Robo making sounds while sleeping.. is he in pain or chatting in his dream?

[happythehamster]

Lucky, my male Robo dwarf hamster is nearly 2 years old. About three days ago I noticed he's sleeping longer than usual. Yesterday during the day, I heard some small, short, squeaky sounds coming from his nest and some 'popping' sounds. I didn't do anything as I didn't want to disturb him in his sleep, but I'm concerned if he might be in pain from overgrown teeth. This morning I picked him up and tried to check his teeth, to which he squeaked a tiny 'Pip!' and kept his mouth shut

I'm very worried about overgrown teeth in hams as Hamu, my previous Syrian hamster, had overgrown teeth that I was totally unaware of until I took her to the vet aged 2 years and 2 months. She went under anesthetic to trim her teeth and never recovered from it; she rapidly deteriorated and I had to put her to sleep at a night animal hospital 10 days later.

I might be over reacting to Lucky's recent behaviour while asleep, but if anything happens to him I'm the one responsible for looking after him.
Is Lucky just having a good chatty time in dreamland or is he in pain?
Does anyone else have a hamster that chats during their sleep?

[cypher]

Is he eating normally?
If there is a problem with his teeth he would have difficulty eating his normal hamster food & you would start to see weight loss.
Sometimes they do squeak in their sleep for no obvious reason although if it starts suddenly at that age & he hasn't done it before I would be a little concerned.
One of my russians makes quite a range of odd noises, she always has squeaked a bit but the range & frequency has changed, neither me or the vet are sure why but it doesn't seem to bother her in the least so it can be hard to tell with noises.
I would focus more on obvious signs like not eating/drinking/peeing/pooing normally, ears down or back when out & about.
Sleeping more is normal as they age & if the weather gets colder they may sleep more too.

[happythehamster]

It's interesting about your Russian hamster and that she has always squeaked. Maybe my Lucky has squeaked in his sleep before and that I wasn't at home during the day when he did.
He still nibbles at his Supreme Selective hamster food, which I break into smaller pieces before feeding as one whole pellet is too large for his mouth. I give him two crumbled pieces a day. He also likes his bird seeds and sunflower seeds (unsalted, unshelled ones from the off licence.) I can't tell whether the amount he eats has changed. He gets the odd meal worm as a treat, and he always goes for it. I hope I am giving him enough hard food for him to nibble on and wear down his teeth.
He has had problem drinking from the water bottle, partly because the water bottle leaks. I dry the area with tissue each time I see it leaking. When he drinks he sits on his hind legs and I see him falling down and getting up again several times as he is quite wobbly on his feet. He seems to be drinking less than he used to. He goes into the jar of Potta Litt'a' - presumably to pee - previously I would see some of the mix rolled into small balls after he used it but nowadays I don't see any at all.
I'll keep a closer eye on his general health for any signs of illness.

[cypher]

If you can find a little bowl small enough & put it somewhere it won't get knocked over I would try offering some water in a bowl & see how it he does with that.
I've used little glass tea light holders for dwarfs which hold plenty of water & are heavy enough to be stable, not big enough to fall in either!

Science selective biscuits aren't really very hard so hopefully he's had enough seeds to keep his teeth trim, at his age it probably wouldn't be a good idea to change his diet I guess.

[Cinnamon Bear]

Also, to add to above posts...is there any way you could lower the water bottle. Sounds like it's a bit high if he is on his hind feet & keeps falling down? Maybe get a new water bottle if you can. I had a RCD who sqeaked a few times right before she died. Probably shouldn't say that cause hopefully that's not your case? She passed away peacefully.

[happythehamster]

Thank you for your messages, sorry for the delay in replying.

The water bottle is already placed in the lowest place possible; in the past I've tried giving him water in a plastic drinker for budgies by hooking it up to the horizontal bars on his cage, but he ignored it. Tea light holder is a good idea, I've filled one and put it just beneath his water bottle. Let's see how it goes.

Sorry to read about your RCD, hope it won't be the case with Lucky, fingers crossed....

[happythehamster]

Lucky has been to the vet since my last post and has been told that he is very weak. He squeaks constantly now in his sleep and when he is awake. He nibbles at cucumbers and his food. If he stops eating, the vet's advise is to put him down. I asked about letting him pass away naturally and the vet said that when pets die they usually die of starvation sitting on their own toilet, which is not a dignified way of dying.
Putting them to sleep is advised to maintain the pets' dignity.
I'd never thought about that before.... but I have not yet decided to go ahead with it.

[Cinnamon Bear]

Sorry to hear about such sad news, hopefully your robo will continue eating? Did the vet say why he might be sqeaking cause they usually do that when they are in pain?

[happythehamster]

Thank you, the vet could not identify what was causing the pain, there was no swelling in his stomach or anything. He did suggest that sometimes that when the kidney fails it causes pain, but giving painkillers to such a small animal - weighing only 24g - is very difficult to do as painkillers could be too strong and the hamster could be killed by taking it.
He also said that I could give Lucky the same antibiotic that my other hamster, Happy, is taking. It seemed to give him a temporary surge of energy, but it didn't stop him from squeaking.

[Cinnamon Bear]

If he is in constant pain? I'm wondering if he should be PTS?