One of my hamsters died and the other one ate him [shock]

[Thelittlesoldiersmummy]

Is this normal

He must have died the evening before and I hadnt noticed anyway looked in the cage in the morning and he was dead with a big chunk missing from his belly and his bum why would the other one eat him there was loads of food in the cage so I dont understand!

Oh dear , what a shock for you
Have you spoken to a vet? maybe its normal in hamster world...

Maybe they do it in the wild to avoid it smelling and attracting predators?

one of our gerbils ate her babies.

What breed of hamster? How old are/were they?

Its a chinese miniature hamster and we have had them for about 6 months got them from pets at home so no idea how old they are!

Would agree with that ff. Did you check these hamsters can actually be kept together as some breeds can't and will fight to the death. Im sure thats not the case here tho. I know hamsters in general can eat each other but don't know why!

Have read its quite normal for them to eat each other and they are frequently eat their own babies

We were only going to get one when we bought them but the lady in the shop said that they like to live as a pair!

Sounds funny but the other one scares me a little now!!

just read on the net that chinese miniature hamsters can be kept together and its best if they're from the same litter. You can't gurantee this frm a pet shop. However, if they've been together for 6 mths i think they should hv been fine. Maybe they just squabbled and it got out of hand. dont be frightened of the one you have left as it may sense this and it could nip you. having said that we have 2 hamsters in our house (separate cages), 1 i love the other is ok. Neither have bitten me so who knows what they can sense!