one of the most asked questions I get on YouTube would have to be people asking me to tell them the
cause of their hamsters sudden death
I actually received this comment so much that I've had to create a
pre-written response so that I can just copy and paste it to people
while I am flattered that people think I'm capable of providing them with that answer not even a vet would be able to tell you that
without a necropsy
a necropsy is a dissection of an animal that has died to determine the cause of death
and even then sometimes the results can be inconclusive
depending on where you live you may not have access to a vet who does necropsies
they may be expensive or you may just not want your pets to be dissected
hamsters are rodents and rodents are prey animals therefore they are capable of hiding illnesses and diseases very well
unless you're paying very close attention to your hamster
they may not even show signs of illness until it's too late
so that's why it's important to do regular Health checkups as well as monitor their weight
a hamster's death of course may be caused by environmental factors or incorrect husbandry
but a factor that many may not consider is their genetics and how they were bred
you've most likely heard about puppy and kitten Mills
but did you know that this happens with all species of animals
when you walk into a chain pet store any of the animals that you look at likely originated from a Mill
These Mills are big warehouses that breed hamsters and other animals with very little care
hamsters are kept in these overcrowded small bin rack systems with soiled bedding
and the hamsters are often starved enough that they will end up cannibalizing each other
they will take any female without knowing her genetics or history
and they will breed her and breed her and breed her
until she is no longer useful to them and then they will dispose of her
these hamsters are very nutritionally deficient which is why you'll often notice that a pet store hamster
tends to be smaller than an ethically bred hamster
a big portion of these hamsters will die before they even make it to the pet store
when you breed an animal without knowing its genetics and history you are risking passing down genetic conditions such as things like
neurological issues, tumors, cardiomyopathy Etc
and a mother who is nutritionally deficient may cause the pups to not grow properly causing defects
and some of these defects may not be physically noticeable
while there are many genetic conditions that you physically can see such as eyeless whites
which is a Syrian hamster who is born all white
and without eyes and as well as being deaf
there also is hydrocephalus hamsters which are hamsters that are born with water on the brain
giving them a much different look than your average Syrian hamster
there are many internal genetic conditions that you're not going to physically see
so while you may pick what seemingly is the most healthiest hamster in the pet store
you really have no clue what is going on internally
did all of their organs develop properly?
are they missing some of their organs internally?
you really have no clue because you can't see inside of them
a good example of this is when I adopted my rabbit Cleo
when she went in to be spayed the vet actually had said that her uterus was so abnormally small
that it was about the size of a rat's uterus
I would have never known that because I can't see inside of her
so it isn't a shock to me when I pet store hamster suddenly dies without showing any signs of illness
because Unfortunately they were not bred with care and did not get a good chance at life
okay but how were these Mills legal and why don't they get shut down
well for dogs and cats they really aren't and many get shut down every single year
but when it comes to exotic animals that's a different story
these animals do not have the same welfare laws as cats and dogs and unfortunately, these Mills will often get away with the treatment of these animals
so what can you do?
if you're looking to get a healthy hamster your best option is to find an ethical hamster breeder
these are breeders whose first priority is the hamster's health and improving the species
rather than just trying to produce as many hamsters as they can to make a profit
it may be difficult to find an ethical breeder because not everybody is ethical
and just because somebody calls themselves ethical
does not necessarily make them ethical
I will leave a list in the description bar of some of the ethical breeders that I know of
hearing about the abuse of hamsters at pet stores May encourage people to go out and buy a hamster
to give it a better chance at life
and while this is a very kind thing to do
I would encourage people to not support the buying of pets at pet stores
purchasing a pet from a pet store is just supporting the store
and helping them to continue producing
more animals you buy a hamster and they just breed another to replace the one that you've bought and the cycle just continues
this also doesn't mean that I'm saying pet store hamsters don't deserve a good life they obviously do
but this is what needs to be done in order to put Mills out of business
so to help stop animal Mills look into adopting from rescues or look for an ethical breeder
hopefully, this video was able to help shed some light on if you've recently just had a hamster suddenly pass
unfortunately, this is a pretty common occurrence for most of us
so I will see you guys in my next video bye