

OP, I think your solution was inspired, and that you are a lovely mum.

AGHHHH · 01/03/2019 14:46

Pretty animals = prey animals

I did wonder what you meant Grin I thought it was to do with them being insecure or something [santa]

Bigonesmallone3 · 01/03/2019 14:47

This is the sweetest and weirdest story I have ever read!

I love that u wanted to protect dd especially as it was her birthday but to see a dead animal and think 💡 il put it in the freezer 😂 just how, why!
Then u defrosted it 🤢

RIP Wonder Woman..

SnowyAlpsandPeaks · 01/03/2019 14:52

I thought the shampoo in her own eyes was a bit precious, but this is weird... what will you do if it happens to something bigger, like a dog, or grandma??

This has me crying 😂

Bigonesmallone3 · 01/03/2019 14:53

Grandma

God no 😂😂😂
This has me dying

MereDintofPandiculation · 01/03/2019 15:02

I love that u wanted to protect dd especially as it was her birthday but to see a dead animal and think 💡 il put it in the freezer 😂 just how, why! Because if the owner may wish to be involved in the burial is to leave it to be infested with fly maggots. I can't see it is any worse than putting a salmonella infested chicken carcass in the freezer.

SchadenfreudePersonified · 01/03/2019 15:11

Lifecraft

LOL! [grin[

i wish I'd thought of that!

SchadenfreudePersonified · 01/03/2019 15:16

Also the last hamster we had, somehow put itself into a hibernation type state, we thought it was dead, all stiff and cold and weird. DH went to chuck it in the bin but felt a small heartbeat, managed to revive it by warming it up a bit.

This happened with one of ours!

We gave her whiskey, gently dripping it between her jaws using a cotton wool ball which we soaked and gently squeezed. She revived in less than a heartbeat and was sucking the whisky out of the cotton wool like an alkie with a can of Special Brew at the foot of Grey's Monument!

She staggered along the mantelpiece, fell off the end and went to sleep. We had her for another year or so after that.

pelirocco123 · 01/03/2019 15:19

Awwlookatmybabyspider Fri 01-Mar-19 09:39:47
Is that not ever so minty and rank putting an animal corpse where there's food.

Unless you are a non meat eater , have you ever considered that you eat animal corpses?

firstdatesfear · 01/03/2019 15:24

Genius plan Op! And you’re doing totally the right thing to explain the death and not just replace with another one. It’s bonkers but genius!

Shame it wasn’t called Findus.

Slowknitter · 01/03/2019 15:28

It’s not that hard to compute, surely.... because ‘discovering’ a decomposing dead pet

If it was wrapped up and disposed of in the outdoor bin etc, surely she'd have been no more likely to find it there than in the freezer, unless the dd is in the habit of rummaging through the rubbish?

Original poster
SandyDrawsBadly · 01/03/2019 15:36

Wow HaventGotAllDay. Did you mean to sound so spiteful? While you can jab me all you like, being so unpleasant about a young girl makes you look really unpleasant.

OP posts:
Blondeshavemorefun · 01/03/2019 15:44

fab idea, why upset a child on their birthday

fwiw i was on holiday in oz, when my hammy died, my friend popped in freezer for me as i wanted to bury

was my last hammy, had had hammies for years - and my husband had died few months previously and wanted to bury him in the garden with the others

Oakenbeach · 01/03/2019 16:36

fab idea, why upset a child on their birthday

Because some MNers love the opportunity to teach their children life’s hard lessons whenever they can. Personally I think the “shit happens on birthdays too” lessons can wait until it can’t be avoided.