Not sure why our poor hamster died. . . please help?

Question
My boyfriend and I adopted 2 dwarf hamsters a few months ago. Their owner was moving and couldn't take care of them anymore, so we took over. For the past few months they have been great pets and we love them. They have been pretty healthy, except of a minor case of rectal prolapse, which our vet took care of. But today was an extremely hot day and we did just about eveything we could to keep our hamsters cool, but we had to go out for a little while. When we returned one of our hamsters was dead. We found him flat on his back and he was really stiff. Our first thought was that he must have gotten heatstroke, but we couldn't understand why our other hamster was perfectly fine. We miss him dearly and just want to know what could have caused his death.

Answer
Jillian,
 Hi. I'm very sorry for your loss. If you adopted them from a friend, he may have just been old and died of natural causes. Or if he was perhaps ill to begin with and you hadn't seen it yet, the heat may have just pushed him over the edge. It's really hard to determine cause of death and im sorry i can't be more help. But good luck with your other hammie.


Blake