# Mystery: What did my hamster die of? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 3, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923 "2013-03-03T16:51:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teddybound](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@teddybound](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teddybound)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/1 "2013-03-03T16:51:22Z")
This is not something that happened recently, but 2 years ago. My hamster died peacefully 2 years ago. He was still alive and active the night before. The next day evening, I noticed that he was sleeping and as usual, I scratched on his cage to tease him, but no response. I then realised something was wrong. He was still breathing but not moving at all. I picked him up and placed him in my hands, and he did not move at all, but he was still breathing. I massaged his little limbs carefully, but no reaction. I try to peel open his eyes carefully but it was closed shut. What happened next was most interesting - I tried to open his mouth to check whether is it something stuck in his throat or what, but his mouth was tightly clenched - really very tightly shut. I couldn’t open them at all. I heard hamsters sometimes store too much food in their pouches and the food inside could rot, causing health problems. After a few hours in my hand, he suddenly breathed his last and I was devastated. I am still curious till this day how he died. Suddenly healthy a day before, and the next day dead. He’s quite fat though, and drinks a lot of water - could be diabetic, but I won’t know. What is the most probable reason he died of? He was just 1.5 years old. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/2 "2013-03-03T17:21:08Z")
Was it the typical pet hamster, the [Syrian hamster](http://www.hammysworld.com/index.php?p=hamsters_why)? Then he pretty much got the full measure of sand in his hourglass…they only live 1.5 to 2 years, according to that website. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/3 "2013-03-03T17:39:21Z")
Pets can die at random for no reason at any age. I had a 6 year old cat that showed no signs of being sick and we just found him dead on the basement floor. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/4 "2013-03-03T17:54:52Z")
Nm. Thought I could add something but my memory is faulty. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/5 "2013-03-03T18:25:51Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Was it the typical pet hamster, the [Syrian hamster](http://www.hammysworld.com/index.php?p=hamsters_why)? Then he pretty much got the full measure of sand in his hourglass…they only live 1.5 to 2 years, according to that website. This, pretty much. I’ve kept hamsters (though we don’t have any at the moment) and read a lot about them. The common pet hamster has a lifespan of just about 36 months, although there are occasional hamsters who live longer than that. I don’t know how many hamster resources I’ve read…but all of them agree that a common pet hamster is quite old at 36 months. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/6 "2013-03-03T18:27:17Z")
> [@teddybound](#): > > What is the most probable reason he died of? He was just 1.5 years old. Old age. Your hamster was like 85 years old in hamster terms ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/7 "2013-03-03T18:54:17Z")
Poor guy. Did you try freezing him? There are many tales of seemingly dead Hamsters coming back to live after being frozen and thawed. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/8 "2013-03-03T19:00:26Z")
Are you absolutely sure he was dead? Hamsters can go into hibernation if the room temperature drops below 60 degrees. A hibernating hamster actually does appear dead. ---
**Author:** ![teddybound](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@teddybound](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teddybound)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/9 "2013-03-03T19:53:49Z")
He’s a winter white dwarf hamster, supposedly even shorter lifespans than Syrian. I was quite sure he was dead. After he stopped breathing, he turned cold. I left him alone in the ace, hoping he will wake up the next day. Then, rigor mortis set in and he became stiff. My heart was broken. He was super healthy just the day before. I’m still wondering what made him die suddenly. My late grandma loved him too and she suspects he could had fallen off from the 2nd level of the cage, or knocked his head too hard into the cage wall. Any Hypotheses? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/10 "2013-03-03T20:03:53Z")
Yeah – old age. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Fiveroptic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiveroptic/32/8257_2.png) [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/11 "2013-03-03T20:05:52Z")
Yeah, pretty much. Hamsters excel at three things with “dying” being #1. “Pooping” is #2 (heh, I crack me up!) and “biting” is #3. But nothing dies as well as a hamster. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/12 "2013-03-03T20:12:05Z")
“Old age” isn’t really an answer to the OP’s question. “Old age” doesn’t cause things to die directly–rather it causes other conitions which in turn cause death. OP is asking for speculation about that intermediate condition. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/13 "2013-03-03T20:32:37Z")
Sounds like it could have been a stroke. ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/14 "2013-03-03T21:27:51Z")
> [@AndrewL](#): > > Sounds like it could have been a stroke. Or a heart attack. Or a systematic infection. Or something poisonous fell into his cage. Or he ate something non-poisonous which caused a blockage. Or he had a brain tumor. Lots of things reasons you could be fine one day and dead the next, especially if you are really old and the size of a hamster. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/15 "2013-03-03T22:29:16Z")
“And the span of hamster is threescore fortnights and ten, or perhaps fourscore if one is strong”. And **Fiveroptic** , you forgot that they’re also really good at escaping from their cage (which, in a house full of cats, can lead to the other three). And also really good at making annoying squeaking sounds all night on their wheel. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/16 "2013-03-04T00:12:48Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Poor guy. Did you try freezing him? There are many tales of seemingly dead Hamsters coming back to live after being frozen and thawed. Wait, what? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/17 "2013-03-04T00:32:36Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > Wait, what? Page 39 from this [well known reputable source](http://books.google.com/books?id=RPQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=hamster+in+freezer+comes+back+to+life&source=bl&ots=15GeO2CsGp&sig=oartCNkqUUy9Zc89yCa-1uBpbT4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=muozUbSdFeW60AHD8oGgDw&ved=0CEQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=hamster%20in%20freezer%20comes%20back%20to%20life&f=false). If any of these stories was true it would have been that the Hamster had entered a hibernation state and wasn’t actually dead to start with. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/18 "2013-03-04T03:47:33Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Poor guy. Did you try freezing him? There are many tales of seemingly dead Hamsters coming back to live after being frozen and thawed. And I thought freezing only worked on harddisks. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/19 "2013-03-04T04:18:06Z")
My kids had hamsters. Bought within months of one another; died within months of one another. One showed symptoms of aging a week or so before death; the other didn’t. This is the life, and death, of a hamster. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-what-did-my-hamster-die-of/651923/20 "2013-03-04T04:50:53Z")
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