Welcome to Jimmy's Page

This page is dedicated to our faithful hamster Jimmy who died recently. One night my eldest son brought him downstairs and said that he had just found him dead. Well what can you do, poor little thing. I made a couple of suggestions. 1) put him in the bin (sorry kids) or 2) put him back in his cage until tomorrow and we will have a sort of funeral and bury him. Daniel went for option 2 (obviously) Then my hubby points out that he could be just hibernating! WHY DID NO - ONE TELL ME THAT HAMSTERS HIBERNATE!? Anyway after watching him for a few seconds I realised that that is what was happening - thank god for that!! - he was seconds away from being put in the bin with the remnants of last nights tea! So remember if your hamster is cold ( he was very cold) and does not appear to be alive give him chance he could be hibernating. His whiskers were twitching intermittently although he was totally unresponsive. If you have a hamster and want more information on hibernating pay a visit to: www.uk online.co.uk/g.forrest/hamster/hibernation.html

However, if you think your hamster may be sick it is important to see your VET as soon as possible

After discussions with a vet, attempts were made to warm Jimmy up and try and bring him out of hibernation. A hot water bottle wrapped in a towel were placed under Jimmy and the light in the bedroom was increased by ensuring the curtains were open (unfortunately the boys don't always open the curtains as the light can interfere with their view of the playstation!). I didn't give up on him straight away cos I felt that Jimmy deserved to be given every chance. Hamsters may hibernate for up to a week so disposal was not an option just yet! I wrapped him in some warm bedding in a basket with fresh food and water (essential for him to survive if he does come round). and the basket was  placed in a warm environment ....away from the kids!  I checked  it periodically for any signs of life. Unfortunately it  looks like Jimmy may have passed away after all, the twitching stopped by the next morning and there were no signs of life.I think the problem may have been that Jimmy did not have enough fat reserve to keep him going. R.I.P. I am not sure who will miss him the most as the kids have been out today with dad and bought a new one.

HERE ARE SOME GREAT HAMSTER LINKS FOR YOU