Ageing hamster questions

[GeorgianMumto5]

Well, I assume he's aging - we sort of acquired him and I don't know how old he is. More than 1, is all I can tell you. He is marginally less active than when we first acquired him, although he seems happy. He's very friendly.

Is balding an inevitable part of hamster ageing? Was playing with ours today and noticed that the hair on his rear-end is thinning. I didn't notice it yesterday. Feel very sorry for him, as his name is Fluffy.

How long do they live? I assume there is some variation, but on average, I mean.

Thanks.

[janji]

Think it's about 2 to 3 years. Ours have gone bald and slowed down when they were near the end of their lives! All seem to just curl up and go to sleep and luckily have never seemed to be in pain at the end. Weirdly, I also inherited a lively hamster called fluffy some years ago, who despite being very sedentary, lived 2 more years after I acquired him!

[BonkeyMollocks]

Some where between 18months and 3 years (if your really lucky) .

My old girl started slowing down at 18 months passed at 23months. The last 2 months I barely saw her. :(

She lost alot of fur too.
A one level cage is better for the oldies as they find ladders/ramps hard. I got my girl a 'retirement bungalow' for the last 6 months (google zoozone2) .

A bit of baby food is a nice treat for them too. Anything goes really just avoid ones with onions and garlic. Granpas sunday roast was a particulate fave

Just keep a close eye, make sure they are comfortable. You may find that you won't see him as much because all he will want to do is sleep. My girl went downhill really quickly. Back legs went first so she couldn't walk properly. i spoon fed her some water and baby food. In the end she just made herself comfy and went to sleep :(

[AnotherLoad]

its said to be up to 3yrs.

i currently have 2 rescue hamsters one is 2+ yrs and the othe around 6mths (very over weight!) the oldie has thin fur but is full of energy. the 6mth is slow and lazy (due to weight i guess?)

Id say its down to the individual hamster how long they live, my 1st hamster was full of life and very happy but died so young un-expectedly :(

[brighthair]

Mine is losing fur on his back end but is only 9 months
I took him to the vets and he's being treated for mites at the monent

[GeorgianMumto5]

Thank you, everyone. On my way to bed and I just checked Fluffy, as I noticed he'd been very quiet today. (In my defence, we have a potentially incontinent dog on a sleepover - I was distracted.) I saw he was in his tube, not moving. On closer inspection, he moved slightly but appeared to be stuck. He's definitely not the portly type, so he wasn't wedged.

Dh and I took apart the tube and Fluff eventually slid out, very very slowly. I have just held him and he came to and was quite lively again. Returned him to cage, where he pottered about a bit before going very slowly back into his house.

I'll google that cage, BonkeyMollocks.

[GeorgianMumto5]

The ironically-named Fluffy is, I think, about 18 months old. He's moved into a smaller, lower cage now and looks safer. I moved his bedding house into it, to help him settle.