Psyche was already a year old when we got him, in august last year. He was a larger than average Roborovski - at the time, he was the size of a smallish Winter White hamster. As he got older, he seemed to shrink - it's fairly common for them to get quite skinny as they age. It wasn't a lack of food - we would often see him eating. The last time I saw him was last night and he was nibbling at a dog biscuit.

He was very active and quick, although we did notice he was getting a bit unsteady and would slide rather than walk down the ramps in the cage. We knew he was old and didn't have long left, but it was still a surprise when we found him dead this morning. He'd been looking old and frail for a couple of months but he didn't seem ill.

We hope that Redrum is ok on his own, now he no longer has his 'Uncle Stinky'. Poor old Psyche, aka Stinky-Pinks, aka Mr Pinky, aka Mr Pinklestein. We're slowly running out of 'little old man' hamsters. We've still got Reggie, who is ancient at 26 months and has been looking like a little old man for most of his life.

Psyche (on the left) and Redrum (on the right)