baby dwarf hamster with adopting adult female

Question
QUESTION: hello, my wife and i visited a pet store tonite and saw a female dwarf hamster with seven two week old babies.  we would like to buy two of them in a couple weeks and possible house them with our three year old dwarf female hamster.  we already have a winter white russian dwarf, but i'm not sure if the babies are the same (i don't think they are, but i'm not sure what kind the father was).  should we keep them separate from the adult female or can they co-habitate?  thank you.

ANSWER: Hi Aaron

It is very difficult introducing dwarf hamsters at the best of times.  There is never any guarantee they will get on and often you still end up with separate cages.  Also, you've got the problem of not knowing if the babies are Winter Whites or not.  Since your current hamster is 3 (which is a very good age for a hamster), I personally would be inclined to let her live out her remaining days alone.  It is a nice idea to give her company, but it would be awful if it didn't work out and the two babies picked on her.

One thing that I think you should be aware of is that if these babies are Campbells, as opposed to Winter Whites, they can have a very different temperament.  I've had some Campbells who have been fantastic and friendly, however, this is not the norm.  Some are very aggressive, especially when they reach adulthood (around 3-6 months) when their personality can change dramatically.  I would suggest you find out how old the mother is, and what her personality is like - she will pass this onto her babies.  If you can't put your hand in the cage to touch her or her babies, then this could be a sign that her babies will be like that.  Sorry to sound so negative, but I've seen many Campbells over the years, if you can get some that are tame and have a friendly personality they are great, but if they're not tame, they do get worse and can be very nippy.  So my advice is that when you go back to the pet store and handle the babies, see if you can handle the mum as well.

Good luck with this - hope it all turns out OK.

Regards


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello... hoping you can help us come to terms with the death of our 3 year old dwarf hamster, Gigi.  Gigi had started to bite more aggressively over the last two weeks when picked up.  Before she would bite and let go and it wouldn't hurt as much.  Recently, she would bite and not let go unless I gently "shook" my finger free from her grasp.  We still kept her active in crawling on the sofa/couch and in her mini ball.  She would still come and greet us when we opened the door to her cage and she would nibble on the bars of the door when opened.  We hadn't seen her since Wednesday of last week and saw her again this past Monday (since she lives with my 7 year old brother in law).  I noticed first that she looked smaller, like she hadn't been eating.  Her food dish was almost empty, so I'm sure he forgot to feed her.  Her water bottle dispenser was full.  I immediately fed her enough sunflower seeds and other seeds she enjoys and refilled her food dish on Monday.  On Tuesday, we found out that she somehow broke free from her cage and my mother in law found her on the floor, captured her in her exercise ball and placed her on a table surrounded by some books so she wouldn't roll off the table.  She told my brother in law to not forget to put Gigi back in her cage, but he did forget, so she was in her ball for 12 hours, not being able to roll around, but rather being idle.  They put Gigi back in her cage on Tuesday night and she was still alive on Wednesday morning.  When they checked on her last night, she was no longer alive and her furry "coat" was somewhat "nappy" looking (normally smooth and healthy looking).  Her teeth were exposed with her mouth halfway open and she looked like she was walking when she was found because one arm/leg was in front of the other like she was in a walking positon (rigor mortis?).  Her eyes were closed, however.  Do you have any idea if this death was due to natural causes or dehydration, or immobility?  We're trying to explain this, and it's difficult because we feel it may have been prevented, but three years and one month is a long life for a dwarf hamster, I've heard.  Thank you for your time and response.

Answer
Hi

Sorry to hear about Gigi.  It is always very sad when a pet dies and it is easy to blame yourself for their death when in actual fact more often than not nothing could be done.

The fact is that 3 is a good age for a hamster.  None of mine have ever lived to this age.  When they get old their personality can change and they can become aggressive and start biting.  Also, their fur thins out a lot and they lose a lot of weight - sometimes this can be very dramatic and appear to happen over a very short period of time.  They also tend to slow down on the amount of food they want and sleep a lot more.

Obviously, being in a ball for 12 hours didn't help but it probably didn't cause her death.  It might have speeded it up slightly - hamsters don't want to die - they fight to the end and sometimes it is so sad when they just won't give in.  Perhaps by not having any distractions around her she was able just to prepare herself to let go.  The position she was in when she was found is also quite common.  Towards the end of a hamsters' life, they tend to gasp a lot - hence why her mouth was half open.  They do move their paws around also prior to death - sometimes they try to leave their nest as in the wild they would try to get out of the nest so that they didn't bring disease in (the same way that a cat often disappears when they are getting ready to die).

I do however think there are lessons to be learnt from this experience - in that if your brother in law has another hamster (or any other pet for that matter) he understands their needs and the importance of looking after them correctly.  Whereas with a cat or dog if you forget to feed them or leave them locked somewhere they will let you know, unfortunately hamsters and other small animals can't do this and they are totally reliant on their owner.

I hope this helps you.

Regards