A Terrible Scare

[Hamsters82]

Wednesday night I always play with Chewie in my room and like that night was no different. So that day I said, "Let's go on my bed and you can play there." Besides being with me, he loves to roam on my bed, but as I picked him up he just went still on me. I paused, I didn't see any breathing or when I tapped him on the nose and whiskers he didn't move. I fearfully sat on my bed and rubbed his back to simulate his heart and I kept calling his name. I lifted him up a bit and saw his back paw move and knew he was still with me. I was crying by now cause I thought my baby had died, but he was still with me breathing shallow.
Finally he moved around as if nothing had happened. He did sleep near Shadow and Denny (my two stuffed animals), but even his breathing there, he had to take big breaths. That night I slept downstairs and didn't get any sleep at all. Needless to say I was dead all yesterday even though I didn't look it.

Anyway he's fine now. He's up and running and is breathing just fine. So I told everyone what happened and Dad suggested that it be something with his heart, but I don't think so because our vet would've noticed that. I'm thinking that he went into a catatonic state like Sophie used to when she was around another animal. So I'm figuring that Chewie heard something I didn't, froze for awhile, and then just snapped out of it.

I don't know what this could be and I really hope it doesn't happen again as I keep on praying to God that he'll be okay. So what do all of you think happened?

[pinky]

Fuzz "froze" like that not too long ago, presumably in response to a scare. It is indeed scary to witness that. I don't think there's anything wrong with him--he just did what he would have done in the wild to minimize his presence in the face of a predator. I guess that this behavior is one of those that are hard-wired in hams, wild or as pets.

So try to relax. He should be fine now.

[Die Fledermaus]

I have heard of those "freezing" events before including with gerbs, but I never experienced it.

I rescued my beloved Princess on March 2, 2003. I still have her CT2 (Arwen is in it now; two others including Maggie previously used it). On Sept. 6, 2003, she, while playing, did the same thing, but then started gulping air like a fish, rolled on her side, was clearly having a stoke (I assume), and peacefiully (it seemed) passed away in my hand. Yes, I even desperately tried CPR.

To this day I can't even think of it without tearing up. That, and the death of Leslie the GP, were the worst. Horrible events.

Princess' photos are in the Memorial gallery in my signature.

I am glad Chewie is fine. I am sorry you had a scare.


By the way, it is long past time you posted good photos of Chewie.

[Hamsters82]

So it's okay, thanks Robin and Tom. And I know I have to take more pictures of Chewie; I e-mailed myself some blurry pictures of him telling myself to take more pictures, lol.

How long did Fuzz freeze for? Cause with Chewie it seemed like ten minutes or so, much longer than when Sophie used to do it.

[Die Fledermaus]

hamsters82 said:

So it's okay, thanks Robin and Tom. And I know I have to take more pictures of Chewie; I e-mailed myself some blurry pictures of him telling myself to take more pictures, lol.

lol You really need to figure out how not to take dark blurry photos!

[pinky]

hamsters82 said:

How long did Fuzz freeze for? Cause with Chewie it seemed like ten minutes or so, much longer than when Sophie used to do it.

About 5 minutes. 5 very long minutes.

[Die Fledermaus]

When they freeze, can't you tell if they are still breathing by the movement on their sides or by holding a small mirror under their noses??

[Hamsters82]

When Sophie first did it, I could see she was breathing very shallow by looking at the sides of her chest for a very long time. I was scared, but when she did it the second time, I knew she would snap out of it. With Chewie, I couldn't see him breathing and that freaked me out.