The hamster's disappeared. Gone . Vamoosh. Spontaneous combustion?

[VivalaDiva]

No idea how he got out. Must have squeezed through the bars. No poo anywhere. No dead hamster. Hole in floorboards. Have left cucumber out. How long do I leave it before I can safely assume he's dead and buy another one?

Hamsters are regular little Houdinis, sadly. Ours would turn up running around the living room, but he was familiar with it as we let him run free most days. Most hamsters don't turn up on their own.
You can, however make a "hamster trap". Get a regular plastic bucket, and put some wood shavings in the bottom for a safe landing. You can put a little cup of water in it too. Place books alongside the bucket so that they form steps up to the side of the bucket. Bait with peanut butter (which smells really strong to hamsters) and leave overnight. Good luck.

did you casserole it?

mine went and never came back

You haven't been making stew have you?

Dammit Cappuccino!
You beat me to it!!

Cappuccino - great minds

Oooh MrsT I love that idea!! I have put his house out with some bedding so if that doesn't work I'll try that tomorrow. I feel a bit bad as he's probably been gone for a couple of days and I only noticed today.

Thank you! To be honest, food is a much better draw than bedding, so I'd try it first (rather than the house) if I were you. If you google "hamster trap" you'll find quite a few success stories. You can bait with anything that your hamster likes, if you don't have peanut butter.

Did the hamster come back???
Blame the PG hormones, but I've been worrying about the poor little chap.

This happened to us a few months ago, I posted here looking for advice on where to look for him. It was exactly the same scenario, he disappeared from his cage in the middle of the night and left no evidence. We set all the traps we could think of but he never turned up I'm sorry to say. Hope you are luckier with yours.

By the way,someone replied to my post saying that their hamster turned up in their sitting room about TWO months after he disappeared, so don't give up hope just yet.

I read put a piece of strong cheese in the bucket as bait.
Do keep us informed.

My hamster disappeared like this when I was 8. It turned out he had burrowed really deeply under the straw, right underneath to the plastic tray at the bottom and died there. Have you had a proper look in the cage?

Ours turned up in a under-sink kitchen cupboard about week after she disappeared. I think she may have got under the bath and made her way down via the pipes.

Sorry only just noticed the other replies. No sadly he has not returned and there is no sign of him. I will wait a bit longer before replacing him. Thanks for your stories of hope - will let you know!

He's ALIVE!
He ran out from under the cupboard last night looking like an extra from Oliver, dirty and starving.

I worked out how he'd got out - we've got one of those plastic tunnels that goes outside the cage and it wasn't fitted properly.

Shame they can't talk, I would have loved to know what he'd got up to over the last week.

Excellent news !!

Yah!!!!

Oh fuck, i'm looking after a friends hamster at the momnet and it's got one of those tunnels as well

Am going to dash off quick and make sure it's all connected properly

So glad you had a happy ending, and yes, if only they could talk

I found one in the toe of my boot after he'd been missing for about a week. He'll be somewhere warm and snuggly.

Mine has been gone for 3 weeks... I had mouse poison out so I really don't believe she will be back. It's very sad but I replaced her with a guinea pig because they're bigger, don't try to escape, and they make lots of noise. Hamsters are quiet houdinis indeed -- mine lifted a heavy metal lid, slid it aside, did a pull up and jumped several feet down. Cute but not with the effort.

worth