Is my hammy just dreaming?

SunshineOnLeith · 03-21-2016, 02:38 AM

Hello all, I'm new to this forum.

I have a 10month old Robo dwarf male called Bally. I wasn't able to tame him in his youth so I rely heavily on observation to check he is ok and happy. Recently he has suddenly become very vocal, making scraping sounds (like grinding his teeth) and squeaks, and his sleeping pattern has changed since January. About 3 weeks ago I panicked that he was unwell (due to the noises, and he didn't seem to want to run in his ball) but the vet said he was entirely healthy, and his new behaviour could be down to mating season arriving (but she wasn't an exotic specialist).

This morning I noticed again that as he is sat in his sandpit he is making his noises whilst his eyes are firmly shut, so I assume he is dreaming. He does this every day, but the effort it takes for him to make the noises obviously means his body sort of rocks quite drastically. As I'm a new hammy owner, can people calm my fears that this isn't something quite natural? He is eating and I think drinking (since he now gets up at 4am I struggle to tell if he even runs on his wheel!) and I don't think its a respiratory infection as he can breathe quietly.

Thanks so much guys!

cypher · 03-21-2016, 07:43 AM

I've found with my dwarfs (russians & chinese so maybe robos are different possibly?) that they are either vocal or not from the start, they don't generally tend to begin making noises like that when they are older.
The new behaviour does sound a bit strange to me tbh, & it seems unlikely that it's anything to do with mating, they can mate all year more or less so unless there's the sudden arrival of a female ham I wouldn't expect to see any difference.
As long as he's eating, drinking etc ok I would just keep an eye on him for now but if not maybe try to find a vet with more experience if you can.
I wouldn't put a robo in a ball tbh, they are active enough if they have plenty to do & a good size wheel (about 8"/20cm) in the cage so often don't need out of cage time & can very easily be injured in a ball, most don't actually like them anyway!

**Cinnamon Bear** · 03-21-2016, 08:48 AM

Agreed with Cypher, my robo can only stand out of cage time for a couple minutes for a sand bath then right back in the cage she goes (since the sand bath isn't in her cage).

My robo only went in her ball 2x's when I first brought her home then she didn't like it anymore. I don't really think robo's like being away from their cages much either.

I always though that dwarves squeak when they are in pain?

I would also agree to see an exotic vet if this continues or gets worse?

cypher · 03-21-2016, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinnamon Bear

I always though that dwarves squeak when they are in pain?

Not always & they can make a surprising range of sounds for all sorts of reasons, sometimes it's not easy to tell.