Hamster just made a really weird scream! Please help!!

FawnRoyale · 12-01-2017, 03:29 PM

My hamster was asleep (i thought) while I'm doing my homework. All of a sudden I heard a very loud noise that could only be described as a scream! After looking up videos on youtube, I'm very worried. She is 3 weeks old (young, but I had to take her because of an emergency situation) and has only been in my house for 3 days now, but she hasn't made this noise before. Should I check on her or leave her alone? I'm very worried about her. Does anybody know what's happening? Is she okay? She has been eating and drinking water, but I have not seen any droppings yet, but I haven't wanted to get too close to her cage. Please, I'm really worried!

Also, I think I hear very faint chirping, but I'm unsure whether or not it's a squeak from something in my house or her. It's almost inaudible.

cypher · 12-01-2017, 11:41 PM

It's really not possible to guess what the sound may have been, I think you need to be checking on her, as souffle said in your other thread she may need some cleaning, possibly hand feeding to get the extras she needs, at that age she will probably adjust to being handled fairly quickly I would imagine so don't keep your distance too much.

souffle · 12-02-2017, 01:59 AM

It's not unusual for baby hamsters to scream, squeak and chirp in the nest with the others and sometimes when they are moved to a new home. It;s often when they are asleep too. She still needs checked. I'd start handling. At this age even if still with mum we would be handling the open eyed pups at least 3 sessions a day. They are very fast and jumpy at this age and would normally be tamed from a box with siblings being handled together. She will very quickly get used to it if you ar gentle but firm and confident. May her feel secure by running her through your hands like a little tunnel and keep her very low. You can look underneath if you put her in a cleas class or jat if you can't upturn her.

FawnRoyale · 12-02-2017, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by souffle

It's not unusual for baby hamsters to scream, squeak and chirp in the nest with the others and sometimes when they are moved to a new home. It;s often when they are asleep too. She still needs checked. I'd start handling. At this age even if still with mum we would be handling the open eyed pups at least 3 sessions a day. They are very fast and jumpy at this age and would normally be tamed from a box with siblings being handled together. She will very quickly get used to it if you ar gentle but firm and confident. May her feel secure by running her through your hands like a little tunnel and keep her very low. You can look underneath if you put her in a cleas class or jat if you can't upturn her.

Thank you so much for the response! I took your advice and did my best to handle her last night, and right now she is comfortable eating from my hand and will occasionally climb onto me to grab a snack. I'll definitely start handling her and I'll work on being less timid and working with her more. At some point today ill try to get her in a jar so i can exmaine her. My only challenge is she doesn't like coming out from underneath her bedding, and I don't want to stress her out by digging her out and grabbing her. Is there anything else I can do, or should I just go for it?

dreamtree1234 · 12-02-2017, 11:19 AM

I'm glad taming sessions seem to be going well. I wouldn't dig her out and grab her from her nest. If I know it is Eros's usual time for coming out to play or she is stirring from within her nest, I sometimes make a little, soft, whistling sound and talk to her quietly or hold a mealworm (one of her favorite treats) near the entrance of her tunnel to encourage her to come out. I also sometimes place extra treats in her food bowl so she can hear the rustling of the bags and knows it's time to come out and play. I would never force a hammy to come out if it isn't ready to do so though. Eros has always been quite sociable from the get go, so taming came so naturally and easily with her. I'm sure other members will have their own special tricks, too. Good luck and have fun.

FawnRoyale · 12-02-2017, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreamtree1234

I'm glad taming sessions seem to be going well. I wouldn't dig her out and grab her from her nest. If I know it is Eros's usual time for coming out to play or she is stirring from within her nest, I sometimes make a little, soft, whistling sound and talk to her quietly or hold a mealworm (one of her favorite treats) near the entrance of her tunnel to encourage her to come out. I also sometimes place extra treats in her food bowl so she can hear the rustling of the bags and knows it's time to come out and play. I would never force a hammy to come out if it isn't ready to do so though. Eros has always been quite sociable from the get go, so taming came so naturally and easily with her. I'm sure other members will have their own special tricks, too. Good luck and have fun.

Thank you! I've heard a lot about mealworms so I'll get some of those soon, and I may be able to coax her out and continue taming more easily with those! She is stirring a lot now though and making noises that sound like static (much like the one I heard last night?) so maybe that's just her way of saying she's bored? I'm not quite sure but I'm definitely going to try and get her out to play so I can give her a quick checkup.

Pebbles82 · 12-03-2017, 04:25 AM

As long as the handling is gentle she will not be bothered by it. But you don't want to set back that trust by digging her out or grabbing her as Dreamtree says. What you could do is put a treat at the bottom of the glass jar and put it on its side in the cage and wait for her to go in to get the treat, then gently lift the jar, still on its side with your hand over the end and have a look - try not to leave her in there more than a minute or so, then gently put the jar down in the cage again and let her walk out. So it's all quite calm.

Alternatively you could just look while she is on your hand having a treat, although you wouldn't see underneath.

It sounds as if she is quite healthy but had a bad dream or something - or something scared her. Also check the cage for anything that could hurt her - any sharp bits or splinters on wood toys, and any gaps between shelves and ladders or in bendy bridges. When they're small they can get a food caught. Again try not to rummage around in the cage and take things out or move them, but just have good look and maybe feel of the odd thing to check nothing is sharp.

But she sounds like she is doing fine. When you clean her out, try and leave most of her nest so it still smells familiar, and some of the old substrate too. If you put a litter try in too with Chinchilla bathing sand in, she should start using it to pee in and then you won't need to clean out very often at all - just empty the litter tray and the occasional bit of spot cleaning. They tend to poop wherever, but the poops aren't dirty or smelly and unless they start taking over in quantity I wouldn't worry about them - they sometimes hoard them or eat them - which is normal. They can redigest extra vitamins the second time around (they have two stomachs).

FawnRoyale · 12-03-2017, 08:52 AM

Yes I'm definitely going to try the jar method tonight, thank you! I'm upgrading her tank to a much bigger 40 gallon tank, as the one she is currently in is only a 10 gallon and I think that may be the cause of some of her stress. I plan on using all of her current substrate and nesting, and only plan to spot clean a little bit in the process.

And wow I didn't know that! Yeah I've been working on taming her and she seems like she's doing very well, and she even learned how to use her wheel! Thank you all so much for the advice and for putting me at ease lol, the last thing I want is for my baby to be sick or unhappy.

Pebbles82 · 12-03-2017, 12:25 PM

She should be fine in the 10 gallon initially, while she's such a baby and I'm sure she'll appreciate the upgrade when she's more settled. Just make it nice and cosy so she has somewhere to go and something to do - plenty of substrate to burrow in and bury hoards in, somewhere dark to go - a house or under a shelf, and cardboard tubes or egg boxes make floor toys.

FawnRoyale · 12-03-2017, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

She should be fine in the 10 gallon initially, while she's such a baby and I'm sure she'll appreciate the upgrade when she's more settled. Just make it nice and cosy so she has somewhere to go and something to do - plenty of substrate to burrow in and bury hoards in, somewhere dark to go - a house or under a shelf, and cardboard tubes or egg boxes make floor toys.

She's got all of that, and I plan to add more bedding when I get the chance because it is a little shallow. She's definitely a burrower! And I really hope to get her more toys soon too. She's got plenty but maybe some more puzzle toys once she gets settled in. Thank you again for all your advice! It really means a lot!