The average hamster lifespan in captivity is usually only something like 1-2 years, this guy lived for like 4.

He was in rough shape towards the end, his fur was falling out, he’d pretty much set up camp in one corner of his cage and rarely left.

Eventually my mom decided to take him to have him put down. I strongly suspect that we may be the only people to ever request that at the local SPCA

Had two hamsters (Calvin and Hobbes) growing up. Both just got old and sick with old hamster stuff. Their deaths happened exactly the same way: my mom reaches into the cage because they haven’t been moving much for a while. Their last act of life is to bite her finger as hard as they can, so she naturally flings them at the wall in front of us kids. Splat.

One day he was happy and healthy. The next morning he was cold and dead. I have no idea.

We brought back a hamster for our daughter without realizing she was pregnant. After having a giant litter, we gave them all away…or at least we thought we did? A day or two later, I saw a wiggling in the shavings and out pops a head. Our eyes locked momentarily before she dived back down.

Definitely the runt of the litter. Had all sorts of paranoia and cowered under things for most of her life. She was maybe a year old when my daughter came running up. “Guys, you gotta see Hester!” We rushed over and there she was, hanging from the bars at the top of the cage and swinging arm-to-arm across.

We were so happy for her, finally getting past her inhibitions and leading her best hamster life. Then she was curled up dead the next morning.

Jamie passed away from old age and died peacefully in his sleep. He was my first childhood pet… RIP Jamie!! ❤️ 🐹

I only ever had one, and he died of old age! But he sure tried his best to clock out early!

I remember about three months in, I came home from school only to find him suspended from the top of his cage by his right hind leg. Rushed him to the vet, got minor PTSD when the doc tied his stump and told us “the rest of it will fall off soon,” and we threw that cage away the instant we got back home.

After that, Crunchy (rough translation) had the whole apartment to himself, and he sure liked to run right in front of you as you were walking! Would have rather broken my neck than step on the little fella (which I nearly did a couple of times - the neck part, not the stepping on him part).

But he was very loving and cute, he’d climb up either mum or myself while we were watching movies or playing vidya, he’d nestle above the collar bone, and sleep there for hours. Even my cat loved him to bits, they used to sleep together under my bed. He’d help himself to popcorn, chips, fried eggs, cereal (because of course he was allowed on the table, equal rights), and he once bathed in my soup.

Non-denizens of Lemmy, how the hell did you even get here? From Mbin or Mastodon? In any case, this question is not for you!

My first hamster, Lucky, died of old age and was, as best I could tell, happy and pleasant to interact with. He was somewhere around 4-5 years old. Given that later hamsters did not fare so well, I’m surprised my first one had such a peaceful life.

Old age, all of them

Not a hamster but when I had gerbils, one had eaten half of the other. Not long afterwards the cannibal developed a severe middle ear infection which killed her even during treatment.

I think most county medical authorities accept “hamster” as a cause of death actually

Not mine, but my sister accidentally kicked a tall floor lamp over in her sleep. It landed right next to the glass aquarium her hamster was in. It had one of those really bright incandescent 100w bulbs.

Poor little guy cooked to death like a Thanksgiving turkey.

Hampy was a vicious little bugger so we only noticed he had died about a week after when mum went to clean out his cage. Little Russian White Winter super fast, you’d open the cage and he’d be attached to your finger before you could swear at him.

My sister wanted to hug it, but it was too tiny to use her arms, so she used her hands. I watched Sunflowers eyes popout…

Well… its eye fell out. And that didn’t seem normal.