61 Comments » I didn’t want to blog about it when it happened because it was too disturbing an event to blog about.
But a month has passed since Picnic and Pixie died, and I’ve kind of accepted the situation already.
I guess it’s alright to talk about it now.
First of all, I don’t know why and how. One day I woke up and they were dead.
We buried them in the garden.
Later in the night, the Goonfather asked me, “DO YOU THINK THEY WERE MERELY HIBERNATING?”
I stared at him, bug-eyed, and declared unconvincingly, “NO.”
We rushed down to the garden to dig them back up.
We had wrapped them individually in white Ikea table napkins. We didn’t have fancy hamster coffins at our disposal.
So we dug the napkins back up and got into a sort of a argument.
“You open it.”
“No, you open it.”
“No, you open it.”
“No, YOU open it.”
“No.”
It was late at night and dark in the garden. Only the dim, yellow glow of a torchlight illuminated the lumps of napkins laid out before us.
The napkins were unmoving. Damp. Flattened. Little stain dotting a corner that looked suspiciously like blood but could be mud.
We went through a few more cycles of the “You open it” argument. We rationalised the situation. We looked at each other helplessly. We stared at the napkins for minutes, willing them to move.
Finally, we said, “they’re dead,” and buried them back.
I don’t know why and how they died.
We googled it. We considered hibernation because their bodies were relatively soft when we found them. (Dead hamsters are supposed to be stiff.) But we don’t get winter in Singapore so it’s not that possible. Picnic and Pixie lived in our air-conditioned room where the temperature never goes below 18 degrees celcius. Hamsters go into hibernation (or, more accurately, a state resembling hibernation) only around 10 degrees celcius or lower. And dwarf hamsters aren’t known to hibernate.
The Goonfather said Picnic’s cage had smelled bad. Even though I washed it and changed the bedding less than a week before.
So, my babies are dead.
But that isn’t the entire reason why I haven’t published a Hamster Tale in ages.
I do have a few more stories archived in my mind, pictures archived in my hard disk. I just need to write the stories but I haven’t had time to tackle them.
But I will get to them eventually.
In the meantime, I’m deliberating whether to get more hamsters.
I have $300 worth of hamster housing and supplies sitting in a corner of my room.
I miss my naughty, tyrannical Picnic and my sweet, innocent, timid Pixie.
But I don’t want to kill another pair of hamsters. I don’t know how Picnic and Pixie died but they did die under my care.
Picnic died buried under wood shavings. I couldn’t find her at first and thought she’d escaped her cage.
Pixie died in her favourite tube connector, next to the door that’s supposed to open into Picnic’s cage.
I’m moving house next month so I can’t get new hamsters right now.
I guess I will think about it after the move.
My hampster just died last night,I am upset ,i dont know how he died or why?? this was my first time having a hampster. i am not getting anymore thats for sure! hurts to much when they die.:(
I’m sorry to hear that Michele. I hope you feel better soon. I also worry about getting pets ever again cos I hate when they die. :(
i fill so sorry i am trying to see if my hamster is dead i love that story i makes me very sad to hear that when my cat died i was shock because i left him yestreday and he was find now he is dead if u like this story i have a meez and yahoo and gmail my mezz name is mattapan9 my yahoo is larie900@yahoo.com and my gmail.com larie900@gmail.com hit me up please if u like my story my hamster was a drawf and it died today at 1:11 pm at 6/21/09 :(
O men we are on the same boat, this evening when I arrive at home my mom told me about what happened to my hamsters, unfortunately my four hamsters where found dead ( with stiff body) inside the cage and only the small one survive. I was very confuse right now from what was just happened . I took care of them very well, I fed them with sunflower seeds, I used water faucet for their drink, I used to play with them every night, I bathe them weekly but 1 thing that makes me think of why was this happened was because they where place outside of our house exposed to sunlight for I think hour or minute. Does hot environment causes them to be like this? how come the small one survive on the crime scene? . Does anyone knows why this happened, is there some sort of a disease which causes this? If you knew something , plz reply . thnx
Sorry to hear about your loss. I’m not an expert on hamsters… but I think bathing hamsters (with water) is not a good idea.
Hi Ace,
Hamsters should be placed in a location away from drafts, and out of direct sunlight. I think that was the reason why your hamsters died because they were exposed directly to the sun and it was just miracle that the little squirt survived. Cheers! *Kaz
i’m so sorry to hear about your hamsters :( my 3 year old hamster nugget died today. my mom went in to give her some yogurt drops and she was laying on her side gasping for air.. my mom said she was cold feeling and actually nipped at her when she picked her up (which was very unlike her, she never once bit me). My mom held and pet her as she died in her hand. I’m just happy i played with her last night and gave her a kiss She was so sweet and adorable. Great friendly hamster. I will miss her a lot. RIP picnic and pixie…. and RIP nugget i love you!
So sorry for your loss. My hamster died shortly after I got it. He got wet tail (diarrhea, basically), which is 80% fatal to hamsters and easily spreadable. It may have been that. I’m so sorry.
I have a hamster too. Her name was Hammy, i guess i fed her too much that she became fat. after she died, i was crying for about a month. then.. my parents bought me a new hamster, when i saw it. i couldn’t think of anything but Hammy. Her name’s Yuki. she looked EXACTLY like Hammy.
RIP Hammy 27/3/09
Did you give your hammies cotton wool cuz if you did they arent meant to have cotton wool cuz they would get really ill and die!!
Or it might have been the bedding You should use hamster bedding like wood shavings!!
OH i do have a pic of my cage! >< its awesomely COOL.
Ill post it on here eventually