Oh crap. the hamster appears to have died

[FabIsGettingThere]

The kids will be very upset and at least one, maybe 2 of the children will cry. Help me deal with this please. They are 4, 6 and 9.

Are you sure he's not gone into this hibernation thing? Mine used to do that, and not only in the winter, for a few days at the time. They were totally stiff and unresponsive and luckily managed to give a sign of life before I put them in a box to bury them.

If he has died then you will have to tell them, in a nice way for the younger ones ie he was sick and went to the hamster heaven where he'll have lots of good things to eat etc ( I'm sure someone will come up with a much better way to explain it to your kids, am feeling v.uninspired at the mo)

Sorry, it's always tough, had to do that woth two cats that died and was a bit too straightforward about it and ds was quite upset, that's why I feel it's better to sugarcoat it a bit.

Are you sure?
Recently one of our dwarf hamsters wasn´t moving, but I rubbed it & it "came round".

I think they sometimes can go into "hibernation mode".

I tapped on the cage loads, wiggled his bedding. Nothing. I am too scared to try and pick her up. [wuss]

She is 2. Got to replace the boy hamster who died soon after Great Nanny and replaced without the kids knowing he had died as we figured the kids had had enough sadness.

Awww...Fab
Is this their 1st / only pet? Have they had any other animal deaths?
one of our hamsters died earlier this year, ds2 was very upset for an hour or so. That's fine, they need to grieve and you just have to give them big cuddles.
ds1 on the other hand, quite blase...he was trying to explain to ds2 that hamsters only live 2 years and he should have expected it.
Bella posted a cute poem for the burial...I'll go and search for it

Have a wonderful funeral, they can make a little coffin, write things they want to say, bury their little one and finally plant flowers on the grave.
One of the learning aspects of pets IMO is to experience the rituals and grief of death at a younger age.

We have other animals and they have been through their snail dying, another hamster dying and some fish, a snail and a hamster dying that we didn't tell them about.

I don't know what to do as I am too pathetic to try and get hold of her. I have phoned DH and he will check on her tonight and then we will decide when to tell the kids.

Courtesy of Bella....
Goodbye our little furry friend
This is a beginning, not the end
Off to Hammie Heaven you go
Away from cold and rain and snow
Sunflower seeds and peanuts await
Sunshine and laughter for our very best mate

Go and feel her Fab..if she's cold she's popped her clogs.
You don't have to pick her up

Okay.

Hand holding needed

Yes, Ingles, but when they 'hibernate' I think their temp can come down to.

Give her a good poke.

I do remember doing that with one of mine, even turning her over, she was stiff as a board, but came back to life next day.

Just make sure he's really dead.

she's gone

There is no way she wouldn't have come out with me doing that but I will get dh to really check her. Just in case. how long can she be like this and be okay?

Heres some info on Hamster hibernation for you www.hamsterific.com/HamsterUniversity/HamsterHibernation.html

hope this helps

Fab, as I said I think it was about a day with one of mine and then she did it a second time, for about a few hours.

Another way...I wonder if you would be able to feel for heartbeat? It would slow down a lot but maybe it still would be possible to feel it?

it says on that link that the hammy will be limp, not stiff, but that it will be very cold, if in hibernation?

so cold doesn't mean dead?

link

weird, as mine was definitely stiff and definitely alive

I will have to leave her until DH gets home as I can't check on her when the kids are about.

I have told the kids. The 4 and 6 year olds cried and my 9 year old wants to dig a hole in the garden to bury her and is currently laminating a sign for by the grave.

Good God that poem actually made me sniffle just a little bit!

Im sorry about your hamster Fab. We used to paint pebbles from off the beach to use as headstones for our numerous hamsters and budgies.

Little Miss Hamster has been buried and ds has made a sign for her grave. DD is very upset and is worried about all our other animals now.

DD (6yr) is still really upset this morning and looks so sad. . Too soon for another one?

What pets do you still have?

We lost a rabbit recently but decided not to replace-otherwise it´s never ending

So we still have 1 rabbit, 2 GPs & 3 dwarf hammies-enough to be going on with!

No, I would get another hamster (or Guinea-pig, if you want an animal which will live much longer - 5-8 years) straight away. My mother used to do that when I was a kid (a v e r y long time ago ) and I found it a real, real comfort.

I am very sorry for your loss. Even in my forties, I still shed buckets of tears when a hamster and subsequently a guinea-pig died a few years ago.