Hey everyone!
So we've had Alby for about 2 months now. He's a very sweet little thing. He's nearly 1 year old now, a cream long haired syrian hamster, and we adopted him from a family that didn't have time for him. He was being kept in
this cage, in a tiny hallway, in a flat with smokers. This may be relevant to my concern.
Despite the previous owner telling us that they didn't give him very much attention, he absolutely loves to be held, cuddled and spoiled. From the get go we have been very hands on (of course making sure not to scare him) and he's been getting most of our attention when he's awake. Often, we will have him roaming around our hamster proof room. We started doing this with him in the early days because he'd pretty much been stuck in that cage for the majority of his life. This became a routine every night and he loved it.
After a few days of having him, I noticed he would wait for us to pick him up by staring at us from the side of the cage. This was usually 10pm every night. One night he didn't come out, and me being worrisome, decided to see what was going on. I quietly called his name and gently ruffled some of the bedding nearby his nest and he did come out, but he was squeaking a little bit. I haven't managed to get it on video yet, but
this is what it sounds like exactly. I guessed he was just annoyed I'd woken him up, so I put it down to that. Over the next few weeks he'll occasionally squeak like this. It would stop when I picked him up and let him roam around. It really decreased after his move to the much bigger cage, although I am writing now at 6am as he was squeaking again!
This is the new cage and as soon as we moved him in he was ecstatic. He leapt about, burrowed into the bedding, played with his toys and leisurely strolled on his wheel. He looks so much happier and healthier.
So about half an hour ago he was sat on one of his puzzle toys squeaking again, and already being awake I decided to let him out. He seemed very content with that, rushing about the room and exploring. I've just put him back now and he's gone to bed. He eats and drinks a healthy amount, no problems with toilet, and looks completely fine when I do the health check on him. No injuries, no abnormalities, nothing. My worry is that I have seen comments saying that a hamster squeaking the way Alby does is actually sneezing, and it may be a respiratory problem. I am concerned because he was stuck in a tiny and poorly ventilated hallway in a flat with a smoker who clearly smoked inside. I could do with a bit of advice as the only time one of my old hamsters squeaked was when my two dwarfs fought and we had to separate them!
Thank you.
Alby Squeaking
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