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Old 06-12-2019, 11:47 AM  
merlin
Newborn Pup
 
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Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: United States
Posts: 21
Default Hamster vocalization/communication (squeaking)

Hi Friends:

Arthur has never been a very vocal ham. Typically the sounds he makes are the following:

1. Chattering usually when he seems excited or in some rare cases, stressed.
2. When you was younger he would make those snuffling "vvvt vvvt" noises, but much less than I've heard other hams make.
3. A few times he made some warbling noises in his sleep when he seemed to be having an especially vivid dream.
4. Squeaking usually a) when he's received food that he especially likes or b) when he's expecting food especially on a favourite food day (he receives breakfast and dinner every day and gets his favourite scrambled eggs and corn every other day). He seems to do the latter to actually wake us up, as he only has done it in the morning. I've seen him squeak for negative reasons once when he seemed to squeak angrily and in annoyance at a cleaner who was trying to be cute with him but talking too loud, and another time when he accidentally fell from my hands and got scared.

Lately he has been very vocal, squeaking in his house a lot more than usual. He is older, past 2 yrs now, and seems in very good health and energy apart from some typical old age things like sticky eye one day, or some flakiness another day. When we check on him, nothing seems to be distressing him, and he usually seems to be eating when he's doing it. Though he did seem to be squeaking when he had his sticky eye too.

In summary, we're not concerned about anything, just very interested in hamster communication and vocalization. We wonder if he has become more "skilled" or comfortable with vocalizing as he's gotten older. Has anyone else noticed interesting trends in when your ham squeaks or vocalizes, and any correlation with age?

Best to you and your lovely hams,
Mike and Arthur
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