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Original poster

Hamster AWOL - tips please

17 replies

LostInTesco · 11/10/2019 09:32

Hamster escaped from his cage overnight... Any collective hive mind wisdom on getting him back...

Cage was on top of a unit so I'm worried about the creature even managing to have got down safely...

I have 3 very good hunting cats, and a terrier dog, all of whom would enjoy a small morsel of fresh hamster

OP posts:

OrSomeSortOfWokAtTheVeryLeast · 11/10/2019 09:46

They are surprisingly sturdy considering the size of them. Is he likely to of gotten out of the room he escaped from? If not keep that door closed. Put a trail of food or treats out for him. Check under and in things.

We had one who escaped and went in a hole in the wall. Took days to get him out! He kept coming down and eating the food then going back up.

Original poster

LostInTesco · 11/10/2019 10:04

Found him! Started checking the shelves of the unit his cage was on top of, and he was on the bottom shelf, blinking up at me, all sleepy. He had a stash of food there too - he's toured the room and found all the crumbs

OP posts:

ChicCroissant · 11/10/2019 10:06

Glad he's safe!

I was going to suggest food traps - put food down in a dish in each room, close the doors at night and in the morning check the dishes to find which room they are in. They always look for food!

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OrSomeSortOfWokAtTheVeryLeast · 11/10/2019 10:09

Ha brilliant, clearly took a picnic for his adventure. I'm glad he has been found safe.

Damntheman · 11/10/2019 10:11

Glad he's safe! Rodents are wicked good climbers :)

Windydaysuponus · 11/10/2019 10:13

Better than one of those auto vacumms!!

TeenPlusTwenties · 11/10/2019 10:19

Ours escaped twice each time an external tube broke.

First time the door was closed so we knew where he was. I stayed very quiet and heard him scrabbling around behind the dresser, he came out for food.

Second time was an evening. I heard DD calling from upstairs. She came down with a bleeding finger and a hamster, who had gone along the hall, up the stairs along the corridor and ended up in her bedroom!

The tube is now reinforced.

Original poster

LostInTesco · 11/10/2019 19:52

Hammy the hamster has been returned to his - - jail-- hamster cage and went straight to sleep. Wee furry paws was knackered

If anyone has a marvellous cage, I'm open to ideas and suggestions! This one, obv, has limited hamster appeal...

OP posts:

Adogwithabone · 11/10/2019 19:55

Our Hammy went on a fantastic adventure under the kitchen kickboard once when I was young. My Dad bribed him out with maltesers.

Venger · 11/10/2019 19:58

Leaving the cage on the floor overnight with the door open and plenty of food is usually enough to get them to come home, they like to return to their own bed. Glad you found him safe and sound though.

We've got an Alaska cage and it's great, really roomy and three successive hamsters have so far never escaped from it.

ChicCroissant · 11/10/2019 22:44

Some hamsters are 'leapers' IME, and will get out of anything you put them in. The majority of the hamsters I had as a kid never escaped, one that did made it all the way up the stairs and alerted an adult to it's presence by starting to tear up a newspaper it had found for bedding. A couple of other escapees ended up behind a fire in a chimney and in a drawer in the kitchen (only found by a dog sniffing it out tbh!).

CactusAndCacti · 11/10/2019 22:56

Glad you found him. Our current hamster is an absolute monster for escaping, at least 4 times. The last time, he escaped and then got back into his cage. (He may well have done this twice, we found evidence that he had been out)

He climbs curtains and all sorts when he gets out.

LittleCandle · 11/10/2019 23:10

I once found one furry bastard escapee in the loft. The little fucker had climbed up the pipes from the ensuite, which for some reason had a gap in the floor behind the toilet. We had bloody food traps all over the house! I did manage to catch it with one of those food traps and the sod bit me for my pains! However, it was a terribly antisocial hamster and even tried to savage the vet when being PTS because of a stroke.

But I'm glad you've found yours. My 10 week old kitten once caught and killed another escapee and it gave him a real taste for hunting.

Fizzypoo · 11/10/2019 23:13

My dds hamster learnt how to open the cage from the inside using his teeth! I have it on film, twas funny! He had lots of night time adventures until we realised what was happening and bought a padlock.

rainbowlou · 11/10/2019 23:18

We found ours inside the sofa, at the time we had a very messy toddler and the hamster had quite a stash of breadsticks and raisins!
Clever little buggers!

Slappadabass · 11/10/2019 23:22

Glad he's safe! Bet the cats were licking their lips, mine would have been!
My DDs escaped and lived in the sofa for a while, happily scurried about in there for over a week, only came out when no one was around for the food I left to entice him out only managed to catch him when he got a bit cocky and went for a stroll one night and I managed to pounce on him, ive never moved so fast in my life

Deathraystare · 12/10/2019 14:59

Reminds me of my hamster. Dad always let her out when I had gone to bed. A few times she disappeared behind a fire place. Then one day she was away for a few days, eventually dad found her under the floorboards in the cupboards under the stairs, enjoying the every cidery apples mum had stored!

Another time she broke out of her cage which was on top of the piano in the dining room, walked up the stairs to my room and made a nest of the paper that was in the bedside cupboard. I saw a flash of 'orange' and it was her!! How she got past the cat, I will never know!!!

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