hamster died to soon

Question
How long would it take a dwarf hamster to starve?  Because I found my hamster dead and her food bowl was empty and i did not notice food stashed away in the cage.  I know she died recently but i don't know for sure when because we have been very busy this week and haven't had the chance to spend time with her.  

Answer
Dear Vicki,
thank you for your question.
Hamsters have a quick metabolism and they will starve quickly. Astarving hamster would try to eat things in his cage first (like any wood, the substrate ect.), did you see any sign of that? How old was your hamster? Sometimes they die very young, only one year old of old age.
Some hamsters don't gather food, so this needn't be a sign that she starved, although it's possible that she did. A week is a rather long time without food for such a small animal, especially if she hadn't gathered much food.
Excuse me for being gross, but if she died longer than two days ago you would smell it, they start to decay very quickly. So if you don't smell anything she has probably died during the last day or night.
I hope I was of some help
Jennifer