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 ?

I found mine in the laundry bin/bag. She had chewed through our clothes. I got rid of the laundry vagafter that everything goes straight in the machine now. The second time she escaped she was sat under the sofa.

Washing basket didn't know what it was called as haven't had one in about 10 years 😂

My chipmunk escaped when I was a child and ended up behind the bath panel!
Have caught other escaped pets using the tilted bucket trap as well

Ours had made a home in our bed settee,destroyed it.

One of ours found her way behind the skirting board. I think she'd got there via a very small hole that the radiator pipe went through.

We could hear her scrabbling about and eventually located her where she was frantically digging her way out.

It was years ago, but I remember she was digging through a rather chalky bit of wall, we could see her through a small hole but couldn't get to her, and it was fascinating to watch how hard and methodically she worked.

We managed to dig a bit from our end and eventually she was free. She then just stood there waiting to be picked up and cuddled, clearly very relieved to be 'home' again.

Trying humane traps tonight 🤞

Good luck, OP, haven't RTT but close all internal doors and put down their favourite food/grapes in every room in a couple of places to help identify in which room they are based after leaving the rooms overnight/after a few hours. If front and rear doors and windows are closed then, in the absence of a cat, you will hopefully get them before disaster strikes.

Ours lived behind the washing machine for weeks! He would come out at night and chew the carpets. He once darted across the carpet when I was sugaring a customers legs! He seemed very happy!

I used to have hamster who would escape and then return to her cage (which required her climbing up the curtains to reach it) We would come downstairs in the morning and find her covered in soot and usually she'd brought one of my hair bobbles back to the cage with her.

Wishing you luck op! Ours got out twice. Once found behind the wardrobe and another time in the kitchen behind the kick boards. He had chewed holes in the carpet in the corner of every room the little devil 😂

Another one here who found the hamster in the sofa and had to rip off the bottom! I do hope you find him!

Hope you find him OP.

Aww good luck OP.
We have used humane traps successfully to catch mice the cat has brought in.
Whatever you do, dont try to flatten any lumps in the rug.

peanut butter op! its like catnip for hamsters!
I've had several hamsters over the years (had our last one out down on monday).
one made a bed out of socks under my bedroom cabinet, then next time he was in the lagging of my boiler. One lived behind the washing machine for a few days until I found her!
Google hamster traps, put some pnut butter and water/beddiing in the bottom of a bucket and jobs a good one!
if the wee soul is outside, put his cage outside with food in it and hope he comes back! I had one dig under the mint and coal bunker! Same hamster got her head stuck in the bath pipes! They really are wee houdinis!!
good luck! x

One of mine got under the floorboards via a little hole under the gas fire - I saw him go through but couldn't get to him in time.

I heard noises under the bathroom that night so knew he was under the house.
I was able to pull back the carpet in the living room and lift a floorboard there, propping it into the space so he would have something to climb up (there was between a foot and 18 inch gap under the floorboards). I then laid hamster choc drops at intervals up the plank and put a bowl of food at the top next to his open cage.

Next morning, all the choc drops were gone and the food bowl was empty but no hamster in the cage.

The next night I repeated the same process, but this time slept in a sleeping bag next to the ramp. Nothing, but you could occasionally hear him rustling and scratching under the floor in other rooms.

On the third night, the noise of him rootling in his food bowl woke me and I went from being asleep to my hand grabbing him before I consciously knew I had heard him!

He was really dusty, with filthy nails. Back in his cage, with one cheek pouch still full of food from the bowl, he immediately stuffed the other with bedding and waited by the cage door. Clearly now packed ready to return to freedom under the floorboards!

It always made me laugh how careful I had been with him, shielding his cage from draughts, avoiding or limiting certain vegetables, washing his water bottle daily, etc, when he was plainly perfectly happy making his own way in life, marauding around in the cold and dark under the house, gnawing on insulation tape.

Oh, and I had one as a child that got out of his cage on top of the fridge in the utility room.

We took the room apart systematically and eventually found him in the toe of a wellington boot, having pulled off the fleecy lining to make a cosy bed.

Do you have a chimney? I had one escape and he climbed up the flue!

Our hamster when I was young followed my mum to the kitchen one night during his playing out time and somehow got into the working bits of the washing machine. My dad was up until 4am taking the machine apart then reconstructing it once Hammy had been removed. Another one we had more recently climbed up water pipes in the corner of the kitchen then through a small hole in the ceiling. We could hear him walking about above us. My son put food on the worktop under the hole and then hid where he could still watch for him. We had a tiny fishing net for our goldfish and when the hamster came down to the food my son jumped out and quickly put the net over him.

Don't give up hope!

Years ago a friends one went missing, after days/weeks of looking, calling etc, they'd given up hope & put the cage away It turned up NINE MONTHS later, sitting on her daughters bed, like nothing had happened. For years they kept find places it had nibbles the carpet/curtains etc

They're right little buggers! Ours looked exactly this this 🐹 she was a real character! (Still miss her)

One night, a hamster called Yoda found the force and escaped.

She was found the next morning in the box of hamster treats, face and paws covered in melted 'chocolate', having stuffed her cheeks, and then tried to remove the melting treats...

Not that that 'tail' is very useful, but she was super cute and super greedy.

Ours have escaped loads of times, one of them lived on the sideboard in the living room, he used to manage to get out the cage, down to the floor & then upstairs, I found him asleep in my knicker drawer a couple of times. We have never not found any of them, sit very quiet in the room they live in at night, you will probably hear them.

Mine escaped all the time. I used to find him at the back of a drawer, sometimes a wardrobe, under my bed. I used to wait until dark and close all the doors and listen out for him as he would try to get out. I would hear him scraping. Good luck

If you've been quiet in the evenings and not heard him at all, I'd be worried he got outside.

Our current hamster escaped twice within about 2 weeks. First time I didn't know he was missing until I found him in my bedroom as I was going to sleep one night. I heard some noise by the bedroom door and got up to investigate and found him. Second time dd had him out and he got away, we searched the room she was in with him and couldn't find him. I went to get ready for work and heard him down the side of some drawers.

He is lucky, because we have a cat who does bring home small rodents sometimes. I hate to think of what could have happened 😬

Any joy overnight, @NicEv ?