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Old 03-30-2018, 01:48 PM   #1
Caity
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 23
Unhappy Possible illness/stress.. strange behaviour

I'm not really sure what to do. Lately my syrian hamster, Bear, has been acting odd. He's a relatively new addition to the ham fam and has been going through the taming process well. He's basically tame at this point and is fine with being held. However, he's been waking up later than usual (not acting off when he is awake). This is the first thing I noticed but I put it down to him being a very diggy syrian who likes to spend most of the night burrowing for fun. What I first noticed was his mouth, he seemed to be like chattering his teeth.. but there was no noise. He was more using his tongue. I only saw him do this once but it shocked me a lot. The reason I am really posting this is due to the screaming/strange noise he's making what appears to be randomly. He made this scream noise twice today... both times when he was in his burrow/hideaway. I have no idea what's triggering it but when I go to check on him after he seems totally fine. I also may have seen a red lump on his bum but when I went to show my brother, he couldn't see a lump and I couldn't see it either. I might have been seeing things.

Is he stressed? Do I need to see a vet?
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Old 03-30-2018, 03:02 PM   #2
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Possible illness/stress.. strange behaviour

How old is he and how long have you had him? The red lump could be his testicles? They pop out when they're warm. Do you have a photo?
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Old 03-31-2018, 07:40 AM   #3
Caity
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Join Date: Mar 2018
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Default Re: Possible illness/stress.. strange behaviour

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
How old is he and how long have you had him? The red lump could be his testicles? They pop out when they're warm. Do you have a photo?
He's really not old, he was 6-7 weeks when I got him and I've had him for a further 4 weeks. That sounds about right for what the lump was considering it disappeared after about 5 minutes out of the warmth of his bedding. I was mostly looking for signs of stress related illnesses like wet tail so. I've just never known a hamster to make a pained scream like that and I'm more worried cause he does it when I can't see him. I have no idea what's causing this noise
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Old 03-31-2018, 01:36 PM   #4
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Possible illness/stress.. strange behaviour

Is he still doing it or was it a one-off? Whereabouts is his cage? Does he seem ok physically? Bright eyes, not hunched up? They can take a while to settle in when new. Overcleaning can really stress them. It's usually recommended not to clean out the cage for the first two weeks and not move things around and change things. You can spot clean after that. It isn't necessary to do a full cage clean out weekly although pet shops still tend to advise this.
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Old 03-31-2018, 02:34 PM   #5
Caity
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 23
Default Re: Possible illness/stress.. strange behaviour

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
Is he still doing it or was it a one-off? Whereabouts is his cage? Does he seem ok physically? Bright eyes, not hunched up? They can take a while to settle in when new. Overcleaning can really stress them. It's usually recommended not to clean out the cage for the first two weeks and not move things around and change things. You can spot clean after that. It isn't necessary to do a full cage clean out weekly although pet shops still tend to advise this.
Yes, I know all this. He's not my first hamster and apart from the strange scream he's completely fine. Beautiful bright eyes, friendly, curious, fine with handling. He's tame and was very easy to tame (only took a week or two to tame him). The screaming happened twice to what I'm aware of although he may have done it since yesterday (when I last heard it). He lives in my room

He's had slightly soft poops but not loose, just squishier. Nothing I'd assume to be abnormal. He's been calm and sweet as normal. I'm just unsure if he's fine or if I'm just overreacting. I can still send a picture of his bum (although it looks fine now) if you think it may be something to do with that?

Last edited by Caity; 03-31-2018 at 03:10 PM.
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Old 03-31-2018, 02:39 PM   #6
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Possible illness/stress.. strange behaviour

Sorry - didn't realise you knew If he hasn't done it since he's probably fine - maybe something scared him. Keep an eye on his poops. If they stay like that it might be an idea to have a vet visit, but they do sometimes get some softer ones on occasion. Maybe if he's had a bit too much veg or something?
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Old 03-31-2018, 03:42 PM   #7
Caity
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 23
Default Re: Possible illness/stress.. strange behaviour

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
Sorry - didn't realise you knew If he hasn't done it since he's probably fine - maybe something scared him. Keep an eye on his poops. If they stay like that it might be an idea to have a vet visit, but they do sometimes get some softer ones on occasion. Maybe if he's had a bit too much veg or something?
Ahh yes, I forgot to mention why I wasn't worried about the softer poops. I've been trying to slowly ween him onto cucumber for a car journey I may have to take him on later in the year. We're going on holiday in country and having a water bowl in his travel container would not be safe. So the watery cucumber would act as his hydration on this trip. I'm hoping to find someone to take care of him though since the journey isn't ideal for a small animal. The weening is just for precaution. I'll keep an eye on him for the next couple days. My friend suggested he could have had a bad dream or something but I didn't think hamsters had those. Anyways, thanks for the advice.
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Old 04-03-2018, 06:24 AM   #8
Caity
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Join Date: Mar 2018
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Default Re: Possible illness/stress.. strange behaviour

I wanted to update this on the actions I've taken for his safety. He made the noise again yesterday and this time it sounded almost like he was struggling to breath. So I deduced that when he was in his burrow (about 4-5 inches under the surface of his bedding) he would freak out and wake up after not being able to have proper ventilation. He has a bunch of the natural Carefresh bedding that he can essentially burrow in. What I notice is the natural stuff is a lot more like card and can get packed down on him which may then mean he cannot breathe properly. As a temp fix I have taken out about half of the bedding and he hasn't made the noise since. For long term I've bought some Kaytee clean and cozy which is very similar except it's less absorbent and more like tissue paper. I have this in another habitat so I hope it'll be fine for Bear.
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