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Old 12-19-2021, 01:13 AM   #1
ShadowNinjaHamster
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Join Date: Sep 2021
Posts: 243
Default My hamster was screaming in the morning

Hello,
In the morning, around 5am my hamster was absolutely screaming and it was very loud. He has never screamed like that. I ran to check out what's going on and he was in his nest, so I said his name several times and removed the toilet papers in his bedding to which he woke up. Then I petted him and gave him a mealworm and a cookie. He ate and I went back to sleep.

He's now in deep sleep. He didn't wake up when I opened his cage, but he was moving a bit and I can see him breathing, so he's asleep. I am not going to wake him up.
I am sad I didn't record this, because he has never screaming like that before nor I couldn't find such scream when I Googled it.

When I woke him up when he was screaming / screeching he looked sleepy and had his 'sleepy eyes' on.

I haven't made any recent changes nor I have cleaned the cage and I couldn't see any bugs (He used to have bugs before). Other than that everything has been going very well. I take him out from his cage and we usually play whenever I can and everything has been just perfect.

I feed him hamster food and salad and cucumbers and I give one or two mealworms daily and sweets every 3-5 days.

Is it possible that he just had a nightmare or I should take him to vet again? Or should I wait and see if he does it more often?

When things like this happen (and he has been through a lot) I feel like I'm a bad owner.

I don't think my hamster has diabetes. At least from those symptoms:
So you think your hamster is diabetic

The sad thing is I actually don't know how much he drinks either, because he puts paper in water. I don't know why he does that. Once I changed his water and five minutes later the water dish was full of paper bedding. I have seen him drinking, so I know that he's drinking.

I don't know how much he actually eats either, because I've given him unique food. that he doesn't have and he chews it and looks like he's eating it but later I find the food borrowed somewhere else.
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Old 12-19-2021, 02:23 AM   #2
Ria P
House of Hamsters
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 7,103
Default Re: My hamster was screaming in the morning

Relax.

Your hamster probably had a nightmare and screeched in his sleep. Dwarf hamsters especially are able to screech quite loudly. I got alarmed and worried too the first time i heard it.
Don't feel like you are a bad owner. He's a very lucky hamster to have a caring human companion like you.

As for the water. Why don't you put the bowl on top of his house, a shelf or somewhere away from the substrate. I'd also give him a bottle as well because hamsters should have two sources of water in case one fails.

Hoarding food is perfectly normal hamster behaviour. That's what hamsters do. They forage for food, eat some but pouch most of it to add to their hoards to snack from later.

You say that you give your hamster sweets. What kind of sweets are they? Anything fruit and honey based is best avoided because dwarfs are prone to diabetes but there are other and healthier treats. Just because dwarfs are prone to diabetes doesn't mean that your hamster is going to get it because he had a few sweets so don't worry unnecessarily.
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Old 12-19-2021, 03:55 AM   #3
ShadowNinjaHamster
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Join Date: Sep 2021
Posts: 243
Default Re: My hamster was screaming in the morning

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
Relax.

Your hamster probably had a nightmare and screeched in his sleep. Dwarf hamsters especially are able to screech quite loudly. I got alarmed and worried too the first time i heard it.
Don't feel like you are a bad owner. He's a very lucky hamster to have a caring human companion like you.

As for the water. Why don't you put the bowl on top of his house, a shelf or somewhere away from the substrate. I'd also give him a bottle as well because hamsters should have two sources of water in case one fails.

Hoarding food is perfectly normal hamster behaviour. That's what hamsters do. They forage for food, eat some but pouch most of it to add to their hoards to snack from later.

You say that you give your hamster sweets. What kind of sweets are they? Anything fruit and honey based is best avoided because dwarfs are prone to diabetes but there are other and healthier treats. Just because dwarfs are prone to diabetes doesn't mean that your hamster is going to get it because he had a few sweets so don't worry unnecessarily.
Now he has been calm and sleeping. I'm assuming he had a nightmare, because he had his "sleepy eyes" when I woke him up. I'm not even 100% sure if you can wake a hamster up like that. I usually try to give him peace.
At the moment I only have Vitakraft carrot drops (Sugar free) and Nestor Biscuit Drops with carrots.(This one has sugar in it and I give that one to him very very rarely) and cucumber and salad. I also have some banana biscuits, but he does not eat those and he also doesn't eat apples.

Ever since I upgraded the cage to a bigger one I upgraded his house, but I don't really want him to climb anywhere, because I am afraid he might hurt himself, but still, it's not a bad idea. I don't even know if he does it on purpose or by accident.

I've never seen him using the bottle, so I am not sure whether or not he knows how to use it or do I have to teach him somehow?
I might try it again. I don't mind changing the water several times per day.

Thank you for your reply.
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