Hi everyone.
I came to this website seeking advice because I am desperate. My
little female Black Syrian hamster, Peaches, is less than year old. I
found her on Sunday at approximately 8 pm in what appeared to be a
hibernating state. However, her whiskers weren't moving. We waited
overnight and we realized that she probably died, and we buried her.
However, when we were burying her, we realized that her body was still
VERY limp and that her mouth wasn't open. We decided to dig her back
up since we had doubts about whether or not she was really dead. We
have always heard that hibernating hamsters are usually cold and
stiff, and a woman at the local petshop told us that hamsters are not
dead unless they are stiff.

Peaches is currently sitting in my room, a few feet away from a small
heater where I am trying to warm her up. Her feet and arms are not
clustered together like my previous hamster who passed away (he had
his mouth open too, and he was very stiff), but she is not breathing
and her whisker are not moving. Her hands and feet still have some
color, although she doesn't have any color in her lips or her hands
(except for the pink/yellow on her paws and feet). Her body is still
soft and limp, and I am keeping her as comfortable as possible until I
find out whether or not she is really dead (and that means stiff
right?)

Please, I am begging anyone with sound advice to please hand me their
advice. I am desperate and I do not want to lose my hamster.

Thank you.

Take her to a vet and he or she can tell you for sure. Hibernating hamsters
can slow down breathing to as little as one or two resps per minute.
However, be prepared for the worst - hamsters don't always exhibit rigor
mortis (the stiff body) when they have passed away. Fingers crossed.

Lorna, Bam, Bracken and Bonnie

in article _00kd.17$ny2.3@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net, Lorna at

It's probably too late. :-(

When I found Morrissette - a black syrian - dead in her cage, rigor mortis
had set in.

When her mate, Warren, passed away last month, rigor mortis had not yet set
in, so his body was limp.

Dieter the Petless