Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone. Just wondering if anyone could help me out. Piglet died recently, I'd only had him for 5 months - bought him at the pet shop when he was young-ish. He'd always been active, running round like a mad thing etc, very healthy and bright eyed. Anyway, I went away for a couple of days - before I went he was fine, when I got back he seemed a bit quiet. A few hours later his eyes were sunken, his coat "not right" and he could hardly walk. He started to shake when he tried to walk round - he looked like a little old man. Anyway, I got him to drink some water, but he just went really quiet - like he was hibernating, and passed away the next day. Obviously, I'm upset, but also confused. What could have caused this? He had plenty of fresh food, was always clean, couldn't have eated anything bad, was kept an eye on the 48 hours I was away... Why did he shake and stumble around? It was like a cross between a fit and a stroke? Help please!

Im so sorry about lil Piglet. I am new to hamsters so I wouldnt be much help in trying to figure out what happened to him. I just wanted to say I was sorry for ur loss

>>Anyway, I went away for a couple of days - before I went he was fine, when I got back he seemed a bit quiet. A few hours later his eyes were sunken, his coat "not right" and he could hardly walk. He started to shake when he tried to walk round - he looked like a little old man. Anyway, I got him to drink some water, but he just went really quiet - like he was hibernating, and passed away the next day.

>>Why did he shake and stumble around? It was like a cross between a fit and a stroke? Help please!

It sounds like a toxic substance of some sort got into his system. Can you find out if anyone sprayed any bug spray or something containing a strong chemical inside the house or in/near the room where the hamster was kept?

Also, do you live in an area where black widow spiders, brown recluses, or hobo spiders are common or possibly are known to enter the house? I had a hamster die several years ago with somewhat similar symptoms and the only thing we could narrow it down to was possibly a spider bite from a widow or recluse (we aren't sure which, but we did find both types in the house that same week after the animal died).
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Wyvern

Thanks for the reply. Live in the midlands of england, so we don't have any spiders or insects that have poisonous bites, and as I hate insects I keep a regular check and vacuum up any that I see. Nothing ever gets sprayed near the hamster cage, and there's small fish tank in the same room and the fish were fine - which they wouldn't have been if there was some kind of noxious substance hanging about. I really just don't know what happened! Haven't been able to bring myself to get another one yet - feel like a bad mother!

Hi,

Please accept my condolences for your loss. the loss of a beloved pet is sad

I'm a new dwarf hampster owner as of today. Trying to be a responsible pet owner, I started searching the message boards for tips from experienced pet owners, suggestions and ideas on how to care for and maintain healthy dwarf hams. Then I came across your sad story.

I have no idea if this relates to the cause of your loss but one thing that the store told me when I bought my new d-hams was that the bedding needed to be aspen chips not pine. He said nothing about cedar so I make no comment on that. He said that pine bedding was toxic to d-hams.

Cheers,

Eric MacDonald