Was IBU to freeze DD’s hamster?

[SandyDrawsBadly]

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!

There is no P in hamster but I love it when people put one in!

Cutest word ever

I don’t see an issue with what you did. Though seeing as there is at least 10 dead mice in my freezer currently I’m possibly not the best person to judge! (My teen son has a rather large snake)

I thought a Hampster was a native of London NW3

My dad used to do this with our dead fish so we could bury them when we saw him at the weekend!

*hampsters

**hamsters

I think you did a nice thing, OP. People saying she didn't notice it wasn't there and therefore wouldn't care that it died... Do you have kids?? They're perfectly capable of paying almost no attention to something and then being devastated when it's gone! Even inanimate objects!

As a child too (I have a few dead/injured animal stories but this is the one that sticks in my mind most because of my mothers reaction) I came home from school carrying a dead hedgehog in my school coat My mother hit the roof..I had deposited it in the corner of the sitting room still wrapped up planning on doing a burial...whole house had to be fleabombed.

Another time I brought home a wild ferret that was semi alive after seemingly being shot by a farmers hot rice gun (not sure if they still have those?)..seemed very dead to me, carried it back in a box I found in the woods. Damn thing actually bit my dad. Oddly enough, there was less fuss about this than there was about the hedgehog..

*hampsters

I think it's brilliant.
She can deal with the loss at some point, as we all have to learn that everything dies, but won't associate it with her birthday memories

As for not noticing, hamsters are mostly nocturnal aren’t they?
I remember my (suspiciously long-lived) hamster as skulking in his little bed/larder a lot of the time.

Batshit.

I hope you had a funeral for the hamster.
Our DD'S hamster died and as they had been discussing at school death, we had a full on funeral. Dad did a reading, flowers and singing hymns. 5 children from the close came as the morners. Followed by juice and cake.

My hamsters woke up around 5pm mostly. I remember one of them used to climb from bar to bar across the top of her cage, stopping occasionally to hang on by her teeth. My dad found it very disconcerting.

She was lovely, such a friendly, calm hammy.

You did the right thing.The hamster had definitely passed,what else are you going to do,even if you showed daughter that day,it would still not be in a good state left out of freezer until home from school.

I can vouch that you are not the only adult who has ever frozen a child's pet hamster.

In 1979, I was 9 and at the center of an ugly custody dispute between my maternal grandparents and an ex-boyfriend (1) of my mother's. I, and my pet hamster, had been living with the ex-boyfriend for a couple of years, but spending school breaks with my grandparents. Over Christmas my grandparents got a surprise court order blocking me from going back to the ex-boyfriend, and I didn't see him or the hamster again for several months.

During which time the hamster died and was placed in the freezer. Eventually I was told, and I did give the hamster a decent burial.

I'm trying to remember what I felt, but basically can't; there were a lot of other things going on at the time and finding out Tiger Eye was dead was pretty minor in context. I can still see the plastic wrapping though...

(1) At the time everyone thought he might possibly be my biological father; since then DNA has said "no."

OP, I love this thread - thank you for brightening up my day!

And IMHO you’re a fab mum, and did exactly the right thing 😀

I wasn’t allowed any proper pets as a child, although I desperately wanted something I could cuddle/stroke/play with/annoy. But FWIW, I had the longest lived goldfish on the block. Billy lasted nearly 10 years, and until my early 30s I would occasionally mention this.

Right up until the day my father told a dinner party story in which he graphically described rocking up at the pet shop with a large dead goldfish every couple of years looking for an identical specimen....

I just don't understand how she could fail to notice the missing hamster for two days, birthday or not. She can't have been that fond of it, if she didn't even glance into its cage in all that time, and evidently, she wasn't the one who fed and watered it, so I don't really see the need to protect her from its death.

Our cat ate my hamster in the middle of the night. No idea how she got him out, the bitch 😡

My mum told me in the morning. I was sad but it didn't ruin my day. Never got on with the cat after that.

I agree that it wouldn't have been nice to tell her on her birthday but freezing it does seem a little odd. Perhaps you could have just taken the hamster out and buried her on the day, DD would have probably thought she was sleeping all day 🤔

I just don't understand how she could fail to notice the missing hamster for two days, birthday or not. She can't have been that fond of it, if she didn't even glance into its cage in all that time, and evidently, she wasn't the one who fed and watered it, so I don't really see the need to protect her from its death.

She's a kid! Kids aren't that rational! My kid cried when her favourite mug broke. She hadn't used this mug in about a year!

If you thought it the best thing to do at the time, it was fine.
You know your DD best!

Kids aren't that rational!

I'm just surprised to hear it's a thing nowadays for children to be allowed to own pets without taking on any of the associated chores of meeting their most basic needs.

YANBU with a caveat! Don't think it would have crossed my mind to freeze so bit admiring/freaked out by that.

I have delayed telling DD about death of fish - e.g. not at bedtime when she's tired and the sadness would be overwhelming so I get it. Obviously OP's DD not that into her hamster but I get that too - I wasn't that into mine but I still remember her death when I was 5/6 very clearly and I was very sad.

I won't have any control over the guineas tho' - DD does the feeding etc so likely she would discover. Just have to keep fingers crossed not her birthday.

It was nothing awful what you did with the deceased hamster, it was what you thought to do at the time,that's all that matters.
Did you put it in some sort of order in the freezer, I keep freezer meat stuff in order, as in all chicken,beef, lamb and fish in order, so hope you put hammy next to a ham joint etc.!

I want to know more about the goldfish carrot? Mainly did it sink or float?

OP, you’re a genius. Quick thinking, I’d have done the same