Hamsters like all living beings can also face a sudden death. This is in fact very common amongst all hamster owners. As owners, it is important that you know the causes of these deaths as well as prevent it as much as possible. These animals are tiny and cute, they can also be called as one of the smallest animals on Earth.
Of course your hamster would face death sooner or later because that part is actually inevitable. But what you need to be careful about is the fact that hamsters die even before they reach the age of 1 years old. And at this point, this is still considered as very young.
Hamsters as Pets
Many studies have shown that raising animals can be a way to reduce stress. If you want to have it, you can try to raise this cute and adorable animal. Yep! Apart from dogs and cats, hamsters can be a good choice for those of you who are not ready to commit to large animals.
Apart from that, there are several reasons that can make you fall in love with this many people’s favorite pet. There are many hamster breeds to pet at home so be sure to check them out too.
Taming a hamster is also very easy. They are a less aggressive animal and has a more passive side. If you want to tame them, all you need to do is to let them take a sniff. Get them to like your smell and get use to that smell.
The hamster cage does need to be cleaned once a week to keep it hygienic, but cleaning it is also easy, really. You need to keep it hygienic or things such as fleas on hamsters will show up.
Just take out the old hamster bedding, clean it, dry the cage for a few minutes, and put the new bedding into the cage. On average, it only takes 15-20 minutes.
If you’ve never had a hamster before, this is the right exercise because hamsters are 2-3 years old depending on the breed. After getting used to raising animals, then you can start raising animals that are even longer.
Reasons Hamsters Suddenly Die:
- Stress and Anxiety
One of the main reasons why hamsters suddenly die is because of stress. A hamster will often find ways to kill itself or to harm itself if it is already too stressed out.
Although they require little space and relatively simple care, these tiny rodents require special attention in terms of their behavior and well-being. Read more about signs hamsters is stressed so that you can learn better about their behaviour.
This is due to the fact that in the wild hamsters are prey for many other animals. This gives hamsters a highly alert instinct that will react quickly to danger and flee to ensure their survival. These natural instincts make them vulnerable to stress and need a positive environment to feel safe.
Hamsters is a very anxious animal and will not adapt well in a loud environment. This is because a hamster is a rodent. And usually, rodents sit at the bottom of the food chain as preys. Rodents also has a great instinct on when they should shield themselves from trouble.
Doing this so many times might stress them and even make them stumble to death. Many hamsters have faced death rather than having to be scared all the time.
- Does Not Receive Enough Nutrition
The second the hamster does not want to eat, one of the signs that it will die. Because not without reason and a definite reason hamsters die, most of them are sick.
So he doesn’t want to eat as a result of the pain he is suffering from and makes him lazy to eat. The hamster’s appetite decreases so that no intake is received by his body.
One of the main reason is because it has not gained enough nutrition to fulfill its daily needs. Hence making the hamster very sick or slow to respond to anything.
Make sure that you feed your hamsters well and give them the proper nutritions. Doing this will keep them fed up. Provide things such as nuts as well as other snacks. Snacks can also bring back its appetite.
- Tumors in Hamsters
Not only humans, hamsters can get tumors too, you know! Usually, female hamsters who are older are more susceptible to tumors, said the Pet Health Information page.
The characteristics of a tumor are a hard lump and loss of hair around it. Benign tumors are more common in hamsters, while malignant tumors only occur in 4 percent.
If there are tumors that grow, hamsters will usually lose their appetite, dull hair, upset stomach and diarrhea. The vet will usually perform a biopsy or X-ray first before removing the tumor surgically. Better, operate the tumor at the beginning before it becomes malignant.
- Death Due to Lack of Breastfeeding
Besides being eaten, hamsters usually also have the habit of leaving one of their babies. I also don’t know why, he said, because it was held by humans or smelled different.
Usually, if there is 1 hamster child who is far away from the other children, and the mother often moves, the child will die of starvation (aka not being breastfed) and the carcass is usually intact. Usually, if it’s not whole, it’s eaten by the father, but this rarely happens.
To prevent this, hamsters under 1 week should never be handled. Don’t use any tools as much as possible. Do not make grain changes (or drastic changes) while the baby is still this big. If after doing this it still happens, then it is indeed a hamster instinct that humans don’t understand.
- Â Heat Stroke
This is the most shocking kind of death! Hamster from a healthy and agile condition, can just 2 hours later die like without cause, immediately frozen. The cause of death is caused by a hamster having a stroke (getting a stroke, like modern diseases, you know), but usually this is due to heat (eating is called a heat stroke).
The reason hamsters get a receipt is exposure to direct sunlight (including through windows). This will cause the cage temperature to rise (even if the bars) and expose the hamster to heat.
Hamsters are not resistant to hot weather (just look at their thick fur, they must live in cold areas). In addition, hamsters are usually nocturnal animals.