How old could my hamsters be??

Question
QUESTION: Hello,

Uhmm, I am a new hamster owner. Just bought two babies today. One boy and one girl. And I forgot to ask how old they are. Stupid me. Anyways, do you have any idea around how old they would be? They have to have a specific age when to sell the babies in pet stores right??

Thanks for your time.

ANSWER: Hi Suzee,

The pet store should wait until the babies are at least 6 weeks old before they sell them.  So, I would guess that your hamsters are around 6-8 weeks old.

Have a great day!

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask :)

Kelly

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

QUESTION: Hey again.

Unfortunately, I came back from school today and found the female hamster,(Lilo) dead. I don't know the cause for this. That's why I'm asking you. It would help a great deal if I had any idea of why she died. So, that I could prevent the same thing happening to the male, (Stitch).

She seemed perfectly healthy. Her appetite was fine and she also had plenty of exercise on the wheel. The only two significant reasons I can think of how she died are:

1.The fact that she was always, constantly at the water dispenser drinking. When I watched her drink, it seemed that the water never came out for her. So she only got to drink when I was around to push the ball at the end of the spout to let the water drip. I might have just been paranoid though, maybe I just imagined that the water never came out for her. Could she have been dehydrated??

2.The only difference in their diet was that I fed them sunflower seeds the night and morning before. I read sunflower seeds were okay, so I gave them some. They were salted though. But I did wash and wipe them before I gave them to them. So they should have been pretty much salt free. I even tried the seeds out before giving them to them. They seemed ok.

Anyways, hope to hear from you. Because if she did die from one of these reasons, then the male would be in danger too. (I did take the body out and clean out the cage right away.)

Thanks.

Answer
Hi Suzee,

I'm very sorry for your loss :(  It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong.  I would bet that your hamster had some pre-existing condition, maybe a genetic disease.  

And, since your other hamster is healthy, I'm guessing that the water came out fine for the female - some hamsters just drink a lot more than others.  (For instance, I had a tiny dwarf hamster who would drink half her water bottle each night.)  Also, as you read, sunflower seeds are fine to give to your hamster, as long as you give them sparingly (as you did).

Again, it doesn't sound like you did anything wrong.  Lilo most likely had a pre-existing condition that caused a premature death.

Once again, I'm very sorry for your loss :(

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask :)

Kelly