# Burrowing Hamster.. Hibinating?



## amycrew (Jul 28, 2008)

I have a 6 month old Russian Campbell Dwarf hamster by the name of Whiskey.. 
She's recently been digging up all her bedding and saw dust into one corner of her cage, until there is hardly any left at one end of her cage.. I'm assuming she's just trying to hibinate, as she's also burrying loads of her food in there as well!
I clean her out every 7-10 days, and was wondering if she is trying to hibinate or nest if this will stress her out?

Any advice would be much appreciated

Thanks,
Amy


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## tinamary (Aug 17, 2008)

Don't worry thats what hamsters do, they love to dig in the shavings and bury things. The deeper the shavings the more they like it. she should not hibenate
I used to have the shavings in the tank about 12 inches deep and my prissie would spend hours making tunnels and digging.


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## amycrew (Jul 28, 2008)

Thank you for your advice - I will clean her out today and give her some extra wood shavings to play with!!

Put's my mind at rest, we've had her for 6 months and she's only just started to do this!


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## GMRxIxHENDERSON (Oct 26, 2008)

hamsters NEVER hibernate in captivity or as a pet they just like digging and burying there food:001_rolleyes:


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## Laurel&Hardy (Oct 12, 2008)

GMRxIxHENDERSON said:


> hamsters NEVER hibernate in captivity or as a pet they just like digging and burying there food:001_rolleyes:


Well actually I have seen a hamster that did...and heard many stories as well about hamsters going into hibernation and the owner thinging it was dead. In the case that I personally saw the hamster did look dead, and the owner had put her in their shed (inside the cage, the children were upset and she didn't want to leave it in the house incase it was dead) she was only hibernating...woke up a few weeks later and lived a good year afterwards.


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## GMRxIxHENDERSON (Oct 26, 2008)

that is very abnormal for a hamster il look into it


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## Laurel&Hardy (Oct 12, 2008)

GMRxIxHENDERSON said:


> that is very abnormal for a hamster il look into it


Oh, I forgot to say about the other stories 

Basically I've heard of people thinking their hamster has died and burying them in their garden (the usual shallow grave sorta thing) the next morning or a couple of weeks later they see the hamster in the garden...alive and perfectly ok despite being buried...obviously that would depend on the depth of the grave and that they buried them without a box, or in a cardboard box the hamster could chew out of.

Stories like that are quite common where I am...


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

Yeesh....what a horrible way to go if the poor hamster was buried alive and couldn't dig its way out again


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## tinamary (Aug 17, 2008)

Hammies will hibenate if they are kept in a cold envrionment. They should not be kept anywhere where it is cold, i.e a shed or garage. They will not hibenate usually if kept in a house, but it has been known if the temp is cool.

At college the hammies have been known to hibenate and be thrown onto the rubbish skiip only to emerge days later wondering what the heck is going on.


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