Sudden Dwarf Death

Question
Hello,

I've read through a lot of these searching for my own answer. My wife and I had a female dwarf hamster named Scratchy. We had her for about 7 months. She was very healthy, energetic, and warmed to us quickly. We used Carefresh bedding, fed her a diet of Parakeet seeds and dried fruit with occaisonal treats of cucumber (which she LOVED). I noticed in the couple of days before she died that she was very active on her wheel and wanting to come out to play. I also, noticed that she was drinking a lot of water--more than usual. I didn't think anything of it. One morning we found her dead. She looked to have been in the crouched position that she would get into to exit the hole in her wooden house. When i lifted the house she was stiff in that very position as if she died while coming out of her house. Any theories. As i said, she wasn't sluggish, or eyes closed for days. On the contrary, she seemed healthier than ever. We miss her little happy clicking noise she'd make when we'd let her run around on the desk while using the computer. Petco told us she was 4 months old at purchase which would've made her 11 months old when she died. Thank you in advance.

Answer
Dear Nico,
thank you for your question.
I have no medical training, so I'm only making an educated guess at best. But I assume that your hamster had diabetes. Dwarf hamsters are very prone to this and shouldn't be fed sugary treats or much fruit. Drinking a lot is one of the signs of diabetes with hamsters.
You can test them for diabetes with the test made for humans, it's easy. If you get another dwarf hamster, make sure it gets only seeds and vegetables, fruits can be fed as a treat, but not as a normal part of their diet.
I hope I was of smoe help to you
Jennifer