Carpet girl "squeaking" and hiding

Hi guys, DH has a couple of questions about some of the behavior he's noticed about his girl (he has named her Luna) - he wants to know if maybe she is sick, or if something is off with her husbandry.

While handling her, he has noticed that she will sometimes "squeak". It does not sound like a wheeze. Not sure if she opens her mouth while she does this. It does not happen often - less than every few minutes, but often enough that he has noticed it on a few occasions.

She also hides the majority of the time. Almost 100% of the time during the day, and also the majority of the night. DH has problems sleeping, so he frequently finds himself roaming the house at odd hours of the night - he reports that every time he has stopped in to check on her at any hour of the night/morning, she is hiding - we really only see her climbing when we've put her away after handling.

She has eaten twice (f/t small rats) for us since she's been home, and her feeding response is good. The ambient temp in her enclosure is 80F - two heated areas (one in the drawer, one on the loft) are 88-90F. Humidity is 50-55%, but the first couple of days it was around 70% (the substrate has since dried out and AZ is doing a good job of keeping it that way). When she's handled, she is docile and curious, but left to her own devices she hardly moves.

We appreciate any thoughts!

I'm not sure about the squeaking, but I wouldn't worry about the hiding. :) Sounds like she's pretty new to you, so she's likely still settling in.

I agree the hiding is nothing to worry about. I know you said the noise is a "squeaking" but is it like a whistle too? If so I have a BP that will whistle for time to time. I had a thread on that and most people said that if she just shed then it is possible that she could just have a little piece of shed in her nasal passage.

Thanks guys. :) Glad to know the hiding is normal... we'll see if it gets any better over time.

I asked, and DH says that the squeak does kind of sound like a whistle. If it's just a piece of shed (or something else) stuck in her nose, that would be great (well, better than her being sick)! I'll see if I can get ears on it sometime this week and see for myself. He is a very smart man, but he is really bad at describing things. When I asked him earlier what sort of squeak, his response was "-you know, just a squeak! You know what a squeak sounds like. Like that!" Mmkay, thanks dear. o`uo#

She should be fine, I would just keep an eye on it make sure she doesn't have any RI symptoms. Good luck with your new carpet.

Check her mouth for bubbles. If she has bubbles, it is most likely a RI. My sister has a BP that squeaks and whistles but he is perfectly healthy. Just vocal I guess.


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