Alas, poor Amy

[major_clanger]

Amidst all the news of successive batches of baby gerbils we've not really said much about Amy, our Dwarf Russian hamster. To be honest, there wasn't a huge amount to say; she'd spend most of the day asleep inside a pile of bedding, emerging mainly to run on her wheel, climb the rope dangling from the roof of her tank, or scoop up a load of food in her pouches to refresh the stash in her nest.

We were very fond of her though, so are sad to report that she died today, at what must have been almost exactly two years old - which is near maximum lifespan for a dwarf hamster. She had been getting more and more frail lately, with eye problems, a missing lower incisor and a nasty lump on her tummy that was probably either a tumour or an inflamed scent gland. Nonetheless she carried on much as usual, so seeing as there was little a vet could have done anyway we just kept her topped up with food and water. The last couple of days she slept on top of a much smaller than usual nest, and this morning just dozed off in what was for her an unusually exposed position and passed away.

It's got to be admitted that Amy wasn't the ideal pet rodent - although she wasn't in any way aggressive, she did just think that everything was food until proven otherwise by repeated biting. And Russian Dwarf hamsters have small but very sharp teeth! She was also a handful to play with, being so small and light that if she ran up your shoulder and out of sight it was very hard to tell where she'd gone. But she was very cute, very entertaining and never escaped or suprised us with mounds of little hamsters...



Although at times her small size could seem deceptive:



Oh well, "We think she had a good time for a [insert species of pet]", which is what we seem to say of all our small furry friends when they expire.

MC