The other night when I was making bread to be baked in the oven and this was quite late, at about 1am, I heard a gasping sound.
You know like you hear someone 'expiring', with a wheezing sound?
It was freaking scary.
I couldn't tell where the sound came from, except that it was on the kitchen cabinet beside the fridge where the microwave and the thermal bottles are.
I was thinking it might be some kind of cockroach/lizard trying to play hide and seek with me or establishing some mating ritual with one another.
I stood still and tried to listen to the sound, but it seemed like every time I tried to focus on the sound, it sounded indistinct and far away.
After that, I couldn't care less and went back to my room.
Then the next night, I was playing with Voldie, trying to feed him some hammy 'doughnut' treat.
That's his cage on the floor.
"WHO DAT?!", thought Voldie.
Here's Voldemort giving me the death-stare before he waves his wand (cannot be seen from this angle) and delivers the killing curse on me.
AVADA KEDAVRA!
That's his new house by the way, the blue one. My sister bought it and it has this handy 'spade' with slots that you can use to scoop up the sand inside and it sieves out the hammy shit! So innovative right. I bet it's a Japanese creation.
Anyway, he looks old and in the second photo of him you can see his infected ear :((
I was hiding more 'doughnut' treats at different parts of his cage to stimulate his brain.
I read my biopsych textbook and they said rats that grew up in enriching environments with colourful pictures and obstacles in their cage, they solve maze faster than rats living in unenriched environments. I've been doing this since he's young and he does seem to be more 'intelligent' than my other hamsters that I used to have.
Maybe besides Skippy.
Or maybe it's the breeding from different petshops.
I was talking to Voldie when all of a sudden, I heard the gasping sound again.
Right behind me.
"Zsiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...."
I sort of leaped out of the stool I was sitting on and I tried looking around for the source of the sound.
I tried putting my head near the fridge, but it only had some ticking and soft cracking sound, might be from the defrosting of food in the freezer or whatever.
"Where the hell is it from?!", I thought in my mind.
I quickly closed the cage door and said bye to Voldie and faced my good ear towards the area which had the gasping sound.
"Zsiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...................."
Omg there it was again!
Ernie was helping me to look.
"Mommy! I think it's coming from there!"
"Zsiiiiiiiiiiiiiii........"
"Ernie! Did you hear it!? Where did it originate from!!?", I asked.
"It's definitely coming from there, Mommy! The thermal bottles!", said Ernie, whilst pointing towards the bottles.
I went to take a closer look.
"Zsiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..........................", gasped the water bottle.
Apparently, the hot water inside the bottle creates condensation on the inside of the cup covering it, and to let the hot air that has expanded to escape, it sort of squeezes out from the cap. The wet sucking/gasping sound is due to the condensation and air escaping.
Case solved.
