Not sure if our hamster is dead or hibernating

[fluffycauliflower]

Has anyone got any experience of this? We foolishy had him in quite a cold room. He looks pretty dead to me. We moved him into a warm room today, he is by a radiator, but there is no sign of life. He is quite stiff, but his feet aren't stiff though. I've tried touching his whiskers, but there is no movement. My daughter is devastated. I put him on a warm towel, but it hasn't helped

If he's been in a warm place all day, and still not showing any sign of being more 'alive' then I'm afraid that it doesn't look too good :( Hamsters don't truly hibernate, they exhibit something called torpor which is a very temporary hibernation like state, but usually when placed in a warm environment they wake within the hour.

A hamster in torpor still breathes, but very shallowly, and their whiskers do small twitches, so I would lay him on a flat and still surface and watch very closely for a few minutes. If in that time you don't see any movement, I'd put him back in his cage in a warm place until the morning and check again, but with not a lot of hope :(

A very morbid piece of knowledge is that stiffness in a dead body fades over a period of time, so you might find that he becomes less stiff between now and tomorrow - worth mentioning just in case :(

if he is stiff and not moving i'd say he is dead!

if he was hibernating i'm fairly sure he would just be like he was asleep (ie, warm and soft)

From what I've experienced with having pet hamsters they DON'T hibernate :( sorry!

Hamsters usually only live about 2yrs? You could buy another one if you don't want to confront the issue of 'death' yet with your daughter? Either that or look for some ideas as to how to tackle the subject with young children.

Hope this helps :)

Thanks for your messages, he never 'woke up' and he is now buried.