Help - hamster has escaped!

[NicEv]

One of the kids has left the lid off the hamster cage and he has escaped - either yesterday or this morning. After searching the house we have found no sign of him anywhere . Does anyone have any tips to help us find him ?

Mine ended up behind the TV once must have been warm there.

Definitely set up a bucket trap in each room. One of ours went on a 3 day excursion but eventually popped into a bucket to get some scran and water. Cheeky bugger!

Thanks so much everyone. Unfortunately our external doors were open yesterday while me and the kids painted the playhouse so I am really praying he hasn’t got outside . I am really the only person who feeds and cleans and holds him and I do have a real affection for him. I will try out those ideas and let you know if I find him 🐹

Our school hamster escaped a few times. Found once in someone's PE bag and another time behind my filing cabinet in a nest or shredded art supplies. The funniest was when we found him the playmobie pirate ship! I ended up putting a padlock on his cage...

Our hamster at home only escaped once and was perched on a ledge on the back of a chest of drawers about a foot off the floor. So definitely check behind furniture, not just floor level!

Next door neighbours hamster escaped and turned up in our house about 4 days later. Semidetached house and he came over to ours under the floorboards and squeezed up into our kitchen round the water pipes.

Humane mouse trap. They work well and should accommodate a hungry hamster.

B+Q etc less than a fiver.

Mine (my daughters) escaped, I found him when I walked into the kitchen and the beggar darted back to his hiding place of behind the kick boards (hiding under the base units).

Luckily next time I saw him I had an armful if laundry and I just threw it and caught him. He was lucky, we had three cats at the time.

I did make a ‘trap’ by using a big mixing bowl with steep sides, some chocolate in the bottom of the bowl and a ladder made out of books! 🥴

We ended up getting a humane mouse trap and setting it near the cage.
Worked like a charm with a bit of food as bait.
link

Leave his open cage on the floor with some fresh food in it, if he's around he will more than likely head back to his own bed.

I've lost many, they nearly always turn up. Definitely hunt evenings when they get up. Best story of ours was the young one that disappeared just before Xmas and turned up in our next door but one's recycling box (full of wine bottles) about a week later. Still have no idea how that happened but he ended up living a long and happy life after that early adventure.

Food traps - put a small dish of food in every room of the house and close all the doors. In the morning, check where the food has gone from and it's a clue to the room.

I've had hamsters get into kitchen cupboard and drawers (not the bottom drawer either, found that one when the dog started strongly sniffing the drawer) and all kinds of spaces. They will come out at night for food though.

Good luck with the hammy hunt!

when it is quiet get a plant pot and prop it up with something light,put peanuts inside this is how we caught mine when it escaped

Borrow a dog (if you don't have one), keep it on a lead and let it take you to the hammy. Tried and tested.

Is he in the pot of leftover soup you had for lunch?

Also if you need bait use the Sunday dinner baby food, I think its cow and Gate. They love it. I've never had a hamster resist yet.

Under the fireplace.

Really? I will get some for the humane traps if we don’t find him tonight!

Bucket with some food in the bottom little ramp leading up so they fall in and can’t get out and you can then rescue them in the morning.
That’s how we used to locate our when we were younger anyway ( they were those little Russian ones that escaped all the time )

When you go to bed shut every door and leave a few treats in every room. When you wake up you can see which treats he'd eaten and narrow it down

Yeah the jar one without lumps. Custard one goes down well too, you just have to check ingredients to make sure there's nothing that is toxic to them.

Are you making a casserole?

I don't have a hamster but what a brilliant use of Mumsnet. So much more productive than a million threads about masks/not masks. I think you will have about 15 hamsters in the morning, OP!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pets/238111-please-don-t-laugh-but-i-think-i-may-have?#4788693