Worrying Hamster Behavior

Question
QUESTION: We just received our hamster today; we don't know its age, however.  When I first opened the box, it quickly climbed onto my arm and fell down about three feet.  Fortunately it seemed quite fine- it was very active and curious. It continued to look normal until we came home.  Since it was active earlier, I suspected something was wrong when I couldn't hear it scratching in the box.  I brought it out, and all it did was lie down in my hand.  Since it was in the car for a while (1 hour altogether, aprox?), though we occasionally brought it out, we thought it might have overheated.  I brought it into the cool section of our house and tried to feed it water with a dropper.  It tried to move sometimes, or I think so, since its feet were twitching.  After I attempted to feed it water for the 3rd time, its ears perked up and it started to not exactly walk, but sort of crawl.  Soon its movements grew a little more efficient, and it did normal behaviors like washing its fur and walking around, but it wobbled often and sometimes toppled.  I picked it up and moved it into my lap, and it stopped moving, though its ears still were perked up.  I thought/hoped it was resting and recovering from the heat and let it alone.  Sometimes the eyes were fully closed, and other times the eyes were kind of slitted.  After I let it lie there for a time, I tried to feed it more water, and it opened its eyes wider and started moving around.  It didn't wobble anymore, but it wasn't hardly as fast as when we first got it.  However, now it seems to walk like a normal hamster, though still not as fast as when we first got it.  I would consider it maybe fine now, but I noticed it makes some sounds at times similar to hiccups, or "hic".  When my sister put it on her lap, it stuck it's face down and made noises like "hgrrm-gk", or like a growl through its nose then a squeak (that the best I can describe it).  And just now, I observed it made some faint "mgwuh-gwuh" (squeaking?) noise as I held it and it tried to escape my hand.  She says I may have dripped water in its nose, but...

ANSWER: Watch it's behaviour for another couple of days, if things do not improve I would suggest taking it to the vet for a check-up just to be safe. It's abnormal behaviour could be from the stress from moving, if it is just stress, it should straighten out in a few days.

Thanks for writing

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: After I sent this question, I went to check up on the hamster again.  This time, however, I noticed that it was trying to get into a narrow space between the wall of the box and another object and was making the noises continuously.  I brought it out, and it continued to make the noises in its throat without stopping while trying to get into a cozier crook between my arm and body.  I grew worried, since I thought the noises might be like how a human groans or moans when it's in pain.  I tried to feed it a little water, but it continued to make the noises, eventually more faintly, and stopped trying to get into a cozy place.  The fainter noises and stopping of the struggling might've either meant it was even more weak, or the pain has eased, but I was worried because it seemed like it couldn't move even if it wanted to.  In any case, my mom decided to bring it back to the petstore since they know more about animals than we do.  I don't know how well or in-depth she explained it, but the staff member who accepted it asked if we left it in the car long.  They took the hamster back and offered to give us another one.  I was wondering if you would have another suggestion for what happened to it after receiving these details.

Also, although I worry that we did something wrong with that hamster, we did take another one.  This one seems perfectly fine (though we haven't interacted with it since the instructions tell us not to until 2 days), but I haven't seen it drink any water from the bottle (the type with the cap-tube with the ball to push with a tongue).  Should we worry about that?  And I was also wondering if a hamster stops trying to bite through a cage or to escape by climbing to the top after becoming adjusted, or if it will just stick with it.  Should we try to stop it?  Thanks in advance.

Answer
The first hamster you received could have been ill, hamster do not usually make noise unless they are mad, scared, or in pain. I can not really tell what happened to you first hamster, because I did not see it. To your other questions, some hamsters will stop biting the cage and climbing on it after they adjust, but others will do it the rest of their lives. It's fun to them, and the nawing on the cage helps keep their teeth trimmed. Try just barely rubbing your hamsters mouth over the ball of the water bottle, just enough so a little bit of water will come out. This will let him/her know where his/her water is.

Thanks for writing